Exploring contemporary art works made by Amanda Heng, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Wong Hoy Cheong, Lee Wen, Redza Piyadasa, S Priyanto, Norberto Roldan, Simryn Gill (and many others), the notion of place is often marked by personal anxieties when confronted with prospects of nation and governance. Language, particularly with the format of a script, is often used by these artists to negotiate the entanglements with their surroundings. Rather than adopting the format of a formal lecture, Chong will attempt to produce this talk as a curatorial proposal for an imaginary exhibition dealing with these ideas.

Heman Chong is an artist, curator and writer based in Singapore. His conceptually-charged investigations into how individuals and communities imagine the future generates a multiplicity of objects, images, installations, situations and texts. In this Plot & Lines, Chong will speak about the combination of text and image in the work of artists living and working in cities located in South-east Asia as a method where preconceived ideas about place-making and community are challenged.

This event is co-sponsored by the Dept. of Art History and the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.