Opening Reception: Sat 20 Sep, 2.30pm
Exhibition Hours: Sat 20 Sep 2.30-7 / Sun 21 Sep 5-7pm / Wed 24 Sep 5-7pm / Fri 26 Sep 5-9pm / Sat 27 Sep 2-7pm / Sun 28 Sep 2-7pm
This exhibition features 3 artworks: “Weeding Singapore” by Isabelle Desjeux, “(Re)Thinking Invasive Alien Species” by Sewon FoodLab (Agus Tri Budiarto and Cindy Lin), and “I Have Read and Agreed to the Following Terms and Conditions*” by Luca Lum, Raksha Mahtani and Chua Ying Qing.
Exhibition Programme:
1. WORKSHOP: Sat 20 Sep, 3.30pm-5pm: “Fermentation Invasion”, a workshop on various forms of fermentation, by Sewon FoodLab.
2. (postponed) LECTURE: Sat 20 Sep, 5-6pm: “Weed Culture”, a lecture for, by and about weeds in Singapore, by Isabelle Desjeux.
3. (cancelled) TRIP: Sun 21 Sep, 3pm: An exploratory trip to various fishing sites to fish for some exotics with Sewon FoodLab.
4. WORKSHOP: Fri 26 Sep, 6.30-7.30pm: “Yogurt Invasion” by Sewon Foodlab (http://www.facebook.com/events/324917151026253/)
5. LECTURE: Fri 26 Sep, 8pm: “Weed Culture”, a lecture for, by and about weeds in Singapore, by Isabelle Desjeux.
6. TRIP: Sat 27 Sep, 10am: An exploratory survey of Betta Pugnax and other native aquatic organisms at Bukit Brown with Beng Tang (http://www.facebook.com/events/285269478334448/)
More info on the artworks and artists follows.
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“Weeding Singapore” is part of a larger project initiated by Isabelle Desjeux in 2012, and aiming at giving recognition to the humble weeds of Singapore. Delving on the multiple meanings ascribed to the notion of weeds, “Weeding Singapore” is an attempt at bringing weeds inside, both as words and as cultivated objects, giving them each their own recognition. Using the juxtaposition of images and text, the project attempts to shed light on the weeds as objects and as meaning.
This exhibition runs in parallel to “House of Weeds”, a pop-up event organised by Playeum and South West CDC, and roving around 10 locations in the South West Community in Singapore from Sep 2014.
A molecular biologist with a keen interest in developmental biology by training, Dr Isabelle Desjeux obtained her MAFA from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2010. Her artistic practice now blends art and science, performance, video, workshops and technology. An artist using her intimate knowledge of the scientific methodology to study objects usually forgotten by the microscopic gaze, Isabelle’s keen interest in the culture of the laboratories where science is made brings her to question how science progresses and gets diffused. Her angle of vision is from the bench, and more precisely from the setbacks. http://isabellecreates.wordpress.com/
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Bringing Sewon FoodLab to a gallery, “(Re)Thinking Invasive Alien Species” by Agus Tri Budiarto (IND) and Cindy Lin (SIN) examines our relationships with Singapore’s evolving landscapes, reflecting on what Richard Schweder mentions as “intentional worlds” where “environmentally situated agents” locate themselves as “organisms within systems of ecological relations, and as persons within systems of social relations”. This project wishes to not only trace the introductions and establishments of invasive alien species, but also to probe the varied human definitions of nativity and non-nativity. To problematize the division between non-human and human, native and non-native, this experimental project involving biology, sound and consumables delves into the contestation, deconstruction and reconstruction of the Other, the Alien.
Sewon FoodLab is a food and herb laboratory initiative located at Sewon, Yogyakarta. This food-concocting space is not only for urban farming and food experimentation but also a research-based facility where food security, agriculture productivity and livelihoods, biodiversity and other interactions between living species, environments or in large, ecological systems can be studied. The members of Sewon FoodLab are Agus Tri Budiarto, Cindy Lin Kaiying, Lintang Radittya, Krisna W Pandawa. http://sewonfoodlab.wordpress.com, http://www.facebook.com/sewonfoodlab
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“I Have Read and Agreed to the Following Terms and Conditions*” is an experiment by Luca Lum, Raksha Mahtani and Chua Ying Qing. It involves the simple gesture of negotiating a contract of engagement with the space and the works and activities within it.
Luca, Raksha and Ying Qing are part of Curating Lab 2014. They are currently working on their final exhibition for the Lab as well as the NUS Museum’s year-long programme for 2015, working with filmmaker Tan Pin Pin, artist Debbie Ding, and architecture professor Lilian Chee. Luca is a final year student in English Literature; she writes poetry and has done projects in theatre, documentary, and photography. Raksha is a writer, educator, theatre practitioner and researcher; she works primarily with projects on violence against women and queer people. She also sometimes mumbles her poetry into mics in barely lit bars. Ying Qing writes and muses on language, culture, music and theatre. She tumbled headfirst into conceptual art one wednesday and now wades in/out of the zeitgeist with her partners-in-crime.
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This exhibition is part of More than [show] business – Post-PopUp at CCA. The project More than [show] business – Post-PopUp at CCA is a collaborative effort between Post-Museum and CCA, led by curators Anca Rujoiu and Vera Mey, with the additional support of the National Arts Council (NAC).
[Image: “Weed Culture” (Detail), digital print, Isabelle Desjeux, 2013]