RE-FABRICATED REALITIES
As the lines blur, how can we distinguish between fiction and reality?
This cinema showcases science fiction, First Nations knowledge and protocols, Asian mythology, history and culture to explore past, present, and future. The works manifest the artists’ curiosity, hopes and concerns for our collective future and touch upon the good, the bad, and the ugly of human relationships with non-humans, nature, and technology. Some works address the complex connections between people and machines, some depict changing landscapes across Asia, while others are concerned about the fabricated realities created by artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
How should we go through these uncertain times together?
Re-fabricated Realities is curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong and ArtScience Museum based on a screening programme for ArtSG 2023 titled Fabricated Realities.
Xin Liu is an artist and engineer from China. She is a curator at the Space Exploration Initiative at the MIT Media Lab and an artist-in-residence at the SETI Institute. Her work has been shown at the Shanghai Biennial, the Thailand Biennial and the Chengdu Biennial, and she has had solo shows at ARTPACE in San Antonio and MakeRoom in Los Angeles.
Club Ate is a Filipino-Australian art collective formed by Justin Talplacido Shoulder and Bhenji Ra. They have exhibited at many venues including the Asia Pacific Triennial, ICA Singapore, the Biennale of Sydney, and M+ Museum in Hong Kong.
Kara Chin is a Singaporean artist living in Newcastle in the UK. Her works often include quasi-religious ceremonies and are set in hybrid spaces where futuristic technologies coexist with ancient symbols and present-day artefacts. She has shown at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Arts, South London Gallery, Science Museum in London, Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, ADM Gallery in Singapore and many other places. Chin is represented by VITRINE.
Cao Fei is an internationally renowned Chinese contemporary multimedia artist who reflects on the rapid developmental changes in Chinese society. In recent times, she has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art PS1, New York; Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong; Centre Pompidou, Paris and UCCA Center of Contemporary Art, Beijing.
Fei Yining is an artist and designer based in Shanghai. Working across 3D animation, video, sculpture and design, her speculative tales and fantastical worlds have been exhibited at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, Fosun Foundation in Shanghai, National Gallery Victoria in Melbourne, the MAXXI Museum in Rome and many other institutions.
Debbie Ding is an artist and technologist from Singapore, whose interests range from historical research and urban geography to visions of the future. Her work has been exhibited at diverse venues, including Singapore's Substation, India's Kochi Biennale, House of Electronic Arts in Basel, and the Singapore Art Museum.
Data Mining Jurong was commissioned by the Singapore Art Museum. It was created by Debbie Ding and Nanyang Polytechnic's School of Design & Media, and was first presented as part of Art in the Commons: Data Visualising Jurong.
Nguyen Trinh Thi is one of Vietnam's leading contemporary artists and filmmakers. Her practice investigates memory, history and structures of power. She has shown at documenta15 in Germany, the Asian Art Biennial in Taichung, Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale in Japan, the Jakarta Biennale, the Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale in France and many other exhibitions.
Dr Jen Rae (Métis) is a practice-led researcher with expertise centered around cultural responses to climate change/emergency (a.k.a. ‘everything change’), specifically the role of artists. It is engaged in discourses around food justice, disaster preparedness and speculative futures predominantly articulated through long + multi-artform projects, transdisciplinary collaborative methodologies and community alliances.
Claire G. Coleman (Noongar) is an award winning author of speculative fiction and Indigenous futurisms. Her debut novel Terra Nullius, published in Australia and in the US, won a Norma K. Hemming Award and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. Her new book Lies, Damn Lies was released in September 2021.
Installation photography: Matthew Stanton