From left: Jennifer K. Y. Lam, Natalia Ludmila, Deusa Blumke, Urich Lau, Shih Yun Yeo, Martha Chaudhry.
Coming Together; Gaining Momentum
moderated by Jennifer K. Y. La, curator of National Gallery Singapore.
In light of this being an exhibition organised by an artist collective, the title (in)significant also alludes to the strength, energy and potency when a group of individuals act as a cohesive collective. Under instinctive, these individuals can carve a space for themselves to exhibit and platform new works, and to make an impact on the art scene—that is, to be rendered significant through collective action.
This panel discussion explores the possibilities but also the limitations of collaborations and cooperatives. How do a group of artists gather momentum, and sustain it? Speakers will share on the different structures of self-organisation, the goals and objectives they have set for themselves, and their desired yields in coming together.
The visual art collective instinctive presents instinctive 2.1: (in)significant. The exhibition brings together 12 artists from both Singapore and abroad of diverse practices and working across various mediums to explore the oft-overlooked aspect of size and scale in both the artwork and its subject. Accompanying the exhibition is a public programme featuring artists’ talk and a panel discussion titled Coming Together; Gaining Momentum with instinctive artists.
A Singapore-based artist collective, instinctive consists of artist-members from across the globe. It was first formed in 2016 with artists coming together in the tenets of collaboration, cultural exchange and friendship. Temporal in nature, instinctive renews itself on a yearly basis. The 2017/2018 iteration of instinctive include exhibiting artists Alba Escayo (Spain), Chang Hui Fang (Taiwan), Claire Deniau (France), Deusa Blumke (Brazil), Justin Lee (Singapore), Kim Kei (USA), Martha Chaudhry (USA), Natalia Ludmila (Mexico), Paul Campbell (USA), Shin-young Park (New Zealand), Urich Lau (Singapore) and Yeo Shih Yun (Singapore). instinctive 2.1: (in)significant is the second exhibition by the 2017/2018 iteration of instinctive. The first exhibition instinctive 2.0: (in)significant, held in October 2017 at INSTINC SOHO, explored the same themes of size and scale in relation to art-making and the viewers’ encounter of it, by featuring works no smaller than A4 (210 x 297 mm) and no larger than A2 (420 x 594 mm).
Now freed from the constraint of size and scale for instinctive 2.1: (in)significant, some of the artists revel in the evocative potential of large works. In paintings, large works allow for the spontaneous actions and gestures that fully engage the artist’s body in creation. Similarly, the materiality and physicality of large works hold the possibility of creating a relationship with the audience through an encounter that sees the audience moving closer, further or around the work, all the while contemplatively developing the many perspectives the viewer can make. And such engagement is sometimes central to the work, as when a work hides and reveals when seen at different angles, or evokes awe and power through its monumentality and grandness. Larger works also often engender a panorama—to see things often with more clarity from a distance, or to survey often more extensively from a bird’s-eye view, whether it is looking at places, personal experiences, or socio-cultural and political phenomena.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME | 28 April, Saturday
Artists talk | 2pm-3pm
with Claire Deniau, Deusa Blumke, Justin Lee & Kim Kei