ANNEX B

List of 10 Featured Artists and their Art Installations

No Artist Gender Born Country of Birth Base

1 Olivia d’Aboville F 1986 Philippines Philippines

Martin Bevz M 1986 Australia Australia 2 Kathryn Clifton F 1985 Australia Australia

3 Li Hui M 1977 China China

4 Takahiro Matsuo M 1979 Japan Japan

5 Wiyoga Muhardanto M 1979 Indonesia Indonesia

6 Dev Harlan M 1978 USA USA

Vertical Submarine: Loke Kian Whee, Justin M 1979 Singapore 7 Yang Kwang Yong, Joshua M 1974 Malaysia Singapore Koh Wen Chii, Fiona F 1983 Singapore Singapore

8 Edwin Tan M 1981 Singapore Singapore

9 Olivia Lee F 1985 Singapore Singapore

10 Ryf Zaini M 1980 Singapore Singapore

Coral Garden (2012) Olivia d’Aboville, The Philippines

Bio

Olivia d’Aboville is an emerging French-Filipino artist who graduated with honours from Duperré, a prestigious Textile Design school in Paris in 2009. D’Aboville specialised in tapestry and textile structures and she rapidly adapted the techniques to create her own woven forms. She has been exploring sculpting with textile techniques since then and had her first solo exhibition Chasm of Fantasies at the Ayala Museum in Manila, the Philippines, in 2010. She was nominated and shortlisted for the Ateneo Art Awards 2011.

From plastic spoons to pins and water bottles, d’Aboville is fascinated by ordinary mass-produced objects. These objects, due to our society and our lifestyle, are inevitably destroying our environment and polluting our seas. She manipulates materials at hand to create new work, recycling them to generate objects which are completely different. For every interesting element which inspires her, d’Aboville asks herself what she can do this it: can it be cut, bent, heated, stretched, or accumulated to create a new form?

D’Aboville is very sensitive to light, fluidity and movement and finds endless inspiration from the ocean. She is fascinated by the mystery, beauty and creatures of the underwater world and tries to raise awareness about the importance of preserving marine biodiversity through her work. Her work has been exhibited in museums, galleries, hotels and festivals in France, Hong Kong, Manila and the United States. It ranges from textile jewellery to sculptures, lighting design and installation art.

Concept

Coral reefs form some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on earth. They occupy less than a tenth of 1% of the ocean surface, yet provide as home for 25% of all marine species. However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems which are dying. They are under threat from climate change, ocean acidification, blast fishing, over-use of reef resources, urban and agricultural runoff and water pollution.

Coral Garden is an installation of a multitude of coral-like sculptures made of transparent cocktail stirrers and an acrylic base. The composition of the sculptures resembles a coral reef which viewers will be drawn to and can interact with, as fish do with actual reefs.

Coral Garden makes reference to ongoing restoration projects which seek to stimulate the reformation of damaged reefs. The work promotes the beauty and importance of coral in the well-functioning of our ecosystem. The cocktail stirrers from which the work is composed is a symbol of consumerist society, an element which is polluting our seas.

Coral Garden is a festival commission.

Immersion (2011) Martin Bevz & Kathryn Clifton, Australia

Bio

Martin Bevz has worked in the events industry for the past decade as a production manager at a bespoke lighting company. During this time, he has acquired vast experience in short turn-around events, effective creative concepts and energy-efficient solutions.

Kathryn Clifton draws inspiration from her studies in primary education, considering ease of interaction for the young and old whilst developing a concept for an installation.

Bevz and Clifton designed Immersion for the 2011 Vivid Festival in Sydney, Australia. As a collaborative team, they have proven to be successful in translating design concepts into fully interactive lighting installations.

Concept

The inspiration behind its design comes from watching children run through a water fountain. Seeing the children’s faces light up as they ran through the water inspired the concept of a digital water fountain. Interaction is by movement within the installation – a waving gesture is symbolic as the viewer meets light.

Immersionis a self-supported 8-metre wide circular array of vertical LED strip lighting which is pixel-mapped to form a complete video display. Textural content is then displayed that can be instantly manipulated by the viewer’s motion which is captured by infrared cameras.

Cameras within the installation capture live footage which is used to manipulate the displayed textural content. The interaction is instantaneous, fun and easy to use. During “off-peak” times, Immersion continues to display interesting content which will lure curious onlookers.

The Gate (2007) Li Hui, China

Bio

Li Hui (born 1977) graduated from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing in 2003. He currently lives and works in Beijing. As a conceptual artist, he works in diverse mediums including transparent neon-lit acrylic sculptures and laser beams and visualizes the uniqueness and new boundaries of the new age of Chinese New Media Art in his sculptures. With the help of modern techniques, Li Hui articulates philosophical considerations and an almost poetic aura surrounds the result.

Li Hui has exhibited extensively, including major solo exhibitions at Schering Stiftung, Berlin, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei and Museum Kunstlicht in de Kunst, Eindhoven. His work has also been featured in the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, the National Museum of Contemporary Art Seoul, the Busan Biennale (2006), Shanghai Biennale (2006), and Chengdu Biennale (2005).

Concept

The idea of a doorway or a gate has always been central to many cultures and religions. Whether a path to another realm, another level of spirituality or simply another beginning, a gate is a symbol of many things.

In Li Hui’s work, The Gate becomes a powerful image of passage and enlightenment. Hundreds of small beams of light frame the door, coming straight past the viewer, splashing red into eternity. Blinded if you transgress beyond the narrow path offered by the doorway, you end up confronting your own reflection as you approach the gate, barricaded from advancing past it by your doppelganger. In this case, the gate is ‘false’ and you will have to step into the laser beams and around the structure to get to the other side.

The juxtaposition of the ostensible path and the inability to walk through the gate offers many layers of interpretation, not least regarding the idea of enlightenment as a goal that can never be reached. At the same time, one can also consider the idea that it is the path one walks that is important, not necessarily the destination.

Mysticism aside, Li Hui’s The Gate is pure visual poetry and bound to be appreciated for its sheer dramatic impact as well.

White Rain (2011) Takahiro Matsuo, Japan

Bio

Takahiro Matsuo was born in Japan in 1979 and graduated from the Art and Information Design Department of the Kyushu Institute of Design. Matsuo has created many installations for exhibitions and stage performances. Combining the physical movement of participants with computer graphics, sound and light in interactive creations, Matsuo’s work is a fantastical experience which reminds viewers of their imaginations and memories. His light installations produce a sense of being between reality and unreality, rousing in each viewer a sense of humanity which transcends nationality and age. In recent years, Matsuo has exhibited his work at global art and design festivals, including Ars Electronica (Austria), Siggraph (USA), FILE (Brazil) and Milano Salone (Italy).

Concept

White Rain is an installation of white light which focuses on the sense of infinity produced by the behaviour and the beauty of light. Participants experience the poetry and beauty of light which falls like rain around them. An irregular rain of light falls and changes as the visitor moves inside the space, creating a truly immersive experience.

White Rain makes use of a specially-designed acrylic bar encasing LED, sensors and other motion-sensor equipment. The bar was developed for this installation in collaboration with Color Kinetics Japan.

Tangible Gallery (2012) Wiyoga Muhardanto, Indonesia

Bio

Born in Jakarta in 1984, Muhardanto studied Fine Arts at the Bandung Institute of Technology. He graduated from the university in 2007. In his work, Muhardanto is known for creating replicas of various objects to raise concerns relating to consumerist culture. Since 2005, he has exhibited his work in Indonesia and abroad, including at platforms such as ArtStage (Singapore), 3331 Arts Chiyoda (Japan) and the Saatchi Gallery (UK). He is currently interested in creating installations which encourage interaction by visitors.

Concept

Tangible Gallery is a self-contained art gallery which will show approximately five to seven artworks, which are replicas of famous art works. Playing with the idea of the absence of light, Wiyoga will keep the entire gallery in darkness. If visitors want to see the artwork inside it, they will have to provide their own light source, for example, using their own mobile devices.

In Tangible Gallery, the light is in the hands of the visitor. The artist hopes that visitors to the gallery will approach the art in the gallery like they would treasure in a cave, gradually perceiving what they find inside it. At the same time, the work deals with issues of authenticity and the art market, as well as the role of the spectator is deciding what actually is art.

Tangible Gallery is a festival commission.

Parmenides I (2011) Dev Harlan, USA

Bio

Dev Harlan is a multidisciplinary artist whose hybrid practice combines the physical and the virtual in the use of sculpture, light and projection. As a self- educated artist, designer and CG director, Dev's uniquely identifiable aesthetic language and reductionist approach place his work at the forefront of a new mode of media arts practice.

Harlan has an extensive screening history at reputed festivals such as Scope NY Cinema Series, Optronica Festival and One Dot Zero. His sculptural works have been shown in the US at Whitebox Gallery, Rouge58, Scope Miami Art Fair, and the Vimeo Film Festival. Recently, Harlan has just completed a major solo show at the Christopher Henry Gallery (New York, USA) with two floors of light sculpture work. Dev lives and works in New York, USA.

Concept

Parmenides I is a large scale geometric sculpture incorporating 360º projection mapped video. The work has been previously exhibited at the New Museum's "New Ideas for the New City Festival (NYC)" and the Christopher Henry Gallery as part of Dev Harlan's recent solo show "The Astral Flight Hangar". The work will be adapted for outdoor installation at .

Reminiscent of 1960s Op Art, Parmenides I is a hypnotic 3D projection of swirling abstract patterns that present an amazing sense of movement, colour and form.

Planting Shadows (2009) Vertical Submarine, Singapore

Bio

Vertical Submarine is an art collective consisting of Singaporeans Joshua Yang, Fiona Koh and Justin Loke. It was formed in 2003 and its name was taken from the word subvert, which is rotated to become vert-sub and expanded to form Vertical Submarine. The group has appeared in local exhibitions of intricate installations involving everyday objects, text and an acquired sense of humour. The group won the Singapore President’s Young Talents Award in 2009 and the Celeste Prize for installation in 2011. Vertical Submarine is also the Associate Artistic Director at Theatreworks and Associate Artist at .

Concept

Planting Shadows was first created for an exhibition at the Botanic Gardens in 2009, where Vertical Submarine created a field of grey sunflowers. For iLight Marina Bay, the collective will adapt the work for a night-time installation, creating a landscape of night-blooming plants in the CBD. Each sunflower is between 3 – 4 metres tall.

This project is based on a poem by local writer, Chien Swee-Teng*. The poem is about the common tale of a sunflower plantation owner’s pact with an imp who lived in an empty bottle of sunflower oil, for success in his trade [1]. However, unlike most of these stories, where a person offers his or her soul in exchange for favours, the imp gave the protagonist a really good Faustian bargain, asking for something minor yet consequential - to be blind to the colour of his trade. In this scenario, the poem relates the reader to Little Mermaid’s decision of being mute, in order to be human.

In this instalment, Vertical Submarine attempts not only to ‘translate’ the poem by presenting the visual phenomenon of ‘self-illuminating grey sunflowers’, but the act of ‘turning the flowers to the colour of their shadows’ also aims to direct the viewers’ attention, purely, to the form and colour of sunflower, like a pencil drawing, through the very absence of its colour.

Planting Shadows will be adapted for the festival. ------[1] Based on The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson (1893)

enLIGHTenment (2012) Edwin Tan, Singapore

Bio

Edwin Tan is the founder of local design studio Brave Company. During his four-year stint at the firm Asylum Creative, Tan worked on projects ranging from interactive and environmental design to branding and graphic design. Conceptualising Singapore brands such as Frolick, Loof and the White Rabbit from the very start and working with clients such as Club21 and Levi’s, Tan has won numerous international awards. His work has been featured in design books and magazines.

Concept

enLIGHTenment is an installation comprising a video wall made up of multi-coloured light tubes. While in an idle state, the installation will display a screensaver animation. Once activated through a console in front of the light display, the installation goes into “thinking” mode. After a few seconds, enLIGHTenment enlightens the audience with a YES/NO answer to a question the visitor is encouraged to ask before he presses the button on the console. enLIGHTenment is a festival commission.

FLOW (2012) Olivia Lee, Singapore

Bio

Singaporean industrial designer Olivia Lee graduated from the UK’s Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in 2008 with First Class Honours and soon established herself on the international scene. While based in London, Olivia worked in multiple areas of design on a diverse range of projects. In addition to developing her personal projects and engaging in commercial design work, she has collaborated with scientists under the NOBELINI Scheme pioneered by the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, worked on presentations for the ICSID World Design Congress with the New York ARUP Foresight department and was recently invited by the British Council to partake in the Milan Sketchbook project.

In her two years spent working for designer Sebastian Bergne, Lee honed her design sensibilities and engaged in projects for Proctor & Gamble, Tefal and Swarovski. Independently, she has designed for Mathmos, Aquascutum, PI Global and has been involved in a branding workshop conducted by LVMH. She has also been featured as guest illustrator for Singapore’s ICON Magazine and worked for several other publications. Olivia recently sold her D&AD student awards-nominated concept furniture piece Stream of Light at Mint (UK) this year and is currently collaborating on production design with filmmakers from NYU Tisch Asia.

Concept

FLOW takes inspiration from an amalgamation of ideas that informs its approach to Asian culture, interactivity and self-sustainability. FLOW is an installation consisting of a series of illuminated vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT). The VAWTs are connected to built-in LEDs, harnessing the power of wind to generate light. As wind passes through the installation, the turbines move and flicker to life. In periods of low wind, the installation invites the interactivity of the public to turn the VAWTs by hand and experience the immediate feedback of converting kinetic energy into light. The gesture resembles the contemplative ritual of turning prayer wheels: an act of accumulating wisdom and goodness in parallel with our desires of environmental merit and purity.

FLOW is a festival commission.

5QU1D (2012) Ryf Zaini, Singapore

Bio

An engineering graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, Ryf Zaini’s interest in the arts led him to LASALLE College of the Arts in 2003, from which he completed a diploma in interactive media and graduated with First Class Honors in Media Arts. As a student, Ryf participated in several festivals such as the , and the Singapore Arts Festival. His interest was drawn toward utilising his understanding of electronic engineering and translating it into artistic content.

After his studies, Ryf participated in several exhibitions in which he created hybrids of technologically-informed art. Ryf’s installations merge ideas relating to technology and the arts, and his work has been exhibited at (Singapore), the Esplanade (Singapore) and ARTRIANGLE (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Ryf has also created interactive light installations for the Malay Heritage Centre (Singapore) and has completed a residency at the Singapore Science Centre in 2011.

More recently, Ryf has shifted his interest toward constructing large-scale sculptures of mythical creatures which reflect issues relating to a society’s reliance on technology and the social constructs which encourage it. Ryf exhibited such sculptures at the as part of the ’s fringe event “Disarming the Lion”, and at the Sea Art Festival 2011, organised by the Busan Biennale Committee (South Korea). These works were displayed in site- specific locations and encouraged public interactivity.

Concept

Marina Bay has evolved from a non-existent land to being one of the most exclusive and spectacular waterfront districts of an international standard. With a balance of commercial buildings and entertainment places that create this unique skyline, Marina Bay has certainly helped Singapore evolve into a bustling cosmopolitan city.

It is difficult to imagine that 40 years ago, Marina Bay did not exist at all. It would also not be surprising to recognise that inhabitants of the surrounding sea have also evolved into beings which attempt to blend themselves into this new environment.

5QU1D is a squid-like creature which looks like it has finally emerged from the desolate sea to finally present itself to the world. It seeks to identify itself with the world, shelled and protected; it crawls out of the sea, trying to merge itself with the skyscrapers. At 5m in height, the creature’s head, too, looks like the crown of one of the surrounding buildings.

The qualities of the creature enable it to blend with its surroundings during the day, with its geometric form, similar to buildings. It will come alive at night to enable the public to recognize and identify its presence.

5QU1D is a festival commission.