IN RANDOM ORDER

IN RANDOM ORDER
FOST Gallery, Singapore

Group exhibition featuring works by Kray CHEN, Heman CHONG, Grace TAN and Syagini Ratna WULAN.

n. 358 - variable equilibrium
2019
I-Beams in construction steel with polyester sewing yarns
Dimensions Variable

n. 358 – variable equilibrium explores the property of stretched cables in stasis exposed to unpredictable external forces in the immediate environment. A time-based work, the installation was constructed by allowing loose strands of sewing thread to fall from a set of upright I-Beams. The strings were then stretched horizontally until they reached a static equilibrium, revealing two forces in action that were balancing each other – one pulling up and to one side and the other pulling down and to the opposite side. Since the strings were not secured at the lowest points, they were inevitably subjected to environmental factors in the gallery space causing them to enter a state of instability.

n. 357 - critical point (indigo)
2019
Stacked acrylic trays with suihi enogu (Japanese dehydrated oyster shell pigment) dyed in ai (indigo)
30 x 30 x 30 cm

Based on the theory of the angle of repose, n. 357 – critical point (indigo) presents the conical sandpile in both its positive and negative forms. The work suggests a relationship between two opposing but yet interrelated parts. But more intriguingly, it reveals a critical state where the slip faces of both the pigment pile and pit are ready to collapse. Both models demonstrate the concept of self-organised criticality, a concept introduced by Per Bak, Chao Tang and Kurt Wiesenfeld in 1987 whereby physical systems spontaneously bring themselves towards critical points without the presence of any external factors.

Photography by Lim Weixiang