[R.I.T.E.S #04-2011] - New Threads #01
Rooted In The Ephemeral Speak presents
Chand ChandraMohan
Elizabeth Lim
Justin Lee
Jason Lee and Arif Ayab
8pm, Thursday, 21st July 2011
The Substation, Theatre
45 Armenian Street
This event is by free admission and donations are welcome.
New Threads #01: a special platform for new emerging artists in the field of performance art. R.I.T.E.S. had started a new platform to present emerging artists or artists who wish to attempt going into the terrain of live performance as part of their practice of art making normally in other media. Providing an opportunity for multidisciplinary and performance artists to develop and present their works in the realm of performance art, our objective here is to advance the regeneration process specifically in performance art and time-based arts practices. Through the presentations of these promising emerging artists, this platform intends to ascertain and encourage these individuals as potential artistic contributors to the developments of performance art practice in Singapore and beyond.
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Artist Biography:
Chand ChandraMohan is currently a student at LASALLE College of the arts. She is doing the undergraduate programme in Fine Arts specialising in painting. Although she works mostly in a 2D medium, she is very much interested in exploring the relations between space, object, and body which brought about her interest in performance art. In both her paintings and performances, she aims to explore surrealist themes as she wishes to connect the mind and the body as a whole. She feels that these two are very much considered separate in her observations, and chooses to work with these themes as a starting point.
Chand’s piece, “Mind” would be an exploration of material in real time in the context of a theatre setting in reference to the single spotlight. The piece would be exploring the relationship between biology and psychology, testing concentration and the physical limits of the actual body. The theatre reference comes about in the single spotlight adding an almost surrealist aspect to the piece, which further brings about the theme of the mind.
Elizabeth Lim has grown up being exposed to the eclectic society of Singapore. She has been traveling since an early age, which may contribute to her strong interest in the interactions between culture and people from different walks of life. Her upcoming projects are concerned with trying to expand the definitions of "Singaporean Art". More importantly, she is investigating the endless potential and possibilities Art and its mediums have to offer her. She further develops herself, first as a human being then as an Artist, to uncover what she has to offer Art. In her performance practice, she have noticed a compulsive need for a routine or a time where she is in control and everything will be in order, according to the artist. Her performance “Timekeeper”, looks into this fixation with uniformity, the self, and these formed structures in relation to the space, and human interaction (from audience). This will be explored through the use of sound, everyday objects, and items that are important to the artist. The objects reflecting the compulsion to make things just so on a day-to-day basis, and the important items as a hypothesis on the artist’s need for these routines and habits. This work is an exploration into the artist's self and her practice as a performer.
Justin Lee has been actively exhibiting widely since 1996 making an impact with his pop art imageries. His prolific and witty productions offers a unique understanding of contemporary Singapore society and lifestyle with a blend of cultures from the east and west. Justin also seeks to record everyday lifestyle into visual art based on his cultural background and surrounded by doubting questions appearances. He believes that art play an important part in helping people to grow and heightens awareness of them. His current works reflect on how text influences and controls the users in our daily lifestyle. His works also reflect on words and images from the mass media like signage, billboards and consumer products, which control our thoughts and expression. Justin Lee’s piece, “Eat Fast Food Fast” will be a dialogue in which the artist uses fast food to interact with the audiences explores the consumerist tendencies of society and the transpiration of truth in one’s media-fixated urban lifestyle.
Jason Lee graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2006 with Diploma in Visual Communication, specializing in photography design. In 2010, he obtained a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts from the University of Huddersfield, UK.His current works deals with wide issues that revolve around the urban environment and contemporary society that inspires him. His artistic interest lies in the areas of urbanization, abandoned traditions, and sub-cultural lifestyle. Art to him is a platform to explore issues that are being misunderstood or overlooked. He has participated in group exhibitions and collaborations. He received special commendation in the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2010 (UK) under the portfolio category. He is based in Singapore and is a present member of The Artists Village.
Arif Ayab (A.K.A Reef) is a musician member of a Singapore based band Under the Velvet Sky, UTVS. He had collaborated in other music projects with artists like Lee Wen, Zai Kuning, Bani Haykal, to name a few. In mid 2011, Reef began presenting his solo performances combining music, sound, poetry & performance art in his act. Recently, he had also performed in R.I.T.E.S with Wunderspaze, a loose collective of artists and artworkers interested in the research and presentation of art.
Jason Lee and Reef will be presenting their inaugural collaborative piece, “Born From the Wasted”, whereby both artists experiment the sounds and instrumentations on matters that would considered as trash or recyclables and objects associated with nature. The 'trash' include food wrappers, plastic containers, disposable cups, cartons, styrofoam, and so on. They will investigate the relationship between waste and nature, and how humans play a critical role in them. The performance aims to question our awareness towards ecology when disposing our daily waste. It serves as a platform for the artists to demonstrate re-connections with the natural environments and generate conversations with nature.
