Cardboard Lamps & Adequate Images (8/12 SOLO)
Lai Yu Tong
𝘐𝘯 1974, 𝘢𝘯 𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘻𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦?. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 19 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥—𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴, 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩, 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘴—𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦.
𝘐𝘵’𝘴 2020 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯.
𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘖𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.
𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴; 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘴. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴; 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘗𝘚𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵?
𝘈 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦?
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Cardboard Lamps & Adequate is an exhibition of seven lamps made out of simple materials and techniques, and an accompanying instruction manual on how to build them. The project reflects on various personal experiences of living in Singapore, graduating from art school, getting a job, moving house and more recently, staying home. Amongst other things, it asks what is the point of art, what do we build, and what images do we carry with us into the end of the world?
Exhibition: 21- 29 Nov 2020
Conversation with artist and curator Michael Lee view
Cardboard Lamps & Adequate Images is the eighth project of the exhibition series, [12 Solo] by Comma Space 逗号空间.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Lai Yu Tong is a Singaporean artist who works mainly with images. His works are about the things he sees, things he eats, things he buys, things he throws away, and other things, reflecting on habits of consumption whilst living in a city. http://laiyutong.com
Curator: Dr. Wang Ruobing is an artist and curator who currently teaches at the LASALLE College of the Arts.
