I am pretty sure many of us wish that the pandemic would go away. We all miss going out with large groups of friends, family gathering or maybe just not having to wear a mask when we head out. These are some of the things I personally miss before the pandemic hit.
We spend most of our time at home and our daily interactions with others went digital. We are constantly on our phones and usually communicate with others by engaging in social media related activities and streaming our favourite movies on platforms such as Netflix and Disney+.
What is Cyborg Thinks?
All we do is stay home and talk to our family members nowadays. Cyborg Thinks is a visual art exhibition with a fictional digital broadcasting station based in Ulsan and Singapore. The artists focuses on sharing everyday experiences that are normally not noticed.
Working against physical and geographical barriers, South Korean artists explored Singapore from their home country and vice versa by collecting information on the other’s behalf through instructions and research questions posed like an avatar.
The project creates an archive of knowledge through collecting data on-site which is later uploaded onto a digital platform. Some key points shared are urban development, culture, place and more. These digital experiments are the thoughts and emotions of the people involved and the results are interpreted and visualised through works of art.
Artists
The artworks were created by four talented artists, namely, Darae Baek, Jieun Gu, Jaxton Su and Lynette Quek.
South Korean Artists
Based in Korea and the UK, Darae Baek (top right in image) is a video installation artist who has participated in film festivals both nationally and internationally. Another artist, Jieun Gu (top left in image) is a Korea-based multidisciplinary artist who have participated in the science and art convergence project at Science Walden in Ulsan National Institute of Science Technology in 2017.
Singaporean Artists
Jaxton Su (bottom left in image) is an artist/curator and lecturer in Nanyang Technology University. “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” and “Two World” are some of his notable work. Finally, Lynette Quek (bottom right in image) came from a music and audio technology background where she then nurtured an interest in Sonic Arts and have incorporated some audio and visual elements in her work.
Installations
There are so many great works of visual art you can feast your eyes on, made by these amazing artists!
- Dust’s Gaze
Darae Baek creates dust (a chunk of data), for someone lost in the digital space that is a new home of daily life. The data stories go through the screen via the gaze of Dust and dump into the audience. The work consists of 6-channel videos which can be viewed via the website.
- Tropical Reveries – A Place for Everyone
Produced by Jaxton Su, A Place for Everyone features 4-channel videos within an artificial garden, decorated with signages that can be found at construction sites. You will get the change to immerse yourself within game-inspired moving images as you navigate your way through the strange garden.
- Docking Space
Created by Jieun Gu, this collage portrays the map of Korea and Singapore overlapping to create a single urban island. The work is the process of forming a new urban island. Images used to create the collage combines the line between reality and digital ambiguity.
- A Reminiscence Blur
The work, produced by Lynette Quek, demonstrates smooth change between the landscape across Ulsan and Singapore. This allows you to observe the contrast in concrete and greens. The data from the images creates a two-part video series.
These are such great pieces of work, providing u with insights of the digital world between Korea and Singapore. This is definitely an art installation like never before. Do not forget to share this with your friends and family and head down to the installation from June 26th to July 17th, 2021!
Cyborg Thinks (Singapore): Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre, 30A Yishun Central 1, Singapore 768796
Date: June 26th – July 17th, 2021
Admission: Free
