There is a tendency to overlook the quotidian routines that make up the everyday, dismissing them as banal or lacking in significance. Novelist Georges Perec’s concept of the “infra-ordinary” posits that there is something in the realm of regular daily life that is worth examining and questioning. This impulse to uncover the allure of the everyday becomes the departure point for Happens When Nothing Happens. Curated by Dr Wang Ruobing, this exhibition spreads across Jendela (Visual Arts Space) and the Esplanade Community Wall.
Ten young, emerging artists document moments of daily life in Singapore, focusing on the objects, interactions and spaces which have been taken for granted. Working in a variety of mediums, they give voice to the untold stories in our lives, enabling us to view them afresh and engage with them critically.
In Jendela (Visual Arts Space), the artists respond to two realms where the everyday plays out. Home is where the individual is confronted with and navigates day-to-day realities. Beyond this domain, public spaces offer individuals places for shared experiences to be forged.
Lining the Esplanade Community Wall are close studies of things we encounter daily but whose characteristics are oft overlooked. The works draw attention to the particularities of the mechanical rhythms of a moving escalator and the distinct nature of the ubiquitous cow grass.
Venue: Jendela (Visual Arts Space) & Esplanade Community Wall
Opening hours:
Mon – Fri, 11am – 8.30pm
Sat & Sun, 10am – 8.30pm
When: 14 Jul - 7 Oct 2018,
By: Esplanade
