In search of paradise

Jan Bruegel (1620) Das Paradies, oil on oak panel

By mapping this territory, we uncover the space and rediscover the paradisiacal land of plenty.

‘In search of paradise’ is a process-based art investigation that explores the search for this “higher place” or paradisical land of plenty. Our city is sprawling and in a constant flux, ‘In search of a paradise’’ is situated as an interrogative project that explores ‘Sembawang Hot Spring’ as a place considered by many to be one of contentment and peace.

How do sungei.net projects work?

As the title suggests, ‘In search of a paradise’’ is an expression that articulates a person’s search for. Over the course of November to February, the artists adopt a research-based approach in coming up with artistic expressions that delve into notions of paradise as a place of contentment and peace.

Two-fold Discovery Process

• The artists will dialogue and reflect on the mapped out territory, each proposing a work that engages the community and connects the found objects/concepts to understandings of local and located praxis.
• Visit the literal spaces of Yishun and find objects, traces of objects or subjects, which generate narratives and articulate ideas around their chosen mediums.
• Series of field notes (or sketchbooks) to be developed to record observations or interviews and presented during art installation.

Engage the community

The more one investigates and interrogates a mapped territory, the more one learns about the complexity of its dimensions as a physical as well as a virtual space of collecting and exchanging both ideas and objects.

The artists will engage the community in the following ways:

1. Connect with local inhabitants in understanding the site and make an artistic response to these conversations. (J.Ng)
2. Investigate the origins of ‘The Artist Village’. (A. Tan)