OPEN END: Resonate, Re-Read, Re-Trace
The Substation Archive
4 Oct - 4 Dec 2024, Mon - Fri
Library Hours: 10.00am - 12.30pm & 2.00pm - 5.00pm (closed on public holidays)
National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew’s Rd
Supreme Court Wing, Level 3, UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, Rotunda Library & Archive
About the Event
Explore the legacy of Singapore’s first independent contemporary arts center, The Substation, through the works of artists Urich Lau, Chong Li-Chuan, and curator Adrian Tan. OPEN END reactivates the often quiet, still and polite Rotunda Library & Archive, with text-based compositions, video installations, and soundscapes that critically explore the power dynamics embedded in the archive’s materials.
Supported by the Platform Projects Curatorial Award overseen by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, this exhibition is developed in collaboration with the National Gallery Singapore's Rotunda Library & Archive, and co-presented in conjunction with The Substation's Gathering Ground 2024.
“Resonate” by Chong Li-Chuan
Experience the archive through sound, inspired by the ambient noises of past Substation events.
Chong Li-Chuan (b. 1975) is a Singaporean composer and sound artist who is passionate about philosophy, culture, and the arts.
He began his career as a composer and sound designer in the 1990s through collaborations with artists and performers working in various fields, including theatre, dance, filmmaking, and design. His creative output includes music composition, sound design, field recording, soundscape composition, site-specific art, installations, free improvisation, and collaborative work exploring different modes of expression and the poetics of sound.
Li-Chuan has worked on projects in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore.
“Re-Read” by Urich Lau
Video works re-narrating past Substation catalogues
Focusing on video art, photography and media art, Urich Lau has presented his works in Singapore and internationally including Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Serbia, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, UK, US and Uzbekistan.
Urich's curatorial projects include Negentropic Fields at National Gallery Singapore (2020), SUPER–TRAJECTORY at Tainan Art Museum (2019) and ArtScience Museum in Singapore (2020), Sim Lim Square Art Residency for Singapore Art Week (2018), METAGRAPHY at DECK in Singapore (2017) and MEME Space in Taipei (2017), Seoul/Singapore Open Media Art Festival at Gillman Barracks in Singapore (2015) and Total Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul (2017), Videologue at Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (2012), and Videology at The Substation in Singapore (2008).
“Re-Trace” by Adrian Tan
New narratives formed from archival materials
Dr. Adrian Tan (b. 1980) is an artist-curator whose research focuses on art in public spaces, performance art, and contemporary art archives in Southeast Asia. He is currently working on a range of projects that explore these themes through both scholarly inquiry and artistic practice.
As co-founder of The Artists Company (TAC), he collaborates with artists on independent projects and exhibitions and is working on a research project with NTU Centre of Contemporary Art (CCA), The Substation and National Gallery Singapore (NGS)’s Rotunda Library & Archive as an awardee of the 2024 Platform Projects Curatorial Award.
Join Us
Exhibition
4 Oct - 4 Dec, Mon - Fri only
Library Hours: 10.00am - 12.30pm & 2.00pm - 5.00pm (closed on pub hol)
Free Admission
Curator’s Talk
4 Oct, 1 Nov, Fri
5.00pm - 6.00pm (60min)
Free Admission by registration with the Gallery
Registrations open soon
Live Performance "Sounds from/in the Archive"
& Artist Panel with Curator
16 Nov, Sat
2.00pm - 4.00pm (120min)
Free Admission by registration withthe Gallery
Registrations open soon
Presenting Partner
National Gallery Singapore
Programme Supporters
Platform Projects Curatorial Award
overseen by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
The Substation