Majulah Singapura (Onwards, Singapore)
As Singapore swiftly modernized, her natural landscapes are reshaped and then solidified into skyscrapers, giant malls, and office buildings; her infrastructures blossomed and are ornamented with files of carefully chosen trees and shrubs; her public spaces sanitized, cleaned of debris and trash; and her culture slowly became oversaturated, dense with monetary flow. Her dream of transforming into a garden city is materializing at an astounding speed. And as a reaction to such transformations, Singaporeans are also changing our actions and behaviors. No longer do we fervently riot and protest for Singapore’s future, our boisterous chants and shouts have now condensed into incessant muffled grunts. Our energies and passions are now redirected to compete feverishly in a supposed meritocratic world, and to rush towards sales happening in town. The reformation of Singapore’s landscape is invisibly reforming our identity (from citizen to consumer) and altering our relationship with our land.
My works deal with the ambivalence of losing touch with Chinese roots in exchange for the modernization of Singapore. What is progress? Where are we going? How are we changing? What remnants, memories, and voices are left behind? And how do these ghosts affect our own identity – do they haunt us? possess us? bless us? watch over us? Or, perhaps, they are swept away, helplessly unrecognizable and forgotten.
Majulah Singapura,
Majulah Singapura,
Majulah Singapura!
— Junyi Min ’20
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Still from PARKSANDTREESACTCHAPTER216PARTIPRELIMINARYINTERPRETATION2.”DAMAGE”,INRELATIONTOATREEORPLANT,INCLUDES(D)CAUSINGDAMAGETOTHETREE’SORPLANT’SROOTZONEBYCOMPACTION,EXCAVATIONORASPHYXIATION, 2019 -
Still from Sweeping, 2019 -
Still from Rock 0.2m (Majulah Singapura), 2019
PARKSANDTREESACTCHAPTER216PARTIPRELIMINARYINTERPRETATION2.”DAMAGE”,INRELATIONTOATREEORPLANT,INCLUDES(D)CAUSINGDAMAGETOTHETREE’SORPLANT’SROOTZONEBYCOMPACTION,EXCAVATIONORASPHYXIATION, 2019
Video, 3min 50s
Sweeping, 2019
Video, 1min 34s
Rock 0.2m (Majulah Singapura), 2019
Video, 2min 37s