Legal voices, sounds translated into art

Witnessing a court interpreter’s struggle in presenting the case of an offender with mental health issues prompted Mr Jack Tan to turn the interpreter’s anguish into an artwork.

Titled “Interpreting Inner Voices”, the work is one of eight graphic scores — where music is notated through colour, shapes and symbols, instead of the traditional five-line stave — that Mr Tan illustrated during a two-month residency with the Community Justice Centre (CJC).

“(The litigant) was hearing a lot of voices and (the interpreter) was trying to encapsulate what he was trying to say ... So, these dots (in the score) represent all the different voices (that) the interpreter has to filter out and address the court with something coherent.

“Then, the judge comes in and has a conversation with (the interpreter) while the litigant continues to interrupt her,” said the London-based artist, who is professionally trained as a lawyer, of his “Interpreting Inner Voices” score.

The scores will be performed by the Anglo-Chinese Junior College’s alumni choir on Oct 29 at the Arts House, as part of Voices from the Courts — a fund-raising initiative for the CJC supported by the National Arts Council.

“Voices convey the more human side of court proceedings,” Mr Tan, 45, told TODAY as he recalled another instance when a young offender was chided for breaching probation orders.

“The district judge was angry but in a paternal way ... These are things that we do not capture in official court records and news reports,” he said.

Each of the eight pieces depicts a different aspect of court proceedings, such as the myriad of forms to be filled up by a litigant, voices that are heard before a court hearing begins, and the mitigation and sentencing process.

One of them is aptly titled “My Learned Friend”, a reference used widely by lawyers in court to refer to their counterparts in the legal fraternity.

Even the concert programme is designed like a court document, with flowcharts and number tabs, and filed in a ring folder.

As part of Voices from the Courts, the graphic scores will be displayed from Oct 9 to 15 at Salon du Sens at Niven Road, and subsequently presented for the Singapore Biennale at the Singapore Art Museum at 8Q.

The CJC hopes to raise at least S$250,000 through crowdfunding, art auctions and the charity concert. KELLY NG