DV3008 – Visual Communication IV:
Singapore Art Museum Reflection
Marina Ahmad • U1330900G
During the field trip to Singapore Art Museum, I was really drawn towards Heman Chong’s piece. First of all, it caught my attention due to its massive collection and display on how all of it was so organized and everything seemed to be in order, which gave me a hint of satisfaction. His installation, Calendars, were photos of empty spaces set in Singapore and this gave the photos a feeling of absence with some sort of uncanny atmosphere. Another interesting thing about the installation was that some were dated in 2020 and 2096, which was something that’s far ahead from even the near future. His concept regarding his installation was projected as an abstract and nothing of personal or non-existent, which questions viewers about the idea of time and perception on who uses it. Therefore, it is impossible to determine an identity on each and every of the photographs as to each has it’s own influences with the surroundings.
My take on his work would be time is something that goes on an infinite loop and that how one’s perspective regarding time depends oneself and on how or when time starts. However, one can have a perception of time for oneself but also manifest multiple perceptions on time. In example, one can view time for him separately from the time that he has to follow according to a generalized time. From his installation, I feel that he portrayed Singapore’s ideology on time through the population’s presence in spaces and how it influences the timings in Singapore. Singapore is densely populated yet you can still find empty spaces during specific timings. Therefore, time in Singapore can not necessarily be represented by the amount of people and it can also be measured by the number of human presence depending on the environment’s influences. This makes it hard to put an identity towards Singapore’s take on time as there’s no four seasons present in the country. Also, the presence of human at one space will never be consistent.
In conclusion, time is a flexible never-ending occurrence. Despite all the different ideologies on time, all of it will definitely overlap in one way or another. Time can be concluded by the identity it’s given due to its environment.