Hi Racy and Chand! Fated Love Sky (FLS) is described as “a femme pop curatorial group”. So what exactly is femme pop?

Racy Lim (RL): “Femme pop is a mix of hyper-femininity, hyper-feminism and cyber-feminism. I get often told that feminism isn’t real and people have done or said things that have diminished its importance. So identifying our curatorial project as a femme pop group became our idea of a fun kickback. We put in a lot of work individually and collectively every day to process our feminine and feminist desires, so saying this out loud feels so good.”

Your visual art experiences are described as performances of humour, pop and parody meant to offer femme joy, agency, healing and power. How exactly is this intended to work?

RL: “Being funny dismantles pre-conceived notions of being ‘that girl’ – that smart girl, that hot girl, that academic girl, that manic pixie dream girl, that girl with a resting bitch face, that ex-girlfriend, that psycho ex-girlfriend, the list goes on. I enjoy it when someone with a sense of humour shows up, and people are just not expecting that layer of her identity. Parody, pop culture and humour are not monoliths, but avenues that provide healing power by empowering people to prioritise their needs and how they want to feel seen or heard. The sexism of ‘that girl’ is found widely in performance art spheres, and we wanted a project that could offer the space to heal from the toxicities of these archaic attitudes or environments. Reclamation comes from telling your story how you want, not how you’re expected to.”

Chand Chandramohan (CC): “Humour equates to femme joy: I am femme, and I experience a lot of joy when I use my wit and humour to make fun of people. Pop equates to agency: The more popular you are, the more agency you have to control your narrative. And parody equates to healing and power: I utilise the power to subvert narratives with humour because no one – no matter how rich or famous – can buy their way out of being mocked. In my opinion, roasting others is a true social equaliser.”

The upcoming FLS exhibition is built around the concept of a “love motel” – now you’ve got us piqued.

RL: “We first staged FLS last year when it was focused on the power of joy that comes with friendships and community. Coming off that, we wanted to build around the notion of play this time. We knew we wanted a hyper-pop aesthetic: everything fiery and loud. I was interested in exploring obsessive feelings, and Chand had this idea to create a peep-show moment. Given that the project is positioned around joy and agency, it felt natural to script our gaze through fantasies of luxury, beauty and moments of confessions.”

CC: “I am really interested in the idea of gatekeeping fun for this project. What does it look like when you get to be ‘the popular girl’? The idea of a love motel came about because we wanted to create a transient space of unbridled joy, where we get to be the messiest versions of ourselves and still be held in love.”

Pictured above: A lushly textured work by artist Weixin Quek Chong for FLS

How do pop cultural icons like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan – both of whom turn up on your mood board for this project – factor in?

RL: “Pop culture has a special place in our hearts – it’s humorous, critical and piercing. I love that energy in art and art critique. Placing critical thinking and humour together kind of messes with people’s heads, and I enjoy confusing people that way. I’m also hopeful that there’s room for fantasy and delusion – excessive imagination – to be written into art discourse. I’ve always wanted to amplify the ‘smart hot girl’ image through a digital social art experiment, and I’m glad I’m now getting to do some of that with FLS.”

CC: “I am obsessed with them because they are obnoxious, and I am obnoxious. They give me the bravery to become the true mess I aim to be. Honestly, though, why not be fascinated with these icons? They are femmes practising agency, celebrating themselves and their lives.”

Hilton and Lohan were often depicted in an unsavoury light in the 2000s – the era from which your images date back. These days though, people are reclaiming them. So what’s up with that?

RL: “I love these unsavoury and chaotic moments in pop because they dismantle the notion of the picture-perfect femme. Many of these references come very naturally to us. They’ve been part of our lives for a long time – even before Chand and I met each other – and we identify with them. We have funny conversations in real life and don’t hold our thoughts back… Some people find us too chaotic or unhinged, but I think that’s just us as people changing our rules and being very quick to evolve in our lives. In our pop cultural references, you can find all this energy – the good, the bad and the pretty.”

Pictured above: An installation by artist Rifqi Amirul Rosli for FLS

This renewed embrace of pop culture’s “bad taste queens”, hot fluorescent colours and ultra-feminine motifs – all elements in your project – seem to have some origins in the recent Y2K revival. would you agree?

RL: “This project is founded on good taste. With all due respect to the research and emotional work we’ve poured into FLS, we knew there would never be room for unpleasant aesthetics here. I also don’t regard what we do as Y2K since that was an incredibly sexist and fat-phobic era… That said, there is definitely a ‘queen’ aesthetic at play – one that people might associate with terms such as ‘self-obsessed’ or ‘indulgent’. People aren’t used to femmes putting themselves first. I am over feeling insecure about who I am and what I do. I put in a lot of work to make things happen and constantly do the most. I care about my friends and my well-being, and I hope everyone who works with us finds themselves in a safe environment filled with joy and celebration. That’s my curatorial statement. In prioritising notions of rest, play, resistance and self-care, FLS is about doing the absolute most for oneself.”

CC: “Are fluorescent colours in bad taste?”

You’re both millennials (Lim is 28, and Chandramohan is 30). Why do you think millennials and Gen Z audiences have such an affinity for these icons of camp and pop culture?

RL: “Because they’re fabulous and filled with love.”

CC: “Because we have the money now to get the things we wanted as children. Your mother previously wouldn’t buy you a Barbie doll and her accessories? Well, now you are Barbie, dolls.”

Is there such a thing as bad taste in art?

RL: “Bad taste is having bad industry ethics.”

CC: “Yes. That’s mediocre and boring. I would rather quit art than make art that way.”

So what can audiences expect to see and experience at the iteration of FLS during Singapore Art Week 2023?

RL: “A mix of video, mural and tactile installations. And lots of funny objects. The exhibition is going to be very sensual. We’re also putting on a live show hosted by the comedian Preetipls at The Projector Golden Mile on January 28, screening our four-episode parody and mockumentary on performance art – come!”

CC: “Sexy people. Watch our film, and you’ll agree. Also, if you disagree, why come in the first place?”

Pictured above: A still from artist Howie Kim’s short film for FLS

This article is adapted from a story that first appeared in the Jan/Feb 2023 Art & Music Edition of FEMALE