An art exhibit entitled “5 Stars” at the Singapore Art Museum is examining the same five values represented by the five stars on the nation’s flag: democracy, peace, progress, justice, and equality. The museum staff members worked directly with artists to curate the show, which is defined by a wide assortment of different art pieces and installations.
Jarring sights and sounds challenge viewers of this exhibit, including a room covered with mirrors. In the mirrors are projected digital images of people who viewers can’t help but to interact with, drawing them into participating with the art. This exhibit treated the theme of justice, also using audio from a John Donne poem examining the idea that no man is an island. The display encourages viewers to interact and think about the role of ordinary people in the justice system.
Another exhibit that explores the theme of democracy is just as exciting but different from the justice theme. An artist placed pipes in another room of the Singapore Art Museum that stretched from floor to ceiling. Visitors in this portion of the exhibit are forced to wend their way through the pipes, which work to create a maze. This is because democracy means so many different things to different people. The artist also wrote words and snippets of statements on individual pipes. If a viewer aligns themselves with the pipes in one viewing point, the words come together to form a coherent statement. At another viewing point, the words read something different — but no less correct. It’s the idea that different view points can come together to make a democracy stronger that is conveyed by this thoughtful installation.
A sound display is is the treatment progress gets, and it is one of the most modern parts of the entire exhibit. Designed to only play when electromagnetic currents pass by, an artist has discovered a way to essentially deconstruct the Singaporean national anthem into its most basic sounds. The bass line of the song is one of the only potentially recognizable parts of the song, while the rest has been reimagined into technologically advanced sounds. The artist also recorded children reciting a single line from the anthem containing the word progress, which is the only lyric used in the display.
Peace is represented in the exhibit by a massive hanging “quilt” constructed with droplets of blood. The artist collected the blood droplets from many important and significant members of a community, such as military personnel and doctors. This goes to show that peace can be obtained in a society, though it may come at significant personal costs.
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For more on the “5 Stars” exhibit, go to http://www.billionaire.com/singapore/art-fairs-exhibitions/2386/stars-in-their-eyes-art-analysis-of-singapore.