Open House Waterloo Exhibition:

TAKE SHELTER, 2017, LEE WAN XIANG

The work mainly consist of old belongings and cloths and personal belongings. There is a cloth covering the door and the inside resembles the inside of an old house. The artist used found objects that were thrown away by residents.

PRELIMINARY READ

The first look I got when i saw this space was WOW as there was a piece of cloth draped at the door, covering whats inside. In order to enter the space, guests had to take off their shoes like a normal house, different from the other exhibitions. Once inside, there was cloth draped over the entire area, it looked almost similar to a living space with kids drawings and old photographs everywhere along with belongings as though someone was staying in the place. The recreation of an old house was amazing. I was amazed that the artist was able to make such a small space feel like a home. I like that we were supposed to take out our shoes outside to further emphasize the homely touch. I believe the artist wanted to express how one is able to change such a empty space into something that expresses plenty for another. The way the artist built the room into a living environment would bring back memories for some as to the living conditions of the people in Waterloo area. It was even better that the artist chose to use the more olden look, with paper pinned up everywhere, embedding old yellow photographs. I believe the thought of using such a method is to show further that the living conditions of the people in the area are less modernised.

SECONDARY READ

Upon reading the description of the work did i realise that certain items were actually trash that was thrown away by the residents of the area. This made me feel more appreciative of the items that was picked up by the artist. Working alongside with whatever the residents have thrown, the artist combined everything to make them look normal and fitting. It relates to what i feel about the artist wanting to create a homely feel as well as wanting to bring back memories and relating to the residents. I feel that the space should encourage more people to experience how it’s like to live with some audio help. Audio recordings of olden day radios or sounds would further enhance the experience of a homely feel.

THE SCREEN TO THE OUTSIDE, 2017, LEE CHUAN

The work also involves the covering of the doorway. But this time, it was a black sheet. Upon entering, the entire room is blackened with only one source of light passing through from a small hole on the wall. There is a projector that faces towards the wall with a hole and the is a plastic screen that is placed in between both sources with an image of roofs of buildings.

PRELIMINARY READ

At first when i saw this i was quite confused because i saw the roofs and the projector, but did not see the hole on the wall. I initially thought it was just a normal projection of the area and was wondering why it was turned upside down instead. Until I saw the hole, i was so amazed at how the artist managed to do it and it changed how i saw the artwork all together. I feel that what the artist is trying to emphasize on is how we hardly see what is really outside and that most of the time we view what is real on a screen from our electronic devices instead. I feel that by doing it this way, it addresses the disconnection between what we see and the modes on how we see what is infront of us. The usage of the projector and the light from the hole is a very interesting fresh idea that I would not know it was even possible and it suits the whole artwork nicely.

SECONDARY READ

After reading the description, it explained the method that he used and it is amazing how the image shown on the screen is actually an overlapped projection between the screen and the real image. Therefore, i went back in and covered the projector to see another image which was so cool. I feel that the artist also related to how disconnected we are by electronic devices and chooses this method to convey his message. He should tell the viewers to stand at certain spots to allow them to see the overlap of the images. As such, they might have just missed the point that the images are actually overlapping.

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