Weathering with Us
Isabella Ong & Tan Wen Jun
Installation Art
22 – 31 Oct 2021, Mon - Thu: 12 – 6pm, Fri - Sun: 11 – 7pm | Open to public
(Isabella will be present throughout the show)
47 Malan Road, #01-24, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109444
Conversations around climate change are often highly pessimistic, with new scientific data leading to despair and defeatism. There is an urgent need for symbols of repair and healing to replace these familiar narratives, which can stand in the way of meaningful climate action.
A rotating beam sits atop a bed of sand, inscribing patterns into the sand below. The sand is ground olivine, a volcanic material that is able to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and constitutes one of earth’s carbon sink. The patterns are generated from global climate datasets which are then translated into mandala-like visualisations. The mandala is a spiritual symbol in Eastern religions, used during meditation to help with healing. In this way, the form and material of the installation become a symbol of recovery and restoration – an important aspect of climate action that is all-too-often overlooked.
About the Artist(s)
Isabella is an artist and coder working in the fields of new media, technologies, architecture and research. Having been trained as an architect, her practice is informed by a desire to make visible the relationship between our bodies and the physical environment, and how we can create a deeper intimacy with the spaces we inhabit. Recently, she has been shifting her focus to examine the fraught relationship we have with the wider, natural world – investigating biological technologies and processes that occur in nature and exploring alternative materials, such as algae and olivine sand, that emphasise how we are all reciprocally involved in the same systems. Through her installations, she hopes that we become more aware of our interdependencies with everything else, which might, perhaps, lead to a more affectionate relationship with the world.
Wen Jun is currently a practising architectural designer based in Singapore. His professional work involves mainly public buildings where he believes architecture can bring people, stories and environment together in endless emotive and meaningful ways. When he is not at his office desk, Wen Jun enjoys imagining speculative futures.
@isabellaong.io
www.isabellaong.io
@u_u_jay
