Singapore Biennale 2011 (SB2011)

This year, the Biennale featured over 150 artworks by 63 artists from 30 countries at 3 (or 4) venues, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), the National Museum of Singapore (NSM), the Old Kallang Airport, and Marina Bay (where the Merlion Hotel is). This year, I have noticed that many of the exhibits are a collection of various items, ranging from furniture, household items, currencies, magazine covers, newspapers, sketches, toys, fridges, films, videos, raw building materials, drawings to boxes. I was certainly a little disappointed with some of the exhibits as they seemed to be assembled in a rush and carried no special meaning. With no intention to lower the value of the artwork, there were two exhibits by Ceal Floyer which I felt were unnecessary. Construction (2007), as it was called, was an empty room periodically interrupted by construction noises from the construction site next door; Overhead Projection (2006) was an image of a common incandescent light bulb from a projector.

For most of the exhibits which were collections, I did not see how they qualified as artworks; neither do they provoke thoughts nor inspire people. For the more successful and interesting ones, they may be a collection of random items we can find everywhere, but I think what is important is how the artist is able to portray the artwork in such a way so that it can convey the artist's message, which should be something relevant to the audience. There were some exhibits which were more interesting, like La Cannibale (Parody Consumption and Institutional Critique) (2008) by Mike Nelson was a collection of wooden boxes with different dimensions and with sides hacked and broken in different ways. A first look at a single box does not seem impressive, a second look at the "field" of boxes gives us a different impression; the damaged boxes seem to merge together to form a single artwork and a scene pleasant to the eyes.

Buildings Entered (1997-ongoing) are drawings by the artist, Charles Labelle, of buildings in Singapore which he has physically entered since 1997. When I entered the room during my visit to the Old Kallang Airport, I instantly saw children and adults alike trying to identify the different places on the wall and panels of drawings. These buildings are significant either in history or architecture, like the Esplanade and Lau Pa Sat. The drawings are strikingly alike to the buildings they represent. These drawings are not only of historic and artistic significance, but they also inspire people to physically visit these places to learn more of its history and architecture.

A selection from the Singapore Art Archive Project (2005) by Koh Nguang How was presented in SB2011. In a video (http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/episode-1/1tub5hnix), the artist demonstrates how one can trace the profile of a certain media personality through these archived newspapers. When I went on the last day of the Biennale, I saw the artist cutting up the newspapers into strip and scattering them all over the room to “turn the place into a forest”, as written on the blackboard placed in the room. Regardless of what he was doing, it certainly did look like much fun.

The list of exhibits goes on and on but I shall end here with a final exhibit which I would like to share. Office Orchitect consists of artworks of a fictitious architect called KS Wong whose plans for buildings have been rejected due to their absurdity. The buildings which he designed are indeed fascinating and allow us to take a second look. Without mentioning the intricate details of the models made out of cardboard and glue, the buildings are designed in a way we would not usually expect, only possible with imaginative thinking and designing.

Due to the lack of time, I did not visit the Merlion Hotel which I would have loved to do so. Through this exhibition, I believe that the 900,000 over people who visited the Biennale no longer have the common stereotype of art just being mediums on paper. In the next Biennale, I do wish to see more interactive and innovative exhibits of artworks.