Highlights at the APB Foundation Signature Art Prize 2014 show

From a steampunk-inspired carcass of what looks like a beached whale to a charcoal-filled room, contemporary artworks considered some of the best from the Asia-Pacific region over the past three years are gathered under one roof with the return of the Signature Art Prize’s Finalists Exhibition.

Organised by the Singapore Art Museum together with sponsor Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Foundation, which is also celebrating its 20th year, the third edition of the triennial art competition features the works of 15 finalists from 13 countries and territories. Whittled down from 105 nominated artworks, these include Singapore’s Ho Tzu Nyen and Robert Zhao Renhui. Both are represented by works that have been exhibited at Gillman Barracks last year: The former’s elaborate four-channel video installation Pythagoras and the latter’s morbidly deadpan Eskimo Wolf Trap Often Quoted In Sermons installation.

“Since the first edition, (the APB Foundation Signature Art Prize) has kept growing and winning has been a real mark of distinction,” said SAM director Susie Lingham, who cited how past winners had gone on to bigger things, such as 2011’s Grand Prize winner Filipino artist Rodel Tapaya, People’s Choice Awardee Singaporean artist Michael Lee and finalist Imran Qureshi from Pakistan.

Up for grabs this year is a Grand Prize of S$60,000 and two S$15,000 Jurors’ Choice Awards, as well as a People’s Choice Award worth S$10,000. The last is decided through public voting at the museum or online — apart from a microsite, each artwork will have its Facebook page and organisers are also looking to tap various social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and, to engage audiences in China, Weibo.

And what of the works themselves? “There’s a lot of skill involved here. They’re visually and metaphorically complex but they open themselves to you,” said Lingham. “They reveal the power of contemporary art as an experience and encounter.”

Here are some works to check out. z

1. I’M A GHOST IN MY OWN HOUSE (MELATI SURYODARMO). A layer of charcoal bricks occupies the entire floor of the museum’s balcony, at the centre of which stands a stone grinding table, while a dirtied dress hangs from the ceiling — an eerie contrast to the silhouette of St John Baptist de La Salle’s statue. But that’s just part of it — on Jan 21, the Indonesian artist will spend 12 hours grinding these charcoal pieces into dust.

2. PYTHAGORAS (HO TZU NYEN). There’s a lot going on in this four-channel video installation by the Singaporean artist that’s all about the idea of layers and disembodied voices. Inspired by an anecdote about how students of the Greek philosopher could hear him only from behind a veil, it draws scenes from Ho’s previous films as well as from films like The Wizard Of Oz and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The looped video of curtains drawn back to reveal more curtains is rather hypnotic.

3. GOLDEN TEARDROP (ARIN RUNGJANG)

A version of this piece was shown at last year’s Venice Biennale. You’ll be mesmerised by the 7,000 intricately assembled bronze “teardrop” pieces in the centre — which alludes to a popular Thai dessert that has its roots in Portugal — but the structure it’s in is also significant as it has been assembled from recycled materials taken from an old Thai house, a railroad track and an old factory.

4. CUSTOS CAVUM (GUARDIAN OF THE HOLE) (CHO U-RAM). Like something out of a steampunk movie, the Korean artist’s mechanised metallic sculpture looks like the carcass of a beached whale or seal, out of which metallic tendrils rise — as it lies on its own (white) blood. And yet, it is as if it is still breathing as the body rises and falls.

5. ESKIMO WOLF TRAP OFTEN QUOTED IN SERMONS (ROBERT ZHAO RENHUI). A blood-stained knife sticking out of what looks like a small field of snow — it looks like a joke, but a rather morbid one. It looks pretty plain and simple, but the Singaporean artist’s installation is supposedly (you can never be sure with him) based on a parable of how Eskimos trap wolves, which is basically by coating a knife with blood, which lures the animal into licking it and essentially cutting itself and bleeding to death.

6. UNSUBTITLED (NGUYEN TRINH THI). A returning piece from the recent Singapore Biennale, the Vietnamese artist’s video installation comprises wood cut-outs on which are projected people … eating. They are not men and women in the streets though, but members of Hanoi’s contemporary art scene — this deadpan political critique was inspired by an incident where police came to close down a popular alternative art space where the city’s underground art scene converged to socialise and, yes, eat.

The APB Foundation Signature Art Prize exhibition runs until March 15 at the Singapore Art Museum. The winners will be announced on Jan 22. For more information on how to vote for your favourite artwork (and possibly win prizes), visit http://www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/signatureartprize. For all exhibition-related social media interaction, use the hashtag #SignatureArtPrize.