A Study On A Box Of Belongings Art Essay

In this modern-day epoch where everything alterations quickly, people no longer relates themselves to merely one disciplinary but cross-disciplinary. In the procedure of passage, the exchange of civilization every bit good as information, the experience that 1 has and the cognition that one additions is about an instant experience. Often these instant experience and cognition that one absorbs are uncomplete due to the cutting short of information and over-emphasizing on the chief point which later result in a losing spread in between the original information to what we received.

One might experience a sense of lost in clip, history, memories and the lost in a sense of fond regard, consistence, therefore inquiry our belonging ; where is our place? How do we specify belonging so? Can our belonging be fixed?In chapter 1 of the paper, I will discourse place as a metaphor of belonging ; an ground tackle point. However, in this modern-day epoch, to call a topographic point as the place that we belong can be superficial as the topographic point that we belong are frequently non fixed. What give us the sense of belonging so? To discourse about belonging, inescapably we associate it to a infinite. ThisDissertation paper discusses two sorts of infinite – the touchable infinite and the intangible infinite. Often, Space as an abstract impression seems unbounded ; we think of infinite as merely air between one object and the other. [ 1 ] Space speaks more than merely air molecules. Space with boundaries can be seen as a signifier or a thing. Space as an thought can be sing single perceptual experiences which can be both conceptual and physical.

These single perceptual experiences can be seen as the corporate memory through one ‘s experience. How do infinites give us a sense of belonging if our sense of infinite are frequently relate to the sense of topographic point which are frequently unfixed. Despite of the uncertainness of our sense of topographic point, what might give us a sense of continuity is likely the memory that were collected in the infinite which therefore give us a sense of belonging.

Memories exists in the yesteryear, present and future which therefore making a sense of continuity in a human being timeline.Traveling on from single place to a state, Chapter 2 addresses the doomed of memory in metropolis due to the urban development in Singapore. It will look into a brief history of Singapore Urban lodging and metropolis development, the important of edifice as a time-marker that give us the sense of belonging and how the changeless building and devastation of edifice and topographic points resulted in the doomed of fixed individuality. Is the doomed of memory – a doomed of our belonging and individuality or has it build a alone belonging and individuality for Singaporean?As frequently been said, our belonging and individuality are frequently been cultivate through humanistic disciplines and civilization. In that sense, our local museum therefore holds an of import function in cultivating, continuing and go throughing on histories and cultural values to the multitudes. Equally much as we perceive the cognition and history in the museum as a fact go throughing through from coevals to coevals, can the museum show and exhibition non be political constructed? Hence, even though Singapore authorities tried to continue our “local identity” if we have of all time or belonging through the signifier of humanistic disciplines and civilization, the belonging that we perceive is still a constructed individuality. Hence, a paradox and it seems like our individuality is ever in a confusion. Where do we belong?

Chapter 1: – Belonging ; Memory

Belonging has been expounded as a ownership, a member of a group such as a household, a school and a state, finally belonging is about the relation of human being.

Through the relation with people ‘s group, infinites and construction, human being therefore creates their ain individuality. The sense of belonging and individuality will besides propose a sense of security and stableness. Hence, this sense of belonging becomes important in human life. Often, the sense of belonging has its relation associated with ‘rooted-ness ‘ – a sense of fond regard towards a infinite ; an fond regard to our place.‘For our house is our corner of the universe. As has frequently been said, it is our first existence, a existent universe in every sense of the world…’ [ 2 ]Author Gaston Bachelard explained in his book – The Poetics of Space that the impression of place is a infinite where 1 is born and lives for good.

Home has frequently been idealized as an utopia infinite where there is a sense of continuity, security and flawlessness. Permanence is an of import component in the thought of place as it suggests rooted-ness and a sense of immortality. In Space and Place – the position of experience, Yi-Fu Tuan argued that place is the Centre of the universe ; place is the focal point of a cosmic construction [ 3 ] .

Both writer explained place as the Centre of one ‘s universe and it makes sense to state that our belonging is really much about our fond regard to our roots ; our place. The word ‘centre ‘ will means ‘origin ‘ which carries the significance of get downing which is what Bachelard mentioned as the first existence ; the Centre of one ‘s universe. When and how do one has a sense of place so? Often the impression of place is blurred with the impression of house.‘Here infinite is everything, for clip ceases to accelerate memory… Memories are inactive, and the more firmly they are fixed in infinite, the sounder they are.

‘ [ 4 ]Home as an abstract impression can be unbounded. In the quotation marks above, Bachelard explained that what is being ‘housed ‘ in the infinite ( place ) is the memories that has been created in the infinite. Home is a infinite where we root ourselves at and the most of import component that gives us that sense of rooted-ness or fond regard to a place is ‘memory ‘ . Memory would besides intend cognition, history and memories ; memory is an effort to retrieve, remember or to enter events, objects or even emotion. It is through these corporate memories of a infinite that give us that sense of fond regard and a sort of certainty toward oneself. As such, I would pull a boundaries that place is an emotional-mental province of belonging. Memory exists in the yesteryear, present and future which create a sense of continuity or immortality. Memory therefore gives us a sense of security and certainty.

As what Yi-Fu Tuan had mentioned in his authorship, the value of a topographic point is the experience that one created in that infinite. It is through the intimate human relationship and the acquaintance of a infinite that one created a sense of fond regard towards a infinite. Belonging, like memories should be fixed so as to achieve a sense of stableness. Memory is an abstract impression that requires to be objectified in order to be seen or understand and house plays the function in exteriorizing these abstract memories, it is a topographic point that helps giving the significance and value to place. House on the other manus, is a shelter that 1 goes to when sick, where confidant activities happen ; a topographic point or location that helps us to associate our past history and event. House in this instance is a physical province of belonging.

In a batch of ways, objects can be seen as infinites with boundaries and is ductile. [ 5 ] Objects in a house are like footages that give a hint and history of the dweller that one time presence. The undermentioned images are a series of exposure by Singapore lensman, Ho Hui May.

This series of graphics entitled Domestic Dystopia, 2007 presents a horizon inside of an wantonness house.[ 6 ]Domestic DystopiaHo Hui May

Photography series, 2007

In this series of exposure, Ho presented abandon objects of the domestic infinite after the dwellers had move on. Those abandon objects suggests the life style or feature of the dwellers, about like a 3-dimentional narration of the yesteryear. For illustration the forest wall paper at the bottom right side represents 2 beds of nature. One bed of the wall paper can be seen as a natural on-going procedure of ageing and disintegrating due to elements such as sunshine, H2O, O and other natural substances and is skining, melting and rupturing off from the wall.

Another bed of the wall paper presents an image of the forest which can besides be read as the proprietor ‘s desire to hold a piece of nature while life in a metropolis. Hence, objects such as the wall paper gives hints of the life of the dwellers. Objects inhabit infinite, and when attending is directed to an object, it is besides directed to the infinite it occupies. [ 7 ] The map of the house therefore is besides a topographic point to maintain and roll up object. These maps can be seen as the aggregation and re-collection of memories. Objects in our life therefore give us a sense of place and belonging.However, objects are originally impersonal and meaningless.

It is through the experience and relation of objects and people in that infinite, we insert our emotion and significance to it and therefore making sentimental values to the object. Therefore, the inquiry now is to what extend are those objects valuable when the significance of it are constructed? Our house is besides an object that is physically constructed and can be politically constructed every bit good. In that sense, how can we hold a true sense of place and belonging if the memory and experience that we perceive are constructed?In Ho ‘s series of exposure ; objects in the image are discarded.

House in this instance is besides an object that has been discarded. If the objects in life are important in arousing or capturing memories, why do people still abandon objects? Choosing objects to be abandoned and objects to be brought along are indispensable in the metropoliss.

Chapter 2: Urban development: wantonness and constructive memory

The metropolis is a topographic point of big colony ; a community of houses and edifices. Walking from one terminal to the other terminal, we can easy acknowledge the characteristics in the metropoliss. There is a sense of acquaintance in the metropolis that we lived in. Acquaintance is to acknowledge, to retrieve or to remember things. It is through that sense of acquaintance ; the personal memories and the cultural history that we collected in the metropolis that gives us a sense of belonging.

The metropolis that we lived in and return to finally therefore is our ‘hometown ‘ ; the Centre of our universe. Our hometown is a topographic point where we rooted ourselves in.Unlike place which is built upon the single experiences and personal memories, the metropolis herself has an image to portray, the metropolis that we lived in is being shape politically and economically so as to accomplish economic growing and patterned advance particularly that of urban metropoliss. In this chapter, I will wish to take Singapore urban development as a instance survey and local creative person ‘s responses to the issue of urban development and lodging to discourse about the doomed of memories and therefore the doomed of a fixed belonging to the Singaporean.Tracing back from the early yearss of Singapore Independency boulder clay today, she had boosted quickly into a developed state. In the early yearss, the cardinal aim of Singapore lodging development is to supply a shelter for every citizen.

With the job of lodging deficit in the beginning of Singapore Independency, the Housing and Development Board ( HDB ) was established to supply the citizen with equal criterion of life, the local designer besides work stoppage for freedom to advance civilization to the mass through national edifice. [ 8 ]With the addition of criterion of life and income of the citizen, they no longer merely want for basic comfortss but desire for a higher criterion of life which consequence in a changeless building and devastation of edifices in Singapore. Switching and relocating therefore become common.

In a batch of ways, our sense of topographic point or location gives us the sense of individuality, belonging and pride to the metropolis that we lived in. Building of different clip therefore stands an of import function in taging history of a metropolis ; they are about like artifacts that connect us to our yesteryear ; a reminder of historical event that one time took topographic point, the political and personal experience that one time present. Two of the singular edifices in Singapore is the City Hall and Old Supreme tribunal. over the old ages, Singaporean had witnessed many political events such as the Japanese resignation, the national twenty-four hours and many more and the edifice together with the old Supreme tribunal is presently preserved as a Singapore heritage edifice. Though edifice is being preserved but the map is non at that place any longer.

( explain ) It becomes a hallmark of history, an attractive force for tourer but no longer map as how it should be. What is the point of continuing when the map is no longer at that place?Singapore is a state that has been lost and found, found and lost once more. ( Quoted from Ho Tzu yen movie ) Many of our local creative persons have responded to the rapid urban passage with their art. One of our local film/ docudramas shaper – Tan Pin Pin has responded these issues in her docudramas such as the Invisible City and Moving House. Traveling house speaks about the doomed of tradition in the thick of Singapore land development.

The documental focal points on the Chew ‘s household who went to pay a visit to their parent at their grave. That visit to the grave was the last as they would hold to delve out the organic structures as the authorities had decided to develop that piece of land.“We should hold a lasting graveyard so that the tradition can go on… tradition had die off.

” quoted from Mr Chew.As of a tradition, it is necessary for dead organic structures to be buried belowground as a regard for the decease. Each twelvemonth during particular juncture such as the ‘Qing Ming ‘ festival, the Chew household will see their parent ‘s grave, about like a ‘picnic ‘ as Mr Chew mentioned. The castanetss of their parent were so cremate.

What is lost is non merely the doomed of tradition but besides the joy of garnering that they used to hold.Singapore land development can be eternal. Reason being that more public lodging is required to cover population demands. There is no bound to our desire for infinite. After development is re-development, traveling is re-moving whether or non it is voluntary, is no longer of import.

Traveling house had highlighted our endless desire for infinite and better criterion of life and in the average clip, foregrounding our yearns for the yesteryear to be continue, a beliing feeling in the thick of come oning into a universe category society. Hence, the transforming of cityscape had besides result in a doomed of history. It someway prompts us the inquiry that in order to come on, do we hold to fling the yesteryear? Are we ready to make that? Is it necessary to abandon/ neglects our past to prosecute a ‘better ‘ hereafter? How much can we give up really?Over the old ages, we easy identify the issue of urban development through the local graphics. Many lost memories were represented once more as a signifier of art. Not holding a fixed memory and belonging had affected creative person in many manner. Many had attack it in a sentimental mode, sometime in rather a negative manner. Many of them chose to hold our local HDB flats or building sites as their capable affair. Interesting, the following lensman that I am traveling to present does non took the usual mammoth boxes as his capable affair alternatively, ‘junk ‘ that he collected as his topic.

Chua Chye Teck ‘s wonderland, 2007 is a series of exposure of debris, unwanted, abandon objects that he collected, to day of the month this series consists of 500 pieces of images. Through these images, there are two chief oppositions that we have to take notes on ; the thought of roll uping and the thought of wantonness in relation to the metropolis. The thought of roll uping dramas an of import portion in this work as a manner of bespeaking our societal stature, professional association, value system and personal gustatory sensation.

Another thing to see is the objects being wantonness ; the ownership of physical object that hints our exalted yearnings and deepest anxiousnesss. With each purchase, we throw something off ; by bing, we throw ; because we move on, we throw. Besides to observe is that Chua does non maintain any of this object every bit good.

With each that he had collect and exposure, he abandoned it every bit good. Last, we consider the methods of showing it – foremost, objects are placed separately on a clean turquoise background, about like raising the value of the debris, giving it a new life. Every object or set of objects, here was no less finely cared for and to read the image as objects bing inside a camera frame – about as preserved memories.Equally much as we are loath to give up on what is valuable to us, we still ought to make so in order to progress… is this voice of the citizen or the voice of authorities? Chua ‘s work is interesting as it reflects on how much we had abandon in the procedure of urbanisation and to roll up it once more is to remember memory, therefore memory being lost and found. As compared to Pin Pin ‘s movie, it reflects how one has to give up in the the procedure of urbanisation despite of one ‘s immune to alter. In the procedure of alteration, one long for a sense of permanence, a fixed belonging.What image is Singapore seeking to portray at the terminal of the twenty-four hours when its limited history are easy faded off over the old ages? Whether or non Singapore has a rich history and civilization are non of import as compared to economic growing.

This prompt the inquiry of whether the patterned advance and development into a better yet ever-changing rapid life style alterations our position of what is to be casted away and what is to be collected in the procedure? Has Singapore come to recognize the doomed of memory in the metropolis? ?To oppugn about what has been lost, what do we fling in the procedure of patterned advance, what we yearn and what we desire to retain goes down to the inquiry of pick and it was clear that we had chosen for economic growing than holding the history that give us a fixed belonging. These picks might non be make by the citizen but the authorities.The authorities has likely gain the important demands to cultivate our national individuality ; our belonging.

Equally much as our short history had been invariably being buried underneath with the rapid urban development, Singapore in the average clip is seeking to build individuality. As frequently been said, where we belong are frequently cultivate through the humanistic disciplines and civilization that we belong to. Therefore, one indispensable ways to input these lost of history or memory is through local art. What is the function of humanistic disciplines and civilization in cultivating our national individuality so?

Chapter 3: The paradox

What is singapore civilization?

Multi- civilization.

Mixture of E and West. Rojak. Anything and everything becomes our civilization.The Renaissance metropolis program [ 9 ] is a proposal that the authorities come out every five twelvemonth and the recent program will be to travel all out to developed the image of an planetary art metropolis. With this proposal, tonss of support were put into art infinites, schools and establishment such as LaSalle college of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts ( NAFA ) , the Singapore Arts Museum ( SAM ) , Asiatic Civilian Museum ( ACM ) , the National history museum every bit good as the National art gallery that is opening this twelvemonth. The purposes of this proposal is however to be an planetary art metropolis, nevertheless what is beliing is that every bit much as Singapore aims to travel planetary, it still want to retain the sense of local through event such as Singapore art show. So what is Singapore taking at the terminal of the twenty-four hours? She wants an image of everything and anything. She is seeking to give encouragement for art yet keeping tight limitations on humanistic disciplines and civilization.

Through inclusion of graphics in public infinites and the incorporation of tasteful design and landscape gardening in the vicinity, we can widen people ‘s exposure to and grasp of humanistic disciplines and its relevancy in mundane life.( esplanade for cultural activities, authorities support for art establishment BUT still keeping tight limitations on art and cultural work )( desiring to travel planetary and in the average clip desiring to remain local… what is local? )However, can we truly perceive the memory that we collected in the museum as our belonging when the exhibition can be politically constructed or frame? In that sense, what we perceive as our belonging ; our place is constructed.

Hence, how the metropolis is shaped someway form that we are as an single being.

more and more… .more art infinites, y? Culture, preserve memory, art as memory, go throughing memory, museum.

( Politics behind it: – art as concern. So in the terminal it is still about money )Memory can be constructed, belonging can be constructed, y non? A batch of clip local creative person felt a menace because of the uncertainness of their ain belonging. ‘Singapore art ‘ is ne’er Singapore art. Can art non be a constructed individuality every bit good?( through consciousness, we make a pick ) Urban development to history… we chose to developed than keeping the yesteryear.

No opposition. Who to fault?Memories as narration of yesteryearthrough narrative experience, we so understand the infinite.

1. Lynn C. Robertson, Space, objects, heads, and encephalons ( New York, N.Y. : Psychology Press, 2004 ) , 1.

2. Gaston Bachelard, The poetics of infinite, trans. Maria Jolas ( Boston, Mass. : Beacon Press, 1994 ) , 4.
3. Yi fu tuan 149
4. Ibid, 9.

5. Robertson, 3.
6. Domestic Dystopia provides an penetration into six insides of bedraggled houses in Singapore. Each exposure reveals the hints of footfalls and feelings left behind by old residents, encapsulating these minutes in their personal histories in a snapshot of clip. Most of these houses have been abandoned and are left in a province of disrepair. By going a transcriber, Ho takes on the undertaking of interpreting the deep sense of loss and nostalgia she feels when she is inside these houses onto a series of exposure.

Picture recognition: Curating lab: 100 remix workshop organised by the National University of Singapore museum partnership with National Art Council of Singapore

7. Robertson,
8. From constructing dream- sunburn pin pin
9. explain