Urban Land Art in Singapore
Abandoned Warehouse
Mohammad Sultan Road
October 2002
This exhibition was supported by Singapore National Arts Council, Lee Foundation and NTUC Income
Land Art
For over 70,000 years, human beings have been engaged with the environment and the land artistically. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Robert Smithson, Christo and Nancy Holt moved art outdoors from the galleries to engage the environment in large-scale installations. This was the beginning of Earthworks. Today, apart from continuing in the tradition of making artworks in the landscape, land artists such as Andy Goldworthy and Wolfgang Lieb have moved land art into the gallery using materials from the exterior environment to transform the interior space.
Land Art Underexposed in Singapore
As an underexposed contemporary art form in Singapore, we hope to bring Land Art to the attention of the public. Singaporeans might identify more with the urban landscape than with expansive foreign landscapes typical in Western Land Art explorations. As such, the six artists in this exhibition have chosen to transform a historic indoor site with materials such as clay, charcoal, salt and wax, water and light, hemp ropes and earth, sand, and grass.
Our Aim
Our aim is to invite our viewers to slowdown and contemplate the beauty of nature while still immersed in the commotion of a fast-paced urban society. All of the artists in this exhibition explore concepts and emotions such as happiness, growth and struggle through the use of natural materials. The intimate, alternate realities provided by the transformed space will enable Singaporeans to feel a sense of wonder and imagination. We hope that you may begin to experience life by seeing its multitude of connections as part of the natural force of the universe.
