Tropical Lab 15: Interdependencies
Tropical Lab 15: Interdependencies
Since 2005, art students from universities in Bandung, Belgrade, New York, Plymouth, Tokyo, among others, meet each other, work and live together in Singapore as part of the Tropical Lab. An experiment in art education and artistic exchanges, this two-week intensive art camp was initiated by Milenko Prvački, former Dean of LASALLE’s Faculty of Fine Arts and current Senior Fellow in the President’s Office. Although embedded in an art school, Tropical Lab eschews the parameters of a class. There is no curriculum, no scoring and no teaching in the conventional sense. Instead, there is what art education provides at its core: time and context where things can happen.
Impacted by the pandemic, the 15th edition of Tropical Lab takes place under an exhibition format. The title of this edition – Interdependencies – is less thematic and more reflective. It captures the spirit of togetherness, companionship, and resilience that defined all the previous editions of Tropical Lab. While the pandemic touched our existence in many different ways, and made off-screen exchanges and encounters more and more difficult, it made us all acknowledge our interdependencies as fundamental to artistic processes and life. The exhibition developed out of a need for shared perspectives and differences, communal experiences and peer learning that a pedagogical undertaking such as Tropical Lab enhanced throughout the years.
Twenty-three artists who participated in different editions of the Tropical Lab between 2005 and 2019 were nominated by faculty from partner universities. The artists have generously shared their recent work and initiated new proposals, and their enthusiastic response to the invitation reflects the quality of the experience they once had in Singapore.
The exhibition will stretch across three Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore’s galleries to communal outdoor and transitional spaces shared by students, faculty and visitors alike. This extension in situ highlights the special relationship of Tropical Lab participants with the campus as an integral part of their exchange, learning, and artistic production. Making use of existing infrastructure and within the spirit of interdependence, artworks will co-exist with different activities taking place in the wider McNally campus.
This exhibition is part of a broader 2021 programme that comprises the launch of the Tropical Lab Archive, a new edition of the Baby Tropical Lab and the publication of ISSUE 10 dedicated to the Tropical Lab history.
Artists: Tim Bailey, Kay Beadman, Danielle Dean, Ben Dunn, Anne-Laure Franchette, Haryo Sas, Duy Hoàng, Laura Hopes, James Jack, Waret Khunacharoensap, James Tapsell – Kururangi, Lee Pheng Guan, Jean-Paul Mot, B. Neimeth, Christine Rebet, Rattana Salee, Homa Shojaie, Brooke Stamp, Tromarama, Ali Van, Sarah Walker, James Yakimichi, Shuo Yin
Curated by Anca Rujoiu
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Event Details
- LASALLE College of the Arts, 1 McNally Street
- 21 Aug 2021 - 18 Sep 2021
- 12:00pm – 7:00pm daily, closed on Sundays and public holidays
- Free Admission