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Marrying poetry and visual art

SINGAPORE — In the ever-evolving art scene, words hardly remain as words, and art rarely remains as static pieces in the confines of a white-washed gallery.

Framed strokes of diluting water colour ink inspired by Marc Nair’s poems about the passage of time and laser-cut letters in jars are some art pieces you can see at Intersection. Photo: Marc Nair

Framed strokes of diluting water colour ink inspired by Marc Nair’s poems about the passage of time and laser-cut letters in jars are some art pieces you can see at Intersection. Photo: Marc Nair

SINGAPORE — In the ever-evolving art scene, words hardly remain as words, and art rarely remains as static pieces in the confines of a white-washed gallery.

The lines are increasingly blurred, and poet Marc Nair’s latest exhibition is an example of just that.

Step into the Young Artist Award 2016 recipient’s latest exhibition, Intersection, and instead of printed words in books, you will find an intriguing mish-mash of works that blur the lines between art and artifacts; like items in a cabinet of curiosities.

For instance, Nair’s poem about Kampong Glam’s history as a pilgrim centre for South-east Asia has been written onto strips of paper, formed into a ship and placed into a bottle. On the walls, several framed pieces showing strokes of diluting water colour ink represent the constant transformations of the cities, inspired by Nair’s poems about the passage of time and change.

The works, located at a quaint gallery nestled in a shophouse at Kandahar Street, is a collaboration with United Kingdom’s visual artist Nicola Anthony.

Anthony who is based in Singapore, has been commissioned to create sculptures in Marina Bay and Sentosa Island, and has exhibited at renowned art institutions such as Serpentine Gallery Project Space and Tate Modern in London.

Nair, 35, had met Anthony, 33, in 2013. “We ‘discovered’ each other’s works and writing and realised that there could be a possible way to collaborate on something that layered art, text and experience together,” he explained.

He added that he had wanted to move beyond his comfort zone as a written word specialist and to challenge himself through works that meld other artistic forms.

“I believe interdisciplinary work is the way to go, as it challenges both the artist and the audience to move from their genre comfort zones and explore new permutations of how art is produced and received,” he said.

“My poems do not remain static, they evolve as Nicola’s pieces develop. I think she has done a fantastic job in mirroring the layers of themes and images from the poems in her work,” he added.

The process was not easy — it took about three years to bring Intersection to fruition.

“We had to first streamline and refine what we wanted to say, given the myriad ways in which we could execute a collaboration. After that, it took a while to secure funding, a space to create and a gallery who would host us,” he explained.

Their efforts paid off. The exhibition opened at Intersections Gallery last Wednesday (Jan 10) and will run till Feb 11.

“The wonderful thing about Intersection is that we think of our artworks as artifacts and objects of curiosity which we have collected during our travels and research. We always wanted the exhibition to feel like a whimsical museum of relics, so visitors can simply come in and explore, taking their own journey of imagination,” Anthony shared.

Nair says his favourite is the pagoda-shaped work based on his poem Sunrise Sutra. “I love how Nicola has used acrylic and the shape of the pagoda to interpolate physical layers onto the text of Sunrise Sutra, a poem that can be read in three different ways. Just as there are various ways to apprehend the work, so too there are multiple entrances for worshippers to enter the pagoda.”

Visitors can also purchase a publication, which contains Nair’s poems accompanied by images of the art. “Printing the book as a risograph further translates it into yet another artefact of the intersection. The sense of interplay and cross-disciplinary work is what we are trying to realise through the book,” said Nair.

 

Intersection runs till Feb 11 at Intersections Gallery, 34 Kandahar Street.

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