Heman Chong
Calendars (2020-2096)
1001 offset prints with matte lamination
1001 picture calendars are put up in a grid form which covers the walls of the entire gallery space. The pictures on the calendars are old pictures of existing places in Singapore. However, the dates on the calendars are dates that have not come to pass, they are dates of the future.
Preliminary read: This artwork explores the idea of a fast changing society and country like Singapore and how the use of old pictures and the dates of the future questions how much Singapore will change by the time we reach the years on the calendar.
Secondary read: It does explores the rapid development of Singapore to the extend that a place once hold memories to you will eventually disappear. It also makes me question how do you measure time: through the dates that are fixed on a calendar, or how much a place changes?
Ringo Bunoan
Endings
Framed book pages, where endings of books from No Endings are being torn out and placed on a single shelve.
No Endings
Book Installation, where books placed facing up are being stacked up with the title of every book hidden so that the audience can only see the blank side of the books.
Preliminary read: Only the endings are being placed on the shelve, so it might be from the books that are stacked together. It probably means that the artist is placing an importance on the ending of every story: it doesn’t matter how you start a journey, or what happens in a journey, the ending is the one that will define your journey.
Secondary read: The endings were indeed torn out from the books that were stacked together. However after reading the description of the artwork this artwork makes me question: can stories be really squeezed into a single medium? Is the ending of every story a beginning of another story? Do stories really ever end? It is ironic how every ending is a new beginning.
