Objectifs, this exhibition presents two monumental video installations and a selection of Japanese-ink paintings by Georgian-born and New York-based artist Levan Songulashvili who has been residing at INSTINC since 3 January 2019.

The term stoicheion(στοιχεῖον/stoicheîon; the etymological derivation of the term is from the Latin elementum / first documented in the sense of “constituent component” or “basis” in Plato) was in antiquity fundamentally linked to the classical theoryof thefour elements.In the history of European culture, the term “elements” denotes the four basic substances: earth, water, air and fire.The philosophical concept of stoicheion denotes the basic components or the foundations of Being.

This exhibition represents an attempt to understand the bewilderingly great multiplicity of the natural world as combinations of a limited number of elements. Inspired by the culture, visual artistry and techniques of Asian ink paintings in Singapore, Songulashvili combined his experiences with his main focus of air, water and earth, as well as Earth’s sister terrestrial planet, Venus, which rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets, where the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east. In Mandarin, the planet is called Jīn-xīng (金星), the golden planet of the metal element. Venus is also known as Kejora in Indonesian and Malay. In India, Shukra Graha (“the planet Shukra”), which was named after a powerful saint Shukra, was used in Indian Vedic astrology that means “clear, pure” or “brightness, clearness” in Sanskrit. It is also associated with semen or generation.

Opening Reception: 20 February 2019, Wednesday, 7pm – 9pm

Exhibition Dates: 19 – 24 February 2019, Tuesday to Saturday, 12pm to 7pm, Sunday, 12pm to 4pm

Venue: Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film
155 Middle Road Singapore 188977

When: 20 - 24 Feb 2019,

By: INSTINC