Singapore artists comment on man’s impact on nature and the environment
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Singapore artists comment on human'south impact on nature and the environs
The works of Ang Vocal Nian, Marvin Tang, Robert Zhao Renhui and Zen Teh explore the themes of nature and human intervention in Mizuma Gallery's new exhibition The Seeds We Sow.
Singapore artists (L-R): Marvin Tang, Zen Teh and Ang Song Nian. Robert Zhao Renhui could not get in for the photoshoot. (Photo: Kelvin Chia)
04 April 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 21 May 2022 ten:55AM)
1 of life'southward greatest ironies is how human beings clear vast tracts of land to build physical jungles on one manus, yet install terrariums, air plants or some form of landscaping in our urban spaces for a semblance of the outdoors within.
Singapore is no exception to this, and Mizuma Gallery, which aims to promote E Asian and Southeast Asian artists, looks into the abiding tension betwixt man intervention and the natural surround in its latest exhibition The Seeds We Sow, featuring four Singaporean visual artists: Ang Vocal Nian, Marvin Tang, Robert Zhao Renhui, and Zen Teh.
Ang Vocal Nian, whose works often subtly depict human behaviours in nature and landscapes, presents two works: An ongoing photographic serial entitled As They Grow Older and Wiser (2016), which documents plant nurseries found in the outskirts of Bangkok, and an installation of ten,000 biodegradable pots arranged into an undulating terrain called Artificial Conditions (2019). Together, they show the irony of plants beingness transplanted from their natural environments for human'south beautification purposes.
READ> Singapore is becoming a nation of urban gardeners – but is it all that sustainable?
An interest in botanical gardens established during the colonies of the former British empire led to Marvin Tang'southward series The Colony – Archive (2019 – ), which examines the impact and agenda of colonial botanical institutes. At first glance, the smaller postcards look aesthetically like, but they are actually of different gardens that were each artificially created for the sole purpose of cultivating viable crops in colonial plantations.
Robert Zhao'southward photographic works Monitor, Pond (2019) and Laughing Thrushes, Scolding (2019) are role of a larger contempo project, where the artist has been taking time to observe how plants and animals share the same space equally humans. In these ii, he saw how animals rapidly moved in to make use of rainwater collected in containers left over from an abandoned illegal squatter.
"Humans and nature are not very far apart," Zhao shared. "What we do will ever be visible and evident in nature. We impact i another and leave effects on each other, just like how seeds that nosotros sow take a long time to get trees."
The refurbished wooden cabinet with landscape motifs adorning its multiple surfaces is symbolic of domestic and mind spaces within each person, where at that place is a yearning to be continued to a larger environment.
Interestingly, the works, decided upon separately by the artists, complement each other to form a textured conversation where ane inevitably asks: Where do we draw the line of human control over nature? And in the answers lies the crucial role of artists in keeping the important human-versus-environment contend in the foreground.
This is particularly important in the context of Singapore, said Tang, because there is a certain pressure to upkeep its image of being a "Garden City".
"We've this strange tension between u.s. and nature; we need information technology yet we want to exploit it for the limited space we have. So for me, information technology is of import, practice-wise, to be able to ask the questions that one else is asking, especially questions that are derived from political decisions or any form of man conclusion that would touch on nature."
Teh feels that people demand to remember that everyone has an innate want to connect with open spaces and its elements. "Peculiarly when nosotros read news of how animals and plants are returning to the cities in a time similar this, nosotros'd start to see how cutting back our impact on the environment can enable nature to flourish."
While science is usually the main dominance for conveying facts near nature, artists can use alternative ways to present encounters with and thoughts about the subject. In a idea-provoking observation, Zhao points out that the human race rarely thinks well-nigh non-human species until information technology becomes an inconvenience – such as getting a mosquito bite, or finding cockroaches and rats in our metropolis.
"We tend to think that nigh everything on this planet is fabricated for us and our consumption. Just when you talk about nature, the starting signal is to realise that every inch of this planet is shared among human and non-human species. As artists working in nature, we have the responsibility to bear witness that fact in our art every second and in every space we're at."
"A lot of the things that we do to the natural environs are e'er a result of u.s. placing it at a lower priority. Hopefully, in this COVID-nineteen situation, we are reminded that the decisions we make to play around with nature has consequences." – Ang Vocal Nian
READ> COVID-19: How the pandemic could help push usa into a greener way of life
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/singapore-artists-comment-man-nature-177496
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