S’pore Biennale: Sai Hua Kuan’s sunrise and sunset

(The Singapore Biennale 2013 opens very soon. To whet your appetite, TODAY went around to have a quick chat with some of the participating artists to learn more about their work and what you can expect.)

SINGAPORE — How far are you willing to travel to catch a sunset and sunrise?

For Singaporean artist Sai Hua Kuan, it’s all about experience.

Sai has travelled to South America — Ecuador to be exact, which is situated exactly at the opposite end of the equator from where our sunny island is. In his two-channel video installation, The Rise And Fall Of 1°17′N 103°50′E, 1°5′0″S 75°55′0″W - A Circular Journey, Sai documented the sunset and sunrise in Singapore and Yasuni National Park in Ecuador.

Audiences will get to experience images of Singapore and Yasuni National Park, heightening awareness of the shared and differing historical, cultural and political contexts that have shaped these two places, including the environmental issues that continue to challenge their survival.

Q: Can you tell us more about your work?

A: My work is mostly about experience. Because every viewer will see different things from an artwork, so I think before reading anything, they should come and experience it. It could be fun, it could not be fun. But the initial thought of the whole art project was I wanted to experience a sunrise and sunset on both sides, that’s about it. And I think I started off very simply and I didn’t have all these big concepts. It’s always along the way that I pick up things. I will not say that I’m a conceptual artist, but I always do things quite impromptu and then I just move on with it.

Q: What can we expect from your work?

A: Most of my work I do it for myself, very ego. I do it because I want to know. It’s questions that have been in my mind rather than me doing it because of the audience. I can tell you very directly that they can see both projections, one is “rise” and the other one would be “fall”. Both videos are taken at the same time. I got a video set up in Singapore, I got a video set up in Ecuador. So we synchronise the time and they start to record and then we stop at the synchronised time. It has to be at the same time for me.

Q: Where do you get inspiration for your work?

A: Fun! It’s something that I don’t know, something that I want to know. It’s questions inside my head somewhere that I find it fun and even …. not inspiring, but it’s just the questions. It’s the questions I’ve been asking, that’s it. It’s quite direct for me. That’s why I say I’m not a big concept artist.

The Singapore Biennale opens on Oct 26. http://www.singaporebiennale.org/