while we wait
6pm - 10pm on 22 September (Opening evening)
22 - 30 September 2020
12pm - 8pm daily (Closed on Mondays)
The Substation Gallery
45 Armenian Street
while we wait is a solo presentation by Cynthia Delaney Suwito. Orientating around the physical space of a train cabin, Cynthia is interested in making physical the worlds in which people commute, whilst waiting for their destinations. Using an observational lens, the show premises around the different spaces in which we occupy - the physical and the digital. From that, the works can be read as a manifestation of these worlds, imagined through Cynthia’s lens; one of an outsider who is interested in your world.
Credits: The exhibition is supported by The Substation’s sandbox platform, Seelan Palay, Program Manager, and Woon Tien Wei, Co-Artistic Director, The Substation.
Curatorial Essay
Moses Tan
Exhibition Setup
Isyraf bin Sabtu
Nur Aliff Osman
Azril bin Athni
Special Thanks
Grace A. K., Tan Hong Xiang, Shirly Koh.
Exhibition Floorplan
① while we wait, 2020
Print on poster paper, print on acrylic, print on vinyl sticker, acrylic on drawing paper
Curatorial Essay
By Moses Tan
“Typing on a 6-inch screen,
dragging down,
bursting jewels to clear the next stage,
click,
watching a lover’s tiff,
single swipe,
moving quietly to the beat,
double taps,
scrolling through feeds
momentary pause.”
while we wait is a solo presentation by Cynthia Delaney Suwito. Orientating around the physical space of a train cabin, Cynthia is interested in making physical the worlds in which people commute, whilst waiting for their destinations. Using an observational lens, the show premises around the different spaces in which we occupy - the physical and the digital. From that, the works can be read as a manifestation of these worlds, imagined through Cynthia’s lens; one of an outsider who is interested in your world.
“In that way that language determines how we think, material determines how we move around the world. Phenomenologically, new materialisms demand an understanding of the world as a field of matter that is differentiated - by being active, full of agency, affected by other objects or humans - and in constant relation with each other, in most theories by being set within a network.”
Melissa Gronlund
Contemporary Art and Digital Culture
Similarly, just as Gronlund has observed, the worlds in which we envision can be understood to be in constant flux, phenomenologically responding to one another. It is with these distillates that we can engage with the works Cynthia makes. In them, she envisions and translates these networks and spheres.
Through the daily collection of ‘data’ during her commute, Cynthia notes the colours of one’s screen and the clothing a stranger adorns. In various disarrays, these observations serve as different ways to highlight the worlds each commuter occupies. From both the physical (dressing) to that of the digital (phone screen), the works attempt to articulate and translate these worlds into different triangulations for the gallery space.
Another aspect of Cynthia’s practice is her methodological approach. The observational lens she adopts, which can be seen as a study of phenomena she experiences. Phenomenology, a study of consciousness can then be a way to indulge in Cynthia’s works. She highlights some of these oft-missed elements of the transitional space and presents it to the viewer. The sensation she experiences is now a visual affect that you resonate with in the various articulations presented in the gallery space.
And as we proceed down the train of colours and patterns, we also find ourselves navigating through the different disarrays, presented in an order - similar to how the work of a cataloguer, with the different sensations presented in an ‘archival’ manner. The viewer, while perhaps engrossed, perhaps distracted in the space of the gallery performs the last disarray, as audiences captured by the different worlds Cynthia has created from the world that a stranger has provided.
With the last swipe of the brush and pen, the rumbling of the train reaches the next stop and a mechanical voice announces the station name. Some leave the space and some stay, going back into the spaces they’ve occupied . The conscious body then slumps back into the curves of the bright coloured seat, waiting.
while we wait is a part of
A platform dedicated to a testing environment for the arts. They embody the spirit of the Substation where it is a Space to Experiment, Fail, Learn and Try Again. Artistic play and experimentation are essential to growing a healthy arts ecosystem.
Through sandbox, we provide spaces for a range of artistic projects (exhibitions, labs & jams) to take place. We encourage self-organising, collaborative processes and active engagement between art and audience.