A selection of previous tours, presented here as a classic slide show. All photographs are taken with compact cameras, the à la mode fashion accessory of the discerning tourist.
The shop sign “Beauty” hangs in the room.
]]>The Commonwealth series, giving the exhibition its title, explores the methodology of the artists as they conduct their local tours in banal places. The process is ephemeral, and nostalgia filled, even if they are borrowed memories.
Here, the artist duo had a go at the ‘Commonwealth’ experience.
]]>People’s Market Series, consists of found sign boards salvaged from People’s market, or Pearl’s market when the building was renovated, and shop owners were asked to relocate. Now taken out of context, they remind us of the aspirations Singaporeans had when naming their shops in the late 60s, possibly unaware that we today will view them as exotic, tourist attracting names wanting their own history.
The artists have their own interpretation:
Asia –It incorporates numerous regions, cultures rather than a homogeneous physical entity. It always feels good to belong somewhere, and Asia has a place for everyone. Singapore, a city with a history of immigrants in colonial times calls Asia its roots and home.
Lido – An island reef of northeast Italy separating the lagoon of Venice from the Adriatic Sea. The town of Lido, at the northern end of the island, is a fashionable resort.
Mee Sin – A possible short form for New Singapore. Perhaps a name to forget the colonial past, and the shadows of WWII.
Tokyo – the capital of Japan, a place too far for one to travel to in the 60s.
Paris – one of the fashion capitals of the world; It is common to do ‘brand association’ with a product or lifestyle with a classier image.
Since 2004, visual artists Lee Sze-Chin and Lim Kok Boon have used the holiday snapshot to collect memories of Singapore, striking poses in front of buildings or empty land. Their uniquely banal photography leads them to pose as tourists in their own country. Exploring snap shot aesthetics made popular by photographer Martin Parr, they investigate the premises of ‘going on holidays’, a middle class concept, and placing themselves as markers of history as places in Singapore are made redundant in the face of redevelopment. Though personal in origin, the works speak of a certain sense of national sentiment and nostalgia and borrowed memories. These add to the multitude of resistance and reactions one has when places we know and are familiar with are upgraded, announced for the en bloc scheme or demolished.
This exhibition is site specific, and the title a deliberate pun on the road name Commonwealth Drive. This title, Common Wealth, refers to the intangible assets, the collective memories we hold dearly. Hinted by the photographs and signboards, one is invited to trade stories, and be part of the memory of block 39A, Commonwealth Drive, Queensway, Singapore.
The flat is part of an en bloc upgrading project that symbolizes the nation’s wish for better housing, better lives.
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