Jan 205 min read

S.E.A Focus 2024

In the realm of information processing, the human brain stands unparalleled in its capacity for parallel multitasking, effortlessly synthesising colour, motion, and form. Conversely, computers, while exacting, operate in a methodical, stepwise manner. As automation continues its trajectory, the implications of Artificial Intelligence surpassing human cognition loom large.

What implications arise in such a paradigm? And to what extent would this emergent technology embody our collective history and ethos? Curated by John Tung, Serial and Massively Parallel presents a curated assembly of regional artworks, each offering profound insights into our intrinsic human identity in the midst of an impending technological confluence.

Southeast Asia's Contemporary Art Platform

S.E.A. Focus is a leading showcase and art market hub dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary art. It aims to bring together a fine curation of established and emerging artistic talents to foster a deeper appreciation of contemporary art and artists in the region.

As the anchor event of the Singapore Art Week, it offers an exciting and complementary blend of art experiences for collectors, artists, galleries and the public. The initiative celebrates the best of contemporary art in Southeast Asia and is led by STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, commissioned by the National Arts Council, Singapore.

SAM S.E.A. Focus Art Fund

Established in 2023, the SAM S.E.A. Focus Art Fund recognises iconic works of contemporary Southeast Asian art by facilitating their entry into the Singapore Art Museum (SAM)'s collection. With the sponsored fund, outstanding work(s) presented at S.E.A. Focus will be chosen by a selection panel to be acquired for the collection.

On 19 January 2024, S.E.A. Focus has unveiled its selection of Southeast Asian contemporary artworks that will be added to the Singapore Art Museum (SAM)’s collection through the SAM S.E.A. Focus Art Fund.

The selected artworks from S.E.A. Focus 2024 are depicted with these 3 artistes :

Artist: Nawin Nuthong (b. 1993, Thailand)

Year: 2023

Medium: Single channel video, silent 1:12 min, 2160 x 3840 pixel, Edition of 1 + 1 AP

Representing gallery: BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY

Artist statement: Far far away from the capital, in the forest, a group of kindergartners explores with a magnifying glass. They discover that leaves resemble multi-floor structures with many rooms. The children stack magnifying glasses for a closer look, observing funny characters rehearsing in loops with various gestures. One kid wonders if they get tired, while another suggests they might be practising for something. Another child thinks they must be waiting. One kid notes that waiting doesn't last forever. They all continue murmuring...

In “2 seconds before revolution in a leaf” (2023), Nawin Nuthong explores the connections between history and cultural media, examining technology's role in reshaping the learning and understanding of history. Using Aseprite as his main tool, he creates pixel animations that investigate the 'Spectrum of Light Glittering on a Wet Leaf.’

Artist: Phi Phi Oanh (b. 1979, USA)

Year: 2023

Medium: Sơn ta (Vietnamese natural lacquer) with gold, silver, aluminium metals and stone pigments on wood

Dimensions:

30.5 x 22.2 x 1 cm (each)

10.5 x 10.5 x 7 (separate mount)

Representing gallery: FOST Gallery

Artist statement: This series of lacquer paintings is about life observed behind glass. Representing terrarium jars, paludariums, aquariums, or mossariums, The Vivarium series are still life paintings that depict entire habitats and micro landscapes within a glass enclosure.

These paintings attempt to hold still and record, in lacquer form, our relationship to the earth and our will towards the domestication and objectification of nature around us. The works are conceived as vestiges of this epoch currently hanging in delicate balance and as iconography of its human-centred gaze. 

At the same time what is represented, these small pockets of life are but a mere simulation made obvious of our own ecosystem whose atmosphere, like fragile glass, is our only protection against the empty wide universe.  

In terms of the medium, here I have tried to explore a type of realism in son ta (Vietnamese lacquer) painting based on repeated direct observation over many days and layers then sanding away, like erosion – a journey simply reflects the passage of time, as well as fossilises and preserves these mental and visceral processes. This continuous material accumulation and subtraction leads to an image of the observed that seems to exist at different moments and times. While not tonally realistic like a photograph, this lacquer realism is more involved with the slippery ever changing experience of sight and of memory which I consider to be son ta’s major potential contribution to the field of painting.

Artist’s quote: Receiving this recognition from the SAM S.E.A. Focus Art Fund is very special to me as it commemorates my relationship with Singapore. This relationship began with my participation in the 2013 Singapore Biennale where one of my first works, Specula, was exhibited. Since then, it has remained an idyll both at the level of public institutions, Singapore Art Museum, National Gallery Singapore and NTU-Contemporary Centre for the Arts as well as with the FOST Gallery that represents my work. I am very grateful for their support and collaboration these years, as well as to the Singaporean public from whom I have always received expressions of appreciation for my work. I will always be delighted to present new work to the Singapore public and hope to continue to make new and engaging works in Vietnamese lacquer.

Artist: Saroot Supasuthivech (b. 1991, Thailand)

Year: 2022

Medium:

Two-channel video installation, 4K, 13:50-22:40 min, Edition of 3 + 2 APs
Resin and marble sculpture, 50 x 25 x 8 cm, Edition of 3 + 2 APs

Representing gallery: Nova Contemporary

Artist statement: Saroot Supasuthivech presents works from his “River Kwai'' series, reconstructing a memorial for the labourers and prisoners of war who died building the Burma Railway in World War II. Joining segments of four languages, he looks into various monuments and rituals of remembrance, commemorating the multitude of sacrificed lives. He analyses and questions the performative futility of built memorials and contemporary commemorations, examining the institutional refusal to confront death. Yet, Supasuthivech moves beyond the tangible, ultimately reimagining loss as a unifying spiritual reality, creating a healing call for truth and unity.

The Yenn and Alan Lo Foundation committed a seed amount of USD25,000 per edition for the SAM S.E.A Focus Art Fund from 2023 to 2025. For this edition, the artworks were selected by a panel of jury comprising Guest Juror, Ms Mami Kataoka (Director, Mori Art Museum), Dr Eugene Tan (Director, Singapore Art Museum), and Ms Ong Puay Khim (Deputy Director, Collections and Public Art, Singapore Art Museum).

Works on Display in 2024

Immerse in Video Works

Delve into captivating video installations like A Conversation with the Sun (Installation), the brainchild of Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Land-scape: Riau/ Light II & IV by Singapore-based artist Wyn-Lyn Tan.

Explore Off-the-wall Art

Check out masterpieces of large-scale installations and suspended works such as the Parasocial series by Malaysian artist Joshua Kane Gomes, or a fleet of mechanised angels in Smiling Angels from the Sky by Indonesian artist Heri Dono.

Intricate handmade creations are also found in works like Filipino artist Ryan Villamael's paper sculptures, Pulô series XIV & XV.

Gaze Upon Wall-hung Works

Engage your senses with vibrant tapestries including Malaysian artist Choy Chun Wei's Infrastructure: The Labyrinth of Signs and Indonesian artist Alexander Sebastianus Hartanto's Butiran Dari #01 – #05 (Particles Of From).