A Singaporean artist has brought something that people walk by every day without much thought — green painted metal railings — into the art world by constructing art pieces and creative installations with the green railings. The exhibit goes to show that anything can be art, given the right mindset.
The artist is choosing to reinterpret the meanings of the railings with his display. He remarked on the control the railings exert, keeping pedestrians from crossing the street at certain points and warding them away from ditches where before, people would choose their own paths. The artist said that the railings in his artwork examine the idea of the restriction, flow, and redirection of ideas and beliefs. Are the green railings throughout Singapore responsible for redirecting the same ideas in broader culture? It is left up to the viewer to decide.
There are much more than green railings set up in the gallery space for this show. The artist has used the railings, made specially for him by the same company that produces the railings for Singapore itself, as framing materials for other art pieces, combining them in new and unexpected ways. He has also painted others in different colors, getting away from the classic green most of these railings appear as when used for their original intent in Singapore.
The railing functions as 3-D, immersive sculpture when it’s used simply as installation work. Viewers who might be used to seeing the green railing when out and about in Singapore will be challenged when viewing this display to rethink their prior notions about the structures. It is likely they will never view the railings in the same way again. When the railing is used as framing material or modified in other ways, like being decorated in yarn as commentary on a recent yarn bombing incident in Singapore — where participants knitted and crocheted yarn over existing works, it comes off as super modern, industrial artwork. There is everything from commentary on current events to poetry to activism present in this unique exhibit. The artwork is sure to inspire people to think outside of the box when it comes to following directions and walking along the path that has been set out before them.
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To read more about the art show that features Singapore’s ubiquitous green rails, go to http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/streets-art-gallery-singapore-familiar-green-railings-new-show-9163576.