“You don't need much space to have sex,” Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State, famously said in 2016. 

But in a country where home ownership is an uphill battle for young adults looking to leave the nest, and spatial concerns like a lack of decent housing for foreign labourers and minority communities remain unaddressed, there is little room for basic privacy and individuality in our designated private spaces, let alone for sex.

The Substation’s PiakPiakPlace Insta-Comic Competition invited Singaporeans to celebrate their struggles and contestation for space with a healthy dose of satire and self-deprecating humour. What happens when spatial boundaries between the private and the public are blurred? How can we make room for staircase romps, e-scooter riders, and unauthorised picnics amidst increasingly privatised spaces and placemaking initiatives?

After 3 months of online submissions, the winners were selected by our panel of judges where they were presented their prizes at the opening of the PiakPiakPlace Insta-Comic Competition Showcase, where all the submitted works for the competition where on display at The Substation Gallery from 1 - 15 March 2020.

Jury Panel
Anngee Neo: @illobyanngee
Don Low: @donlowart
Miel: @toonsbymiel
@highnunchicken

Competition [Submissions now closed]

Submission period: 21 October 2019 to 6 January 2020
Closing date and time: 6 January 2020, 2300hrs SGT

Brief

Submit your best comic meme with an accompanying caption on Instagram to join. Ensure that your account is set to public and your entry can be found using the hashtags #piakpiakplace #substationcomiccompetition. You should prepare a copy of your comic in 300 dpi and in a format suitable for print (at least A3 size), in the event that your entry is selected for the winning showcase.

The entry should best illustrate a personal and/or collective struggle with space—whether private or public, physical or virtual. 

Prizes

1. Grand Prize (x1): $1,000

2. People’s Choice (x1): $800

3. Jurors’ Choice (x4): $500/each (each

Grand Prize Winner

@doodlesinabox

People’s Choice Winner

@rachelpangcomics

Juror’s Choice

@auntiewingz

Juror’s Choice

@cktanjames

Anngee Neo @illobyanngee

Ann Gee is a Singapore-based illustrator who create drawings with an emphasis on storytelling with compelling characters. Her quirky, surreal and whimsical works have breathed life to children’s books such as The Rock and the Bird, Do Gallery Sitters Sit All Day and Do You See What I See.

Don Low @donlowart

Graduated with a Master in Animation from Savannah College of Art & Design, Georgia, United States, Don Low is currently a freelance illustrator, and an adjunct drawing instructor teaching in two local universities. Don’s passion is drawing and sketching as much as time allows him to do so. With over 20 years of experience, he is an artist who delivers in several mediums and art forms, including both digital and traditional mediums (watercolour, pen & ink, oil and acrylics, etc), comic and caricature art, and figure drawing. His works are featured in The Art of Urban Sketching, An Illustrated Life 2,  Urban Sketchers Singapore Vol 1, and Urban Sketching: The Complete Guide to Techniques and more. His most recent publication is a graphic novel titled Kungfu Dough, funded by the National Heritage Board.

Miel @toonsbymiel

Miel is a Visual Artist, Cartoonist, Illustrator/Designer and works as a Senior Executive Artist at The Straits Times, Singapore’s top English-only daily newspaper. He received the National Cartoonists Society’s Newspaper Award for Illustration twice. The prestigious Society of News Design (SND) has also conferred on him an “Excellence Award in Illustration” at its 37th Annual Awards ceremony held in San Francisco in 2015. His cartoons are also published in newspapers such as Courrier.

@highnunchicken

Highnunchicken is just a group of cartoonists trying to make each other laugh. Nothing makes sense and you really shouldn’t waste your time on their page—there are better things to do on the Internet.