Eight Singapore artists have come together at the encouragement of an organizer to collaborate on a lush coffee table-style book that documents the artists’ works and their place in Singapore. Called “The City Book,” the organizer also plans to make editions for other cities of the world, including Paris, Rome, and Taipei. A similar tome already exists for the organizer’s home city of Hong Kong.
The Singapore edition is notable for bringing the eight artists together. It also includes a special map that is removable and can lead interested visitors to the different locations of the art around Singapore. Each of the artists ruminate about how their artwork is inspired by Singapore, the place they call home, and sections detail just where their art fits in to Singapore itself.
Described as a travel book for travelers who are creatively minded, “The City Book” is filled with information and special context that anyone interested in art and Singapore should pick up and own. While it is easy to examine art in Singapore from a historical perspective, including information about the country’s place in an empire, readers have commented about how intriguing it was for “The City Book” to look at art in Singapore from the artists’ perspectives.
One artist covered in the book took inspiration from atlas moths. The behemoths can be bigger than a face when full grown, and tend to invade the skyscrapers of Singapore during the species’ mating period. The moths favor alighting on the buildings to help dry and cool their gigantic wings, and the fluttering of the large insects created vibrations that the artist was able to record and reproduce as a part of an immersive art exhibit in which visitors walked through the soundscape and the moths themselves were represented by large, abstract dots.
Another artist reproduces portions of Singapore that would normally be teeming with people looking to get to their destinations, but she draws them completely devoid of humanity. It is almost a post-apocalyptic look at busy spots in Singapore, but the artist wanted to examine the way that urban sprawl intrudes on nature — and what might happen if humans weren’t there to intrude.
Still another artist blends nostalgia with reality, transforming the ruins of former amusement parks in Singapore with bits and pieces of old films showing the same scenes. The end result is a ghostly tribute to the fun and family times had at the former hot spots.
Another artist gathers items that had meaning in her childhood and arranges and photographs them according to color, creating something of a tableau to her upbringing. It puts the viewer in a child’s perspective, trying to ferret out just what was seen as beautiful in something as simple as a ball or toy.
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To learn more about “The City Book” and how to purchase it, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/singapore-through-the-eyes-of-local-artists.