Works by Ang Song Nian, Chen-Hsi Wong, Lucas Jodogne, and Lucy Davis

6 to 26 January 2017

(at) The Substation
45 Armenian Street, Singapore 179936

Opening Thursday, 5 January 2017, 6 - 9pm
Conversation Thursday, 26 January 2017, 7pm

 #still_life2017

Lucy Davis, Everyday Animisms: Nest Infestation, Along the railtracks at Tanglin Halt, 2016. © Lucy Davis and Kee Ya Ting.

Lucy Davis

Everyday Animisms: Nest Infestation, Along the railtracks at Tanglin Halt

2016

 

Digital print on Hahnemühle paper, nests constructed from natural twigs and found objects on site
Dimensions variable; print 117 x 117 cm.

Everyday Animisms: Nest Infestation, Along the Railtracks at Tanglin Halt features a black-and-white photograph of a “human-bird’s nest” that was constructed from natural and manmade materials found around Tanglin Halt. These nest-sculptures were constructed, installed and then photographed as though ‘invading’ or ‘infesting’ the liminal landscapes along the rail tracks and the edges of demolition sites at Tanglin Halt. Davis’ work often involves collaborations with artists, scientists and activists. In this case, she conceptualized and directed the process, with Kee Ya Ting taking the photographs. The print is being exhibited with three of the nest-sculptures as an installation work.

Tanglin Halt was where the trains running between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore used to pass through. The first blocks of government flats were built there in the 1950s and the neighbourhood grew quickly. However, Tanglin Halt has since been slated for urban redevelopment; most of the residents have moved out and the buildings are slated for demolition by 2021.

The print and the nests in Everyday Animisms have been previously exhibited in Railtrack Songmaps (2012) at Gillman Barrack. Railtrack Songmaps is an interactive multimedia sound and story map experience with shadow-puppet video projections and a mini-archive of photographs and documentation. Both Everyday Animisms and Railtrack Songmaps have been developed from Davis’ long-running Migrant Ecologies Project. The Project, which began in 2010, has been described as an investigation into “human relationships with trees, forests and forest products in Southeast Asia, explored in terms of materials, metaphors, magic, ecological resources and historical agency.” (Art Radar, 2012)

Image ©Lucy Davis and Kee Ya Ting

Lucy Davis (b. 1970) is an artist, writer, and educator. Her work has been featured in numerous museum exhibitions and international festivals.

As the founder of the Migrant Ecologies Project, Davis’ practice encompasses nature in art and visual culture, materiality and memory in Southeast Asia. Her six-year cumulative research into stories of wood in Southeast Asia was launched at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh in 2013. The Migrant Ecologies Project was a finalist for Prix COAL 2011 prize and shortlisted for the 2012 Asia Pacific Breweries Signature Prize. The short film from the project, Jalan Jati (Teak Road) (2012) has been screened in over 60 international venues, winning the Promotion Award at Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (2012) and two Singapore Short Film Awards (2013) for sound and animation.

Davis was a founding editor of FOCAS: Forum on Contemporary Art & Society from 2000 to 2007. She contributes regularly to ANTENNAE, The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture (UK) and her writings have been published in Considering Animals, The DOCUMENTA #12 READER, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, and NU The Nordic Art Review.

Other Works

Ang Song Nian

Towards a New Interior

2017

Site-specific installation
Dimensions variable

Chen-Hsi Wong

In the Shadow of Trees

2015

C-print on metallic paper, diasec-mounted on Plexi panel
Diptych, 127 x 49cm (61 x 49cm each)

Lucas Jodogne

Park Construction, Shanghai

2001

C-print
156 x 110 cm