Themed Culture City. Culture Scape., this public art project, commissioned by Mapletree and curated by NTU CCA Singapore comprises works by internationally renowned artists Dan Graham (United States), Zulkifle Mahmod (Singapore), Tomás Saraceno (Argentina/Germany), and Yinka Shonibare (Nigeria/United Kingdom). Inspired by the idea of expanded sculptural environments, the artworks explore the interplay between landscape, architecture, and the broader social and economic environments they are placed in. More than being monumental or site-specific, each work alters or permeates its local context to invite visitors to a broader, richer engagement.
For more information about our tours, please visit: www.mapletreearts.sg
]]>Our upcoming guided tour is an excellent way to get inspired and unwind in the company of art. Enjoy a well-deserved cup of coffee and snack while we walk you through the artworks nestled in the lush compounds of Mapletree Business City II (MBC II).
Themed Culture City. Culture Scape., this public art project, commissioned by Mapletree and curated by NTU CCA Singapore comprises works by internationally renowned artists Dan Graham (United States), Zulkifle Mahmod (Singapore), Tomás Saraceno (Argentina/Germany), and Yinka Shonibare (Nigeria/United Kingdom). Inspired by the idea of expanded sculptural environments, the artworks explore the interplay between landscape, architecture, and the broader social and economic environments they are placed in. More than being monumental or site-specific, each work alters or permeates its local context to invite visitors to a broader, richer engagement.
For more information about our tours, please visit: www.mapletreearts.sg
ISBN: 978-981-14-4377-0
Distributed by NUS Press (Asia Pacific and the Americas)
Copies are available for sale at NTU CCA Singapore and through NUS Press
S$28
Works of art presented in public spaces are increasingly viewed from the perspective of place-making, a holistic approach that engages the diverse functions of a location and its wider context. As a practice, place-making integrates urban planning, landscape architecture, and cultural management.
Culture City. Culture Scape. documents a major public art commission for a newly designed business park in Singapore, Mapletree Business City II, featuring works by international and local artists Dan Graham, Tomás Saraceno, Yinka Shonibare CBE, and Zul Mahmod, which draw upon regional histories and urban politics.
The curators’ conversations with the artists and with Edmund Cheng, Chairman of Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd, as well as reflective essays on the development process and the potential of art in public spaces, lend context on the multiple points of view that must be reconciled to create meaningful public spaces and explore the role art can play in public education and social corporate investment.
]]>Published by NTU CCA Singapore, 2021
Edited by Ute Meta Bauer, Sophie Goltz, and Khim Ong
Design by Studio Vanessa Ban
© 2021 by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
ISBN: 978-981-14-4377-0
Distributed by NUS Press (Asia Pacific and the Americas)
Copies are available for sale at NTU CCA Singapore and through NUS Press
S$28
Works of art presented in public spaces are increasingly viewed from the perspective of place-making, a holistic approach that engages the diverse functions of a location and its wider context. As a practice, place-making integrates urban planning, landscape architecture, and cultural management.
Culture City. Culture Scape. documents a major public art commission for a newly designed business park in Singapore, Mapletree Business City II, featuring works by international and local artists Dan Graham, Tomás Saraceno, Yinka Shonibare CBE, and Zul Mahmod, which draw upon regional histories and urban politics.
The curators’ conversations with the artists and with Edmund Cheng, Chairman of Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd, as well as reflective essays on the development process and the potential of art in public spaces, lend context on the multiple points of view that must be reconciled to create meaningful public spaces and explore the role art can play in public education and social corporate investment.
Formally trained as an architect, Tomás Saraceno draws on art, architecture, natural sciences, astrophysics, and engineering in his practice. His floating sculptures, community projects, and interactive installations propose and explore new, sustainable ways of inhabiting and sensing the environment. Over the past decade, he has initiated collaborations with renowned scientific institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Max Planck Society, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, and institutions of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group. For many years, Saraceno has studied the methods by which various species of spiders construct their webs and has incorporated this knowledge about their functionality and aesthetics into his own artistic practice. He was the first person to scan, reconstruct, and reimagine spiders’ weaved spatial habitats, and possesses the only three-dimensional spider’s web collection in existence. In January 2020, as part of the global art initiative “CONNECT, BTS”, Saraceno launched his project “Fly with Aerocene Pacha”, featuring the first-ever fuel-free hot-air balloon, above the Salinas Grandes salt flats in Jujuy, Argentina, achieving the world’s first manned solar-powered free flight and setting six world records. His major commissions include Tomás Saraceno on the Roof: Cloud City (2012) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the permanent installation In Orbit (2013) at Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf. Saraceno was also a participating artist in the 53rd and 58th Venice Biennales. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin; among others.