Liss Finney

Tropical Lab is an annual international art camp organised by LASALLE College of the Arts for master’s degree and PhD candidates. Led by Senior Fellow Milenko Prvački over two weeks, students from international arts schools and institutions undertake workshops and seminars in Singapore exploring various aspects of history, geography, culture and aesthetics.

About the theme: Service
Service is an intricate concept that intertwines the values of helping others and being there in meaningful ways. At its core, service is an act that transcends mere economic exchange, embodying a deeper, more humanitarian essence. It reflects the fundamental human desire to connect, support, and provide value to others and this is embodied through a degree of selflessness, sacrifice and care. However, the nature of service is multifaceted, oscillating between its faithful humanitarian ideal (affect) and its instrumentalised role in systems of governance (effect). 

Participating institutions
Aalto University, Academy of fine arts and design Ljubljana, Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Bandung Institute of Art, Budapest Metropolitan University, California Institute of the Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Columbia University, Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Goldsmiths, University of London, LASALLE College of the Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Musashino Art University, Nagoya University of Arts and Sciences, National Art School, RMIT University, University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca, University of California Davis, University of Plymouth, University of Washington, Zürich University of the Arts.

Curator
Tamares Goh

A 3D tour of the exhibition can be accessed here.

Where, and how, do we make space for the dead to dwell among us?

Interested in the ways in which we care for our dead, I thought about ways in which we offer service to those unseen. I was really taken by the gesture and tradition of leaving the first row of chairs empty at events that occur at the Hungry Ghost Festival, an annual event during the seventh lunar month in Singapore. It is believed that during this month, the spirits from the past return to us, and it is a chance to offer up good deeds to help them in enjoying the afterlife. During their time earth-side, they are welcome to come and enjoy entertainment and festivities, and a space is carved out for their presence in public. Through this work I aim to explore the question of -

Where, and how, do we make space for the dead to dwell among us in the everyday? And how might this manifest as a performance or action?

The golden textile is a fabric reminiscent of Joss paper (a golden paper burnt in Singaporean funerary rituals). The word ‘reserved’ has been embroidered in gold thread in the four offical languages of Singapore (English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil).

Documentation Images: