Name: Candice Li
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: The significance of independent arts spaces on contemporary art practice in Singapore
Thesis Abstract:
This thesis is a study on the significance of independent art spaces for the development of contemporary art practice in Singapore. It is in response to the demise of these spaces despite the surge of activity within the arts scene in recent years. Starting in the late 1990s, the national agenda saw the prioritisation of arts development in Singapore through the Renaissance City Plan (RCP). Yet the next decade was marked by the demise of independent art spaces such as Plastic Kinetic Worms (PKW), which closed in 2010, and Post Museum in 2011. While support for the arts from the government is to be lauded, the fading existence of independent art spaces calls for concern. Through a synthesis of interviews with founders and directors of the space, literature reviews and close readings of materials published under the auspices of these spaces, I argue for the necessary of these spaces as an integral part of the art ecosystem in Singapore. This thesis will also examine the contributions and significance of independent art spaces.

Name: Geraldine Lee Tze-Lyn
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Womanhood in Late-Capitalist Japan through the Lenses of Photographers Miwa Yanagi and Tomoko Sawada
Thesis Abstract:
This thesis engages the medium of photography, delving into the photographic oeuvre of Miwa Yanagi (b. 1967) and Tomoko Sawada (b. 1977), to describe and critique the Japanese female condition, framed against the backdrop of societal malaise in fin de siécle Japan. It interrogates the influence of the socio-cultural and political environment on female identity formation and how these factors have impacted the work of contemporary Japanese women photographers. Women’s photography explores what lies at the intersection of the feminist critique of patriarchy and the postmodernist critique of representation. It presents “woman” as subject rather than object, leading to concerted retrieval of the terms of visualisation and an investigation of interactions between looking and questions of identity. In their observations of Japanese women, Yanagi and Sawada’s art crystallise the points of intersection between the diverse conditions and values in society and women’s complex inner selves, revealing a uniquely Japanese women’s sensibility in their negotiation of pursuing the life they want to live, within the strictures of a still conservative Asian society.

Name: Adulaya Hoontrakul
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: (Re)Telling Tales through Photography: The photographer, the viewer and the power of the image. A Thai case study.
Thesis Abstract: –

Name: Elaine Cheong
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: The Human Condition through the Lens of John Clang
Thesis Abstract:
“The Human Condition Through the Lens of John Clang” examines the centrality of the photographic lens in enabling narrations of the human condition, an existential condition embedded in the seemingly mundane images of the everyday. Although John Barthes had once declared that a photograph has no narration on its own, this study will prove that redefining the semantics of looking at photographs yields a kaleidoscope of stories that resonate with all people, through the common experience of facing challenges in daily life. This is an age where everyone becomes his own author posting photographs on Instagram and Facebook. How then would we situate artists like Clang who use photography in a world where there is a daily deluge of millions of photographs posted? At the same time, it is ironical that in an age inundated with images and photography exhibitions, there is still scant research on photography as contemporary art, in Singapore. Hence this author feels catalysed to embark on a study on how photography becomes the effective language for the human being’s existential conditions.

Name: Elaine Peck Leng Chiew
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Traumatised Topologies: An examination of map art and the revealed psychic subjectivities of war trauma and states of alienation
Thesis Abstract:
This thesis examines certain map art and mapping projects by Tiffany Chung, Tintin Wulia and MAP Office within a framework called “traumatised topologies.” It shows how these three artists counter-map by layering onto their map art specific psychic “subjectivities” related to two geographical constructs: (1) war-related trauma as experienced by survivors, depicted within war-torn topologies and Vietnam War battle zones; and (2) “states of alienation” as experienced by the Vietnamese refugee, the Filipino migrant worker and the Hong Kong resident whose political future is uncertain, depicted within the idea of Hong Kong as a “border” construct. These various psychic subjectivities are shown to yield specific geographical-art understandings concerning: (1) the nature of trauma for the survivor, opening up an affective empathic pathway for the spectator who encounters map art depicting trauma; and (2) three different perspectives the sense of being “unhomed” and its influence on claims of belonging, territorialisation and identity as they relate to Hong Kong as “border.”

Name: Eunice Lacaste
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Public-Engaged Art in Southeast Asian Contemporary
Thesis Abstract:
Recent developments in what Nicolas Bourriaud termed “Relational Aesthetics” have been visible in contemporary Southeast Asian practices that engage the public. This can be seen particularly in the works of Mark Salvatus, Azizan Paiman, and Amanda Heng. This thesis examines the practices of the aforementioned artists as case studies for participative methods. Here, the aesthetic and ethical values of participation in terms of both the production and reception processes of the artwork are analysed.

In public-engaged art, the public is used as the material that constitutes the main aspect of the artwork. Conventionally, art is produced from traditional materials such as paint, marble, or bronze. However, when the audience is engaged in the production of the work, their roles and functions shift from being a passive viewer to an active participant. The production and reception of the artwork are approached within a more communal situation, which manifests human encounters through the art object. This thesis looks at the art object as a non-human agency within the artwork that is different from the artwork itself, which is the totality of both human and non-human engagements. This typically opens up ethical questions about the work’s authorship or compensation of the participant’s labour, etc. There is a tendency for the ethical to replace the aesthetic critique of the work. However, this thesis argues that both are necessary for a thorough understanding of public-engaged artwork. Aesthetics and the ethical can work side-by-side to produce critical questions for probing public-engagement.

Name: Inna Shapiro
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Through Portraiture: The paintings of Kartika Affandi
Thesis Abstract:
This thesis investigates the portrait paintings of Indonesian female artist Kartika Affandi in the context of Indonesian society. Specifically, it examines how Kartika negotiates her position as a woman of various roles: daughter, wife, mother, mentor, and artist. This thesis undertakes biographical accounts and comparative analysis with other Indonesian figurative painters to form a study of Kartika’s portrait paintings.

Name: Chua Eng Koon Luke
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Religion in the Works of Kamin Lertchaiprasert and Norberto Roldan
Thesis Abstract:
In Southeast Asia and around the world, religion has played an undeniably important role in the history of human civilisation and continues to shape politics and social trends to this day. This is reflected in contemporary artistic expressions from across the region where evocations of religious references in art are contingent on broader cultural, social, political and historical forces. Motivated by intra-regional comparative studies of Southeast Asian art practices, my thesis investigates the relation between religion and art in Southeast Asia in the works of two contemporary Southeast Asian artists. In particular, I will compare the artistic strategies of Thai artist Kamin Lertchaiprasert and Filipino artist Norberto Roldan in engaging with Buddhist and Christian expressions respectively. Despite the differing cultural backgrounds and personal motivations of the two artists, this thesis proposes that both artists are interested in offering alternative understandings on the roles of religion in their respective Thai and Philippine societies, and that they employ a range of similar but also differing artistic strategies in their treatment of religious images and objects. In addition, I also propose that the insights gleaned from this comparative pairing can be useful entry points for further investigations into the multi-faceted roles and expressions of religion across contemporary Southeast Asian art.

Name: Nurcan Tosun
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: The Use of Humor through the Lens of Satire in Indonesia: A study of the selected works of Heri Dono, Eko Nugroho and Uji Handoko Eko Saputro (Aka Hahan)
Thesis Abstract:
Humour, a universal phenomenon that not only entertains, but also acts as a medium of communication, has been used in many different forms to advance humanity. This dissertation presents its use in Indonesian contemporary art through a survey of three artists that represent three different generations who were influenced by significant historical events. The use of humor has always been an integral part of the Javanese “court” tradition, especially during President Soeharto’s regime. Exploring this phenomenon more deeply, the bulk of analysis in this dissertation focuses on the influence of traditional shadow theatre rooted in the indirect nature of Javanese culture as it is expressed in contemporary art practice in Indonesia. The influence of authoritarian regimes, alongside that of a society quickly shifting towards modernity, as well as the effects of globalism, are also considered. While exploring the reasons why artists have been drawn to humour in their work and the distinct ways in which they present their pieces, the connections between art and its social context are also examined in an attempt to understand the current manifestations of contemporary art in Indonesia.

Name: Pauline Gan
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Turning the Lens on Race: Photography as medium in the exploration of racial identity in Malaysia
Thesis Abstract:
In multiracial Malaysia, issues arising from and relating to racial and ethnic divisions and disparities lie at the root of many of the nation’s problems. This thesis begins by tracing the history of the country, from pre-colonial times to the present, in order to provide context and background and to investigate the causes of the problematic racial relations that exist in Malaysia today.

Photography has been associated with the visual representation of race and the institutionalised acceptance of theories regarding racial difference since the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839. It was used, in anthropological studies, to provide evidence to support the prevailing view in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, that the variance in different races was a natural biological phenomenon that could be observed empirically, studied scientifically, and from which certain principles could be derived. This thesis investigates the history of photography’s role in the representation of race and discusses some of the theories of visual perception that were embedded, or implied, in anthropological photographs of the Other.

These two chapters provide the contextual background for an investigation into how two contemporary Malaysian artists, Yee I-Lann and Vincent Leong, have dealt with issues of race, ethnic identity and racial difference in their artistic works, problematising the tendency, among Malaysians, to see each other through a racial lens and questioning the legitimacy of the fixed racial categorisations that are so much a part of the Malaysian collective consciousness. The thesis examines only a very small number of specific works in detail, adopting a case study approach. While this approach must necessarily preclude the making of broad sweeping statements, it is hoped that a more focused reading of the images, supported by the preceding contextual material, may yield greater insight into their implications and significance.

The thesis submits that the use of photography as a medium by these two contemporary artists, Yee I-Lann and Vincent Leong, to explore issues relating to race, is a significant one. The dark history of photography’s use as a tool by which notions of racial difference were entrenched makes the subversion of these very notions by Yee and Leong particularly ironic and effective. The thesis acknowledges and gives recognition to the role that Yee, Leong and other Malaysian artists play, as cultural producers, critics, commentators and members of the Malaysian citizenry, in contributing to a deeper understanding of Malaysia’s complex realties and to question whether those realties need to change.

Name: Suraendhiran s/o Ramadass
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Contemporary Singapore Art: Conceptual strategies and the question of national identity
Thesis Abstract:
The early beginnings of Singapore – when the nation did not have a clearly defined territory, continuous history, and communal identity – serve as a backdrop to this study whereby the sense of the past, sense of place, and sense of ‘self’ as people, posed as a paradox and challenge in establishing a unified identity as a nation and as people of a nation. Drawing on this context, the objective of this study was to examine how contemporary artworks – grouped according to two main themes, ‘Myths, Histories and Origins’ and ‘Nation of Immigrants – Self & Other’ explore some of these paradoxes and challenges through conceptual strategies.

Name: Teng Yen Hui
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Queering Perspectives in Singapore Art in the 1970s to 1990s: Subjectivity and desire in figuration
Thesis Abstract:
This paper aims to “queer” perspectives on works of figurative art by five Singaporean artists during the 1970s to 1990s. It recognizes a gap in Singapore’s art history that addresses sexual difference and gender diversity, and looks at possible ways to understand homoerotic image-making in Singapore. It argues that strategies of deliberate ambiguity, coding, and private circulation have marked much of homoerotic image-making, and that these ambiguities and codes are perceptible and can be interpreted only by those who know where and how to look for them.

This research examines the visual codes, employed by the selected artists, that could signify queerness, and seeks to understand the impact of the intersecting identities of an individual – sexual, gender, racial, ethnicity, class, etc. – on their experience of queerness. Providing an insight into queer subjectivity and desire, this paper also aims to challenge the hetero-centric foundation of art viewership and scholarship in Singapore.

Name: Usha Chandradas
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: Balinese Visual Symbols and Identity in Contemporary Indonesian Art: A study of the practice of the Sanggar Dewata Indonesia
Thesis Abstract:
Bali’s identity as a kind of ‘paradise’ is one which has emerged as a result of its colonial history and touristic appeal. A good deal of the art which emerged out of this historical background was of a particular distinctive and somewhat stereotypical form. This thesis will explore the practice of the Sanggar Dewata Indonesia (SDI), an artist collective made up of Balinese artists who had travelled to Yogyakarta to pursue their art education. The SDI, formed in 1970, appeared to reject the notion of ‘Bali as paradise,’ and sought to create works which spoke to a concept of Balinese identity that was different from tourist representations. The roots of the SDI’s founding will be discussed, followed by two specific case studies of exhibitions of the collective held in post-New Order Indonesia; namely (i) the Millennium Art Exhibition of 1999 and; (ii) the Reinventing Bali exhibition of 2008. The case studies will address the research question of how the SDI–which appeared to reject utopian notions of Bali–harnessed or utilised Balinese visual symbols in the making of their art and in their establishment of a Balinese identity. The thesis will then conclude with an attempt to synthesize the issues raised in the preceding chapters; firstly, through a critical examination of the SDI’s use of Balinese visual symbols in its art, and particularly, its relationship with local and national identities. Secondly, the final chapter will consider whether arguments may be made in support of a separate “school of Balinese art,” within the Indonesian modern art framework (as exemplified through the works of the SDI, or otherwise). Finally, the influence of the art market in post-New Order Indonesia will be discussed.

Name: Tjong Min Cui
Year: 2017
Thesis Title: History and Memory in Singapore Contemporary Art
Thesis Abstract:
The objective of this paper is to provide a view into how we can use history and memory as ways of understanding events of the past. Using the incident of Operation Cold Store, and the issues surrounding Singapore’s Internal Security Act, I consider how ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ narratives, in the form of historical texts, documents, personal first-hand accounts, and aesthetic representations are texts of equal importance, and can play a part in understanding how History and Memory are constructed. ‘History’ being the tangibly expressed document of how we envision ourselves (as nation, as self), and ‘Memory’ being the less tangible, less concrete expression, but also a no less important record of our experiences. Thus, it is vital to speak of both, and to be aware of the parts documented history and undocumented memory play in shaping our whole sense of self in the past, present and our desired future. My methodology takes reference from Deleuze’s notion of ‘becoming’, and June Yap’s treatise of the historiographical aesthetic. From both, I present a blended frame of uncovering shared themes in the works I have chosen: Escape from the Lion’s Paw, To Singapore, With Love, and The Return.