8–18 JUN 2023

Tactility Studies:
Pandemic Traces


Created for the Singapore Exhibition at Prague Quadrennial 2023 as part of Secretive Thing's Renewed Vision



IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tablet cable-tied to a pink sequined cushion shows footage from Touch You Later (2020), a Zoom-based performance. In this photo, the moment captured shows the various audience members, including one young family, and the performer, smiling at each other from their individual screens, which are laid out as 2 rows of 3 rectangles in Zoom. Part of a gold sequined cushion that has been wrapped in bubble wrap sits next to the pink cushion; they were first used in Tactility Studies: Soft Bodies (2019). IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A round cloth basket, labelled TS 2-1, is filled with marbles. Behind it is a larger basket, and to the right sits a stack of fabrics and a bubble-wrapped box. Tucked sideways in between the fabrics is a frayed white cloth tag that writes: Toy. Glassy, round, cool to the touch. Dip your hand in and swirl the marbles around - what's the temperature difference between you and them?


Photos from Tactility Studies: Pandemic Traces (2023). Credit: Secretive Thing.



SYNOPSIS


Renewed Vision is home to four works, Tactility Studies: Pandemic Traces, re:walk Telok Ayer, Pok! and WINDOW. Each work sought to connect with audiences in different ways throughout the duration of the pandemic. With curated objects related to their works for the audience to take home as a reminder of the unspoken connections and their tactile nature that we need to navigate and re-examine in our new post-pandemic world.

Renewed Vision seeks to explore the ways in which we have sought to connect in an age of isolation and social distance. Designed in the form of a warehouse, it places the audience in the role of a packer interacting with objects.



IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tall open storage shelf with 3 tiers, labelled ‘Shelf T, Tactility Studies: Pandemic Traces’ at the top. From this label, a long white sheer fabric stretches down to the ground, its lower end attached at some distance from the shelves so it forms a slope. Printed on the fabric are colourful photographs and text that cannot be made out at this distance from the camera. The shelves display tablets, blankets, cushions, boxes and baskets. Around the shelves, black-and-white caution tape demarcate a boundary around this installation.


As one of the first countries to be paralysed by the pandemic in 2020, Singaporeans had to adapt quickly to the changes. New restrictions were imposed day by day, and soon everything ground to a halt during the lockdown. The arts community had to rapidly scale up its efforts to adapt and redesign shows in accordance with the ever-changing security measures.

Even as new digital spaces emerged to bring the performing arts into the homes of our audiences, we were constantly aware of the unknown, of what might happen next. And as we come to the end of the pandemic, this heightened awareness of the unknown informs our sensitivity in navigating contact again.



CURATORS

Lemon & Koko

SINGAPORE EXHIBITION PRODUCER

Ezzat Alkaff


SINGAPORE EXHIBITION DESIGNER

Aaron Koh


SINGAPORE EXHIBITION ASSISTANT PRODUCER & TECHNICAL MANAGER

Brent Tan


SINGAPORE EXHIBITION PRODUCTION CREW

Cheryl Tan Yun Xin

TACTILITY STUDIES
CO-DIRECTORS

Bernice Lee
Chong Gua Khee


TACTILITY STUDIES PRODUCER

The Public Space


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