RESET Talk 4 | Back to Basics: Material Practices in the Digital Age
Alecia Neo, Masuri Mazlan, Jason Lim, Zarina Muhammad
By Clara Peh
Key points:
Artists are bravely navigating the rapidly digitising art world, unlearning their dependence on traditional ways of working, and learning new skills to tap into the advantages of the digital
The shift to digital has increased the potential geographical and demographical reach of projects in significant and exciting ways
The importance of the material is heightened as a counterweight to the digital, and while artists are leaning into new opportunities provided by the latter, they will be developing their practices mindfully rather than by rote
The fourth talk of the RESET series, held jointly by A&M and Singapore Art Week 2021, presented a generative conversation on how artists are negotiating between their material practices that traditionally demanded a physical presence, with taking a more digitally-focused approach impelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.The panel featured Alecia Neo, artist and Co-Founder, Brack, Jason Lim, artist and educator, Masuri Mazlan, artist and Co-Founder, Tekad Kolektif, as well as Zarina Muhammad, artist, educator and researcher. The discussion was moderated by Melanie Pocock, Curator, Ikon Gallery.
Here are the takeaways from the panels:
At the beginning of the session, the artists introduced their projects for the upcoming SAW. Zarina will be participating in the online programme, ‘If Forests Talk’, presenting ‘Earth, Land, Sky and Sea as Palimpsest’, a collaborative project with Zachary Chan. Masuri, as part of Tekad Koletif, is organising the exhibition, ‘Re-situating Home(making): Hyper-Material Domesticity’. Alecia will be launching her ‘Care Index’ project and the exhibition Networked Bodies. Jason has organised ‘Singapore Ceramics Now 2021: Marking | Making’, an ambitious survey of ceramic art in Singapore from the 1990s to the present day.
Artists are bravely navigating the rapidly digitising art world, unlearning their dependence on traditional ways of working, and learning new skills to tap into the advantages of the digital. Adapting her workshop for Dramabox’s SCENES: Participatory Practices that was moved online, Zarina suggested that a crucial unlearning and relearning process has had to take place for practitioners to negotiate with the lack of a physical presence. Echoing Zarina’s sentiments, Jason shared that as a performance artist, he has felt it necessary to cross the barrier and move further into the digital space to confront and eventually embrace possibilities afforded by a virtual interface. Like most, BRACK has adapted their in-person gatherings and workshops for the Zoom platform. Raising the idea that virtual interactions give more autonomy to the individual’s level of participation, Alecia suggested that the camera presents a new portal to practice vulnerability. For artists and curators working on exhibitions remotely, Masuri observed that it has required them to place greater trust in each other to convey and execute ideas.
The shift to digital has increased the potential geographical and demographical reach of projects in significant and exciting ways. Masuri shared that his upcoming project will host workshops in-person, accompanied by live streams online, to allow for more people to participate. Alecia concurred that the large-scale collective move to digital has allowed her to reach a wider audience. Her recent open call for the Care Index received an unprecedented number of responses from different parts of the world, and connected her to unexpected collaborators and contributors.
The importance of the material is heightened as a counterweight to the digital, and while artists are leaning into new opportunities provided by the latter, they will be developing their practices mindfully rather than by rote. Jason emphasised that although the shift online has motivated him to think further about documenting and archiving his works more purposefully, his practice is still first and foremost rooted in the physical. Melanie noted that the increasing push towards digital has made working with the tactile and physical even more important, to allow artists to withdraw and find ways to focus on themselves and their practices. Zarina proposed that this was a good time for artists to reevaluate their priorities, borrowing the words of editor, playwright and critic Nabilah Said, and to distinguish between digitising by necessity and doing so in meaningful ways.
Watch the full recording of RESET Talk 4 | Back to Basics: Material Practices in the Digital Age here:
If you'd like, you can skip to:
4:00 – for Zarina's introduction
7:36 – for Masuri's introduction
12:21 – for Alecia’s introduction
17:20 – for Jason’s introduction
24:00 – for panel discussion
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RESET, presented by A&M in partnership with Singapore Art Week 2021, runs from December 2020 to January 2021 on Zoom. The talks are free for all to attend with registration. Click here to find the full programme details and to secure your spot for Talk 5 | Making Space: Support Systems for a Diverse Art Ecosystem.
