| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: A bicycle, a book, a stool and some buttons.
These are just some of the works visitors will see upon entering the Singapore Supergarden at the 11th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition in Italy, which runs from Sept 14 to Nov 23.
Presented by Design Singapore Council, the Singapore Pavillion will be situated in a courtyard that leads into a room where over 22 objects from various designers, artists and architects will be laid out on a table.
Among the participants are: Lead curator group FARMWORK, Really Architecture, Mixed Reality Lab, Asylum, kwodrent, Tang Ling Nah and Donna Ong.
Apart from the Design Singapore Council contingent, three other Singaporeans are participating in the Biennale: Hans Tan, Hunn Wai and Wong Shujun.
This will be the third consecutive time Singapore is participating in the international architecture biennale.
This year, they’ve taken a “radical approach” said DesignSingapore Council director Dr Milton Tan at yesterday’s press conference.
They’ve taken on a “much younger team” and are showing “emerging ideas”.
Most of the works are works in progress, such as a sketch of an unfinished T-shirt design by designer Hanson Ho.
But that’s part of the plan, said FARMWORK director Peter Sim, who said that each object will be accompanied by short audio recordings of artists having a dialogue with each other.
The idea of a “supergarden” goes beyond the idea of Singapore as a “garden city”, he said.
It is a metaphor for the country’s emerging design culture, which sees active interaction among the various disciplines.
“It’s not purely architecture or purely graphic design,” he said.
Sim added that the interactive idea behind Supergarden is similar to the informal quarterly forum ROJAK organised by FARM and the architectural forum Really Architecture.
There are plans to exhibit Singapore Supergarden locally in 2009 but in the meantime, one can learn more about it at their offical website, www.supergarden.sg or at the upcoming architecture festival Archifest 2008 at the National Library on Oct 10, 7pm.
In related news, DesignSingapore Council gets a change in leadership as founding chairperson Edmund Cheng recently stepped down after five years.
Taking over is deputy chairman Robert Tomlin.
Cheng, who was recently appointed for a second three-year term as National Arts Council chairman, will continue to head Design Singapore’s International Advisory Panel.
An active participant in the local arts scene, Tomlin is the chairman of the Singapore Repertory Theatre and founding director of the Singapore Lyric Opera and The Arts House. - TODAY/ra
|
