This week, the blockbuster Patricia Piccinini exhibition kicks off at ArtScience Museum, signifying the lauded Australian artist’s first major showcase in Southeast Asia. Her hyperrealistic creatures straddle the world of human and animals, hoping to provoke people to think more of humanity’s relationship with the environment and ethically slippery things such as genetic engineering. Details below.
Seminal Australian artist Patricia Piccinini is having her first major solo showcase in Southeast Asia with the opening of her new exhibition, Patricia Piccinini: We Are Connected, at ArtScience Museum. It looks to be a doozy, especially if you’re a fan of that branch of sci-fi that delves into ethically slippery topics such as cloning and genetic engineering.
For the uninitiated, Piccinini is best known for her hyperrealistic sculptures that typically depict transgenic creatures (transgenic refers to organisms who have had foreign DNA from another species forcibly introduced to their bodies) and human-animal hybrids.
And while Piccinini’s surreal creatures (born out of materials like silicone, fibreglass, resin and even human hair) may look like they come straight from sci-fi films like Okja or Aliens, the artist intends them to raise questions on humans’ relationships with technology and nature. In reality, we’re already making tentative inroads into Piccinini’s world – after all, scientists in recent years have cloned animals and even successfully implanted genetically modified pigs heart into humans. Unlike how “strange” animals and beings are often depicted as monstrous or villainous in Hollywood, Piccinini chooses instead to celebrate everything that is conventionally seen as “different”.
There are more than 40 works on display at the exhibition, and while they may come across as bizarre or even startling, they ask poignant questions ,such as how humans typically see themselves as superior to the other lifeforms that share the planet – hence our exploitation of the environment and animals.
“I’m interested in reflecting on the experience of contemporary life. There are so many challenges facing us in the world today, but I believe that there is a way forward through art and connections between beings,” says the artist. “Nowadays it is increasingly hard to work out where technology starts and nature ends. Perhaps this is a chance to reimagine our relationship with nature. Perhaps we can again see ourselves as part of nature, so caring for the world is also caring for ourselves.”
Get your tickets here.
Opens August 5 to January 29, 2023 at ArtScience Museum
The Singapore Garden Festival is currently ongoing and as part of its line-up, beloved botanical design studio Humid House was tapped on to create a custom piece. Titled Vessel Garden, the immersive installation is located right outside Ion Orchard and it takes inspiration from Singapore’s history as a port city, featuring an impressive array of nearly 200 vessels of various shapes, textures and sizes.
Southeast Asian history typically form the bedrock of any Humid House project and for this installation, they thought of how pots are used in various day-to-day activities in cultures around the region, such as the storage of tea leaves, making of soy sauce and the fermenting of fish.
This translated into a desire to shine the spotlight on vessels, which are usually overlooked in favour of the flora. For Humid House fans, you’ll know that this is something the studio has been doing for a while now, especially with the exhibition they staged in Paris earlier this year that focused on celebrating not just flowers but the vessels that house them.
The vessels are complemented with a selection of tropical plants sourced from around the region, as well as a soundtrack by celebrated electronic music producer and DJ Intriguant, inviting visitors to have a seat and revel in what the studio terms a “pleasure garden” set unexpectedly amidst an urban backdrop.
On now till August 7 at Ion Orchard
The annual National Day Parade (NDP) may be an institution but it could be a lot more fun. Here’s one of the best ways to spend your time on National Day: head down to Projector X to catch Wetter Together – a full-day extravaganza led by drag queen supreme Becca D’Bus (pictured) and burlesque dancer Lychee Bye.
There’ll be a flea market where a selection of goods and services from some of the best people that make this country a bit more fun for queer communities, tarot card readings, workshops where you can learn how to make a zine, draw (the most fabulous drag queen, Miss Vanda Joaquim), a revue of some of Singapore’s sexiest bodies, lip sync battles (of your favourite NDP songs!) and of course, Becca D’Bus signature Watch It Wet event – basically a live NDP watch party, but with a whole panel of say-it-as-it-is commentators.
Get your tickets here.
August 9, from noon onwards at Projector X: Riverside, #04-13 Riverside Point