Singapore Art Museum (SAM) may be closed now for a renovation, but its latest exhibition will be displayed on SAM buildings' hoardings along Bras Basah Road and Queen Street until December 6. So if you're in the area, keep a lookout for the free outdoor artworks, accessible at all times.
Part of the Walking in the City series, it presents specially commissioned artworks on the hoardings currently installed around the perimeter of the museum buildings along Bras Basah Road and Queen Street. The second commission of the series is by Singaporean artist Heman Chong, who represented Singapore at the 50th Venice Biennale.
Artist Heman Chong presents two exhibitions: titled Safe Entry and Writing While Walking And Other Stories. Safe Entry, presented on the hoarding along Bras Basah Road, is a cheeky take on the QR code which has become ubiquitous in Singapore recently. It takes the form of a mural produced by repeating a single, enlarged QR code, which links to a video of the artist on a long walk in Changi Airport's Terminal 2 during Singapore's 'circuit breaker'
Writing While Walking And Other Stories, on the other hand, comprises 2,581 words written by artist Heman Chong and his iPhone 11 during an eight-hour walk around Singapore. In this piece, he explores a new method of artistic production by merging walking and writing into one process. The text was written in a free-flowing state, with no structure, plot, context or word limit in mind – only completed when the artist entered a state of wordlessness. As you walk the length of the image, you'll find that each frame is presented in a staggered tile pattern across the hoarding, appearing to become animated.
Writing While Walking And Other Stories is currently on display, while Safe Entry is still a work in progress. Both works will be on view until December 6.
BY DEWI NURJUWITA