Featured image credits: Marvin Tang, Temperature House, 2014, archival inkjet print. Courtesy the artist.
In this instalment of "On AiR", Marvin Tang shares with us his investigation into the structures of power and control, particularly towards historical narratives and the notion of collective identities. His research during his residency at NTU CCA Singapore is part of a body of work titled, "The Colony", which started in 2018.
Tang chose to focus on Wardian cases for his residency, propelled by his interest in exploring the past and present roles of colonial botanical institutes. Here, the Wardian case is framed as a point of departure to excavate the social, economic, and environmental implications of planetary plant movements and the displacement of labour forces required to sustain booming plantation economies.
In this instalment of On AiR, we hear Artist-in-Residence Tini Aliman share about her artistic enquiries and friendship with fellow resident Russell Morton. Tini’s research interests are rooted in forest networks, biodata sonification, spatial acoustics, and plant consciousness. During the residency, she approached trees as archives of environmental soundscapes, breathing new life into tree stumps and different types of wood.
