ABOUT THE WORK
A Home Without a Shelter
A sculptural work consisting of camouflage suits standing in the gallery; imagining a world in which there is a rule that allows people to remain on private gardens as long as they blend into the environment. The work responds to the increasing privatisation of public walkways, public spaces, and vantage points.
Year
2018
Medium
Camouflage suits, Acetate Film, Mannequins.
Exhibition History
Commission for Singapore Art Museum.
Additional Information
President's Young Talent 2018 Finalist.
Page updated: 04 March 2024
THE BIG QUESTION
What unseen soil and labour circulates in Singapore?
ARTWORK IMAGES
RULES FOR THE EXPRESSION OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIRES USE OF PRIVATISED GREEN AREAS IS PERMITTED FOR THOSE IN CAMOUFLAGE
In this city, all private land parcels exceeding a certain minimum size must allocate at least 10% of green spaces on their land to a "private garden camouflage zone". People who wish to use parts of these private gardens for their own leisure are legally permitted to do so, so long as they are in camouflage.Special camouflage suits are manufactured and sold to suit every type of urban space. Members of the public blend seamlessly into the private gardens, private landowners are unable to see the public in their parks — the suits rendering them invisible whilst still actually completely visible.
Some entrepreneurial individuals have been trawling through the streets collecting soil and plant material, sewing the organic material into suits for would-be park goers. In particular, homeless people have been taking the most advantage of this scheme, devising the most ingenious ways of producing a camouflage suit at almost no cost, and becoming virtually invisible within some of these parks.
Many people in this city have mastered the fine art of blending in and remaining unseen whilst still in plain view.
EXHIBITION VIEW
