Come January 14, visitors can look forward to an exciting line-up of art experiences at Singapore Art Museum’s new space in Tanjong Pagar Distripark, signalling its shift away from the four walls of a museum as part of plans to diffuse art into various parts of Singapore.
“The new SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark allows us to showcase large-scale installations—from experimental, multidisciplinary art, to multi-sensorial family-friendly exhibitions. The space is purposefully designed to spark collaborations between our partners, artists and audiences, and will be a key site for talks, workshops and programmes. With its unique location in a historic port and near heritage neighbourhoods, we hope that this space will be a new art destination for people of all ages and backgrounds to discover contemporary art, create new memories and connections, and be inspired by different perspectives about our world today as well as our possible futures,” says Dr Eugene Tan, Director of SAM.
Expansive galleries for experimental art-making and immersive installations
Level 1 features two climate-controlled galleries hosting large-scale exhibitions by local and international artists.
In Gallery 1, Singapore-based band The Observatory presents REFUSE, an immersive world inspired by the bifold meaning of “refuse” as waste and detritus, and as defiant gestures and resistance. Comprising an inter-media exhibition about music, mushrooms and decomposition, it brings together the band’s interest in fungi and mycelial networks to explore decomposition and composition from biological and musical perspectives. REFUSE takes on a multidisciplinary approach, involving a close-knit network of collaborators to convert the bio-rhythms of live mushrooms into sounds.
Thai-born and US-based artist Korakrit Arunanondchai’s A Machine Boosting Energy into the Universe transforms Gallery 2 into a post-apocalyptic environment with used electronics, auto parts, and clothing that have been refashioned into cyborgian figures. A site-specific manifestation of the artist’s 2015-16 video installation, Painting with history in a room filled with people with funny names 3, will unfold in the space. As the inaugural presentation of SAM’s Material Intelligence, it explores the coming together of craft and industrial modes of production, advanced technologies, and spiritual beliefs.
Versatile spaces for art encounters, collaborative exchanges and programming
SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark will also be a key platform for enabling connections between museum visitors through public programmes, and active collaboration and co-creation.
The Engine Room, a multi-purpose space on Level 1 hosts Gan Siong King: My Video Making Practice, spotlighting the Malaysian artist’s engagements with the medium of video. It features Kecek Amplifier Bersama Nik Shazwan (2019) and My Video Making Practice (2021), and specially designed benches made in collaboration with researchers at Singapore Institute of Technology, making use of low-frequency vibration to accompany high-frequency audio from the video works for a richer viewing experience.
At the reception foyer, cross-disciplinary art collective vertical submarine presents an updated version of Flirting Point, an interactive installation that invites visitors to reflect on social interactions, which take on renewed meaning in the current time of social distancing. Two artworks by Singapore-based artists Hazel Lim-Schlegel and Andrea Schlegel in collaboration with neuewave, as well as Michael Lee will also enliven the common areas around Tanjong Pagar Distripark.
SAM’s pilot Residents Chu Hao Pei, Salty Xi Jie Ng, and Johann Yamin, will be presenting their continued explorations into diverse topics of interest such as rice, rituals and gaming in Present Realms at the Level 3 residency spaces. It reflects the shared and interactive working environment that defines SAM Residencies, extending these exchanges to visitors who can participate in the further development of their research.
To complete the visitor’s art experience, a coffee bookshop operated by Epigram Bookshop and Balestier Market Collective will open in mid-2022. Overlooking the port, it offers visitors a space to refresh themselves and pick up local book titles.
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