S.Chandrasekaran (Dr)
Email : chandra029@yahoo.com.sg
Chandra has represented in major exhibitions, such as
Havana Biennial, 1st Asia Pacific Triennial (Brisbane), Asia-Pacific
Performance Art Festival (Canada), International Performance Art Festival(Poland), 49th Venice Biennale and World Sculpture
Park (China).
In 2008, Bioalloy
and Body Performance was nominated for APBF Signature Art Prize (Singapore). He
has been commissioned to work on public artworks such as for the World
Sculpture Park at Changchun, China in 2001 and Little India MRT station
commissioned by LTA in 2001.
He is a Founder/Artistic
Director for Biological Arts Theatre; a multi-disciplinary theatre–research
platform, which explored theatrical elements with Life Science and
Advanced Technology. His research interests lies in exploring post-humanist
concerns in relation to Third Skin and cross-cultural intervention in
performance art.
|
Recent Exhibitions
|
Campaign City: Life In Posters |
 |
Date : 9 January - 7 July 2013 Venue : Level 11 - Lee Kong Chian Reference Library in National Library Building
Campaigns can be
seen as an extension of a mind of the creator, who tries to connect others
through a particular form of informative text or image. In reading the campaign
message, he/she is expected to response to it as ‘positively’ as possible. In
1960's, I remember, how campaign are so important to us because it the only
form of ‘communication’ that brings us closer to the authority, without having
any dispute between both parties (system and us). At certain part of our life,
the campaign became inherent in our psyche. I remember, we all are told to keep
our hair short, as it symbolizes that “bad boys” image. Indeed, I was
told to have my haircut upon entering Singapore immigration, after returning
back from my studies in Australia. A form of regulative measures that ensures
that we are always been instructed how to behavior, including how we look at
our own body.
- chandra
|
Living Stories
|
 |
| Date : 3 -23 August 2012 |
| Venue : The Substation Gallery, Singapore |
|
Living Stories is a collection of works, five years in the making,
that will be exhibited at The Substation Gallery this August. The exhibition
reinterprets the iconography of well-known stories, and in doing
so, creates a particular kind of social commentary relevent to contemporary
Singaporean society.
Tim Zeelie caught up with S. Chandrasekaran, the
artist, to find out more about this exhibition |
| |
|
TZ: Despite referring to many well-known old and inhereted stories, your
idea for this exhibition feels new and unusual. Can you tell us a bit more
about the exhibition?
SC: Living Stories brings out the
‘symbolic’ representation of stories that belongs to us. These stories express
the societal changes that happen as part of our everyday reality, and these
changes are transformed and interpreted through various forms of iconic images.
The reinterpreted iconic
images reflect the various social issues society grapples with, and these
regained meanings reflect the various socio-political and economic complexities
of daily life in Singapore. Some of the stories have to do with the
‘pre-determined’ conditions in which we live, while others look into how the
net-citizens address their tensions and contradictions through social media.
This exhibition aims to regain and reinterpret the voice of the society as
living stories through paintings, sculptures and drawings.
TZ:
Roland Barthes, in his book Mythologies, reveals how
the symbolism in cultural products often goes unquestioned. Symbolism and
meaning is passed off as 'natural', when instead it is socially constructed and
embedded in ideology. How does this exhibition relate to Barthes theories, and
in what ways are you reinterpreting the semiotics of these stories?
SC: I am interested in traditional
narratives, in making them relevant to modern society, and in re-expressing
them as present-day stories. In the Hindu Epic, the Ramayana, for example,
Hanuman the Monkey God depicts his devotion to Rama and Sita by ripping open
his heart, in which images of Rama and Sita are reflected. This sort of
devotion can still be seen in modern society and in our social and political
system.
In one of the works, Riches,
Reputation and Devotion a bull-lion opens its heart to express the devotion we
have for the system. In this image, though, Hanuman becomes the bull-lion,
which is a reference to Singapore’s iconic Merlion. In its heart is a bolt of
lightning, and above its head it carries a hammer. The hammer and the lightning
bolt are both political symbols locally, and help recontextualise the image,
and place it within socio-political conditions.
TZ: It's
a huge exhibition, and includes bronze sculptures, drawings and paintings. How
long has it taken to create these works and why did you decide to use these
particular mediums (bronze, drawing and painting)?
SC: The paintings and small drawings are
all images that depict how the psyche is influenced and manipulated by our
socio-political and economic reality. The bronze works depict various iconic
forms that I’ve adapted and reinterpreted from Indian mythology. These iconic
forms bridge the gap between traditional narratives and our present-day
context. I hope that they will allow the viewers to see past narratives
reflected in the present, as living in the present. These works were created
over the period of five years.
| |
| |
