Singapore Biennale 2008

FINALLY visited SB08! Started off with a cool outdoor installation at Raffles City Shopping Centre (it's free btw, go see it!). Paid $7 for entry to City Hall next. We were lucky to be in time for a free hour long tour to selected pieces. The guide was very good and informative. Otherwise i think i wouldn't understand most of them. Spent about 3.5 hrs to cover all the 31 installations in there. Proceeded to the South Beach Development after a short refuel. Took only about an hour to finish all 26 pieces. Most of them are video installations which mostly are un-understandable or simply weird. And the South Beach site is really WARM and stuffy. It's really unbearable to stay in the room for long. Anyway if you don't mind spending $10 or $7 if you have the passion card or $5 if you are a student, go visit the City Hall and enjoy the art installations in air-con environment.

The theme this year is Wonder. i really wonder why are there so many pieces that have a seemingly morbid and melancholy tint. Many pieces also act as channels to express mockery for the artists. As the guide said, there's no right or wrong to modern art. The intent is to evoke deeper thoughts and wonder.

Anyway here are some photos i took today.

Maggots were given the red carpet treatment in te restaurant of the former Supreme Court. A dig at the artist's home country's judicial system. The presence of the maggots signals the rotting and corruption of the system. The fact that they are given the red carpet, cynical. This is one of the site-specific installations in the Biennale. And i think the effect is simply brilliant! (Well only if you understand the artist's background and the site history).

erm... the centre purple looking thing is not a maggot! :p

Guess where the maggots are headed to? The toilet!

My two fave exhibits are side by side. Pity for my incompetency in photography... The photos turn out less than satisfactory...

Blackfield is really pretty! These thin metal plants are planted black on one side and a myriad of colours on the other. i was sitting on the floor at admiring them for quite a while. (^^)

This exhibit, I'm Not Expensive, looks ordinary at first glance. But when you walk pass it, the car simply pops out at you! Amazing! i was really amazed by it i was staring at it from various places till i got dizzy! hehe! :p Oh! Apparently this piece is so massive that it could not fit the lifts, so they had to use cranes to install it!

You call this art!? it's one of the few nonsensical installations. i think the rationale behind this site-specific exhibit is that... oh i can't remember.. i only recall the guide saying that the disc thingy behind is the new supreme court so that is the best place to take over in a country. And something about the aliens looking backward.. as in, not futuristic. more like the ultra-man era...

There's a google earth map where you can vadalise as you wish. i indicated where SP is staying. Oops! Stuck on the wrong place initially.. :p

Don't miss the Kids Biennale which is at level 1 of City Hall. The nicest photos are taken here! hehe. cos they are so cute!

This is a pic done by kids who visited the Biennale. Isn't it CUTE!? :p

A watercolour painting done by a Pri 5 student. i forgot to take down his/her name to give him/her credit. i like this piece cos it reminded me of the patchwork fields in Biei, Hokkaido!

This is my fav corner in my fav room. It's all done up in Alice in Wonderland theme. Very colourful. Very cheerful!

Went over to the Esplanade Bridge to view the last two installations for the day which are best viewed at night cos they are light performance. Wanted to catch the Fog Sculpture #48687 "Noontide" which supposedly will take place under the Esplanade Bridge at 7.15pm and 7.45pm. So we waited... and waited... and waited... after almost an hour... still nothing happened at the spot which we thought was supposedly the location... and that ended my day at SB08. (T_T)

This is the other installation Lightlines under the Esplanade Bridge. It was to be viewed at the Merlion side but was too tired to walk over when it could be viewed from the Esplanade end... Don't ask me what does it mean... i would have thought they were meant to illuminate the sea for some night divers if i'm not on the SB trail.. -_-"

[SP's note on 8 Nov] Finally managed to complete this post! one week later... haa... Hope i can still catch the rest of the exhibits before it ends... Had planned to go this weekend but i'm grounded for health reasons.