About Still Life (at) The Substation Gallery

Still life. Still lives. Stilled life.

A conceptual game and wordplay on the notion of still life as a work of art, a suspended encounter between a work and its audience, the contemplation of a single moment, the intercrossing of perceptions and objects in time and space.

Still Life showcases works by four artists that push the conceptual boundaries of the “still life” as a subject, method and form in art-making. The research trajectories of the selected works are intertwined, as apparent in the recurring thematic preoccupations with the natural world, the changing urbanscape, the ethical cohabitation between man and nature, the interstitial spaces of the interior and exterior. The works span across the mediums of photography, video, installation and archival research.

The grouping of these four artists and their projects reveal how their common interests in urban life, environmental concerns, and unexpected encounters with the seeming quotidian take different expression through myriad forms, from a photograph of a lone tree to an assemblage of collected junk objects. The works complicate definitions of what is a still life — traditionally, a painting or drawing, of a fruit or a vase of flowers –  and compel the audience to rethink the notion of the art object and the contexts of encounter.

Curator
Michelle Lim

Artists
Ang Song Nian
Lucy Davis
Lucas Jodogne
Chen-Hsi Wong

Curatorial Assistance
Grace Hong
Muhammad Ridzal Bin Abdul Hamid

Project Assistance
Merlin Cheng
Nathanael Goh

Design
Yong Li Yung

Website
Hedren Sum

Library
Phoebe Lim

Special Thanks

NTU ADM DD8012 Contemporary Curating class of AY2016/17

Ute Meta Bauer
Victor Emmanuel
Jeannie Ho
Michelle Ho
Hong Bee Kuen
Kristy Kang
Kee Ya Ting
Regina Möeller
Muhammad Mustajab Bin Mohamad
Alan Oei
Anca Rujoiu
Meridel Rubinstein
TK Sabapathy
Vibeke Sorensen
Tan Sian Ting
Marvin Tang
Clara Tew
TJ Ren
Charmaine Toh
Michael Walsh
Zhang Yizhen
Robert Zhao