About the Project

This project is inspired by the Chinese characters 活动 : which means 活着要动 = “to live is to move around”. The under the void deck series brings together seniors in a collective effort to physically and mentally, to enhance and promote synergy, alertness and general well-being.

A group of community art-makers following Artist Angie Seah’s hand movements

Using documentary footage of residents as a starting point and weaving in the images of a lifetime that were excavated from old photo albums, the media installed on site tell us how each senior has been differently dealing with the delicate issues of death and dying that are present in their daily lives.

Instructional poster on Life m0vement gestures on a void deck pillar. Below the poster is a podium with a pillow, a cane and a water spray on it

1. LIFE – SCORE: An instructional exercise
Medium: Cushion, paper, rattan cane, water spray

Series of posters on wall with images and instructions

2. WARM-UP ACTIVITY WITH A FRIEND

Medium: A paper poster with instructions

Artwork displayed on a pillar with a pillow, cork board with pinned pieces of paper, a photo booklet and headphone

3. IN THE HOME SERIES: THE LIVING TABLES by Chiu Kim Ho and Miss Soo Yin Fung
Medium: Sound art, container of 2 soundscapes with a player and headphones. Each table contains a photo book and objects from the participants

Artist, Angie Seah, conducting a group of community artmakers, with a crowd of audience looking on

4. THE UNDER THE VOID DECK SERIES
A live demonstration with 15 seniors who participated in sound, voice and body movement activities with the artist

Creation Process

The work introduced art as a form of cathartic release and self-healing, an empowering experience which attends to the mundaneness of everyday life that takes on visual and auditory shapes. It was conceptualised from the artist’s experience of working in sound, sculpture and performance art. Experiencing art in sound-making and movements can be entertaining and liberating.

anGie believes that it is essential to pay attention to the aural qualities of the mundane and the familiar where participants can rediscover their environment through listening and re-invent the meaning of the everyday for themselves. Applying intuitiveness and interaction in creating art, enables one to rethink and question life through art-making.

Watch this video on the creation process, together with other artworks in the public art installation.

Credits

Artist

anGie Seah

Born in 1979, anGie seah is a Singaporean artist. Her multidisciplinary practice traverses the mediums of drawing, sculpture, performance art, sound and video to respond to the enigma of life and explore facets of the human condition.

For more than a decade, she has been actively involved in many community art projects locally and internationally, conducting participatory workshops for families, underprivileged children, youth at risk, children and seniors with special needs and the elderly.

Working within a community is a way to attain a more complete understanding of the society one lives in. It provides opportunities for her to step outside of her practice and be with the reality of life, through people.

Participant Art-Makers (Under the Void Deck Series)

Cheng Loke Sia

Cheng Yiow Yuen

Chiu Kim Ho

Chan Soh Gek

Ho Von Teck

Jamil B Sereh

Janet F Kwong

Kee Sian Kin

Jim Sui Boo

Lee Chek Narn

Lee Choi Song

Ler Sieu Kim

Loh Tai Kum

Nancy Sok Peck Hian

Ong Wee Boon

Salleh Bin Amat

Soo Yin Fung

Tang Lang Heang

Tan Sow Beng

Tham Kum Siew

Teo Ah Geok

Teo Ah Bee

Wong Khi Lan

Wong Yip Hoy

Wong Yit Seng

Participant Art-Makers (In the Home Series)

Chiu Kim Ho

Soo Yin Fung

Workshop Process

 

A community art-maker during a workshop session with Artist anGie Seah

Community art-makers tearing strips of brown paper with Artist anGie Seah as part of the performance

Artist anGie Seah creating sounds with the community art-makers by blowing through rolled up papers

Artist anGie Seah conducting workshop session with community art-makers

Artist anGie Seah conducting a movement workshop with community art-makers

Artist anGie Seah conducting a movement workshop with community art-makers

BSN volunteer assisting community art-makers during Artist anGie Seah’s movement workshop

Community Voices

“[End-of-life] is often a complicated issue which can be communicated through the arts.”

Audience Member