Artists in action with ‘air pollution pen’

SINGAPORE — Happening now: Two Singapore artists in Orchard Road are creating art using the Air-Ink pen.

The innovative pen by Indian collective Graviky Labs “repurposes” air pollution - taking carbon and soot from car emissions, which go through a process to turn those into a carbon-based pigment. That in turn is processed into usable ink.

Just outside Crate & Barrel in Orchard Road, illustrator-artist Tan Zi Xi, who goes by her artist name MessyMsxi, has been working since yesterday.

Her piece, on a 4.8m by 2.4m canvas, is taking shape and features a giant tiger leaping forth from scenes of urban Singapore.

It is the 32-year-old’s first time using Air-Ink, and one of the challenges she faces is “finding consistency in the ink when mixing it with water to create different tones”.

“I think it is such a great idea to upcycle, repurposing waste into something useful,” she said of the Air-Ink technology. “It is a resource that not only helps reduce air pollution, it could also be used widely to create art, as a tool for writing and printing.”

Each Air-Ink pen contains the equivalent of between 30 and 50 minutes of air pollution generated by car exhaust. The tie-up with Air-Ink is an initiative that is part of Tiger’s ongoing mission to support bold ideas and unconventional thinkers, and is an extension of a 2016 pilot project in Hong Kong. This year, Tiger Beer worked with emerging artists in London, Berlin and New York as well as Singapore. Those cities were selected because the brand thought the Air-Ink technology could be put to good use.

Here, artist Anthony Chong, aka Antz, started his work on Wednesday afternoon. He consulted the Hong Kong artists for his piece, on a 1m by 1.8m canvas.

The work is “a nod towards the emergence of street art in Singapore”.

The 35-year-old cannot help but think of issues of pollution when using Air-Ink.

“It draws me back into the streets,” he said. “Air-Ink has been the most interesting ink to experiment with — I’ve been mixing it with different chemicals to see the reaction and effect it has, inspiring me to create different textures in my work.”

The pieces will be displayed Orchard Gateway @ Emerald outside Crate and Barrel, and in Acid Bar. Visit www.tigerBeer.com/Air-Ink