Untitled (Working Class) 2013
“Political Economy regards the proletarian like a horse, he must receive enough to enable him to work. It does not consider him, during the time when he is not working, as a human being. It leaves this to criminal law, doctors, religion, statistical tables, politics, and the beadle.”
This quote by Karl Marx would seem rather crude if used in today’s context of a refined capitalist society where the majority (working class) would be happy so long as there is continued economic growth and low unemployment rates. But since the last general election (Singapore) in 2011, the polls have shown that addressing the working class (majority) is no longer a game of statistics, but a situation which requires the incumbent government to have more care for the people.
In my video work, I wanted specifically to create a situation where I could document and observe the reactions of the working class in a state of temporary public disorder. By disrupting the peace with a seemingly benign act, it can be deduced that people are highly adaptive to change. Placed in a political context, this work is a personal embodiment and projection of the future of Singapore. Will we eventually see the rise of the working class?
Untitled (Working Class), Zoological, 2902 Gallery, Singapore, 2013
Click here to watch video
Untitled (Working Class), Singapore, 2013
7 mins 21 secs, HD Video
Anthem (2013)
In Anthem, I performed a series of endurance exercises to the recorded sounds of crowds cheering and jeering. The audio recordings extracted from YouTube videos are not from sporting events or spectacles as it may suggest, but they are in fact sounds made during mass political rallies leading up to a general election in Singapore.
I started the exercise wearing a pair of black running shorts, followed by covering myself in red body paint, then donning over a white uniform.
Collectively, Anthem is a critique on the political, institutional and societal indoctrination within the Asian and Southeast Asian context (myself a Singaporean Chinese). I am using action and repetition, colour and perspiration to debunk the aura of secular rituals and political agenda.
Anthem (performance documentation), Art13 performance booth, London, 2013
Photo by Sylvain Deleu
Click here to watch video
Anthem (performance documentation), Art13 performance booth, London, 2013
With Or Without You (2013)
The headline “Singapore is out” was on the front page of The Straits Times a day after Singapore was separated from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. To the Malaysians, the words talak, talak, talak is synonymous with the Tunku’s decision to divorce Singapore from any associations with the Malaysian central government. To Singaporeans, the separation means merdeka; independence and freedom for the nation.
As the media tried to digest and propagate the news, should one view this significant day as one with apprehension or jubilation? If race issues, political ideologies and geopolitics were not handled in measured terms, what would the separation mean for Singaporeans today?
With Or Without You is an experimental photographic work that brings together issues of semiotics, geography and visual representation in terms of a reexamined 1965.
With Or Without You, After/Thought, Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore, 2013
L – R (from top):
1. With Or Without You #1
2. With Or Without You #2
3. With Or Without You #3
4. With Or Without You #4
5. With Or Without You #5
6. With Or Without You #6
7. With Or Without You #7
8. With Or Without You #8
37 x 54 cm, Archival Inkjet Print and Linoleum Block Print on Awagami Kozo paper
If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it (2012)
In response to the complex relationship between the Internet and user, my work is a form of social critique in line with Mark Poster’s theory about the second media age.
The Internet is no longer a passive instrument but one, which our social lives are intertwined. It cuts through time and space, transcending our ontological understanding of reality. It allows me to change my image and identity, to tell blatant lies, to play, to reconstruct and create new visual realities. I adorned fantastical costumes and masks to perform for the camera as my alter ego.
There is no historical value to the images but there is a sense of nostalgia. The representations are laced with traces of ritual and familiarities, responding to the blip culture we live in. Looking at my work, I can relate to a certain race, culture, tradition or belonging that exists, but there is no authority to declare truth. Everything created and performed for the camera exists for its own sake, paving the way for a new narrative that flows in all directions, exemplified by the fluidity of the costumes and the unfinished quality of aesthetic. What is revealed is just a simulacrum of reality.
If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it #1
105 cm x 90 cm, Archival Inkjet Print on Sihl 3523 Baryt Photo Paper
L – R:
1. If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it #2
2. If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it #3
105 cm x 90 cm, Archival Inkjet Print on Sihl 3523 Baryt Photo Paper
L – R:
1. If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it #4
2. If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it #5
105 cm x 90 cm, Archival Inkjet Print on Sihl 3523 Baryt Photo Paper
L – R:
1. If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it #6
2. If there is something strange about me, I am not aware of it #7
105 cm x 90 cm, Archival Inkjet Print on Sihl 3523 Baryt Photo Paper
The Human Condition (2010)
Focusing on the human attributes such as touching, seeing, learning, this work sets out to question what constitutes reality. Using the technique of trompe l’oeil, Yuen placed photographic prints of a fake shadow under each sculpted hand to create the illusion of ‘reality’. More than just an aesthetic exercise, there are also specific personal references behind the three sculptures. The sculpted hand holding the spine recalls the artist’s childhood battle with scoliosis and the two hands holding holding the heart represents the struggles in life one has to go through. In the final piece, a left hand is shown in a hand-shake pose. Although the right hand is commonly used for the gesture of shaking hands, and the use of the left hand may be interpreted as being rude, more blood circulation flows through the body when the left hand is used to shake hands. For the artist, this gesture actually links one’s own heart closer to another human being.
Tomorrow, Today: Contemporary Art from the Singapore Art Museum (2009 – 2011). Singapore: Singapore Art Museum, 2012, p.116.
The Human Condition, Future Proof, SAM 8Q, Singapore, 2012
Photo courtesy of SAM (Singapore Art Museum)
The Human Condition, 2902 Gallery, Singapore, 2010
The Human Condition
67 cm, 50 cm x 50 cm (each), Arabescato Marble, Archival Inkjet Print on Sihl Artistic Smooth Paper, Plexi Glass, Plinth
Anatomical Fantasies of Meat (2008)
Men since antiquity, has taken dominion over animals to serve our needs and demands. Animals have been domesticated, enhanced and genetically modified to serve us better.
In Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, it is a response to our handling of God’s gift to us.
This fantasy created from the organs and flesh of various animals will serve as a reminder of human ingenuity, creativity and sometimes, bestiality.
Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part Two, 27th UOB Painting Of The Year Competition, Jendela Gallery (Esplanade), Singapore, 2008
L – R:
1. Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part One, 01
2. Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part One, 02
3. Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part One, 03
53 cm x 51.5 cm , Archival Inkjet Print on Sihl Artistic Smooth Paper
L – R:
1. Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part Two, 01
2. Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part Two, 02
3. Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part Two, 03
113.5 cm x 111.8 cm , Archival Inkjet Print on Sihl Artistic Smooth Paper