Artist-In-Residence: Resident Group 2018 (Open Call)
The 2018 Artist-In-Residence programme aims to generate critical ways of thinking through research, discussion and shared experience. Convening practitioners and thinkers from various fields, the residency programme is structured around a specific research enquiry or trans-disciplinary research scenario that runs parallel to the main theme running through the year.
The residency involves a Lead Resident and a Resident Group of 3-4 people, selected via an Open Call and Nomination process.
Each member of the Resident Group should have an individual project that they wish to pursue or develop during their time in residence. They are welcome to lead an action / inquiry that offers insight into their background, interests or methodologies. Residents will then carry out fieldwork and develop new perspectives based on their individual practice. The Residents will share the use of the residency studio, as well as come together regularly for creative exchange.
Update (30 November 2017):
Open Call is now closed. Learn more about the Lead Resident and Resident Group for 2018, see here.
Open Call
The Substation is seeking individuals with unique perspectives on space/the environment/the landscape, with an interest in:
Vernacular landscapes, including traditional knowledge of nature and the environment
Psychogeography
Selfhood and identity
Plurality of historical consciousness
Other than this Open Call, candidates may also be selected through specific nominations sought from the fields of : Geography, Sociology, Environmental Studies, Architecture, Urban Space, Anthropology.
Practitioners of differing ages and experience levels are welcome to apply, but should have a demonstrated level of competency (inc. non-formal experience) in a relevant field.
Residency Theme:
WANDERINGS: UNSEEN PATHS, VERNACULAR LANDSCAPES
Developed with Chua Ai Lin, Lead Resident
The Singapore landscape is constantly being reshaped by successive waves of development. However, the traces of what existed before often remain, perhaps in the form of unexplained empty grass patches, steps that lead nowhere, edible plants or cash crops subsumed into the forest, or as place names -- official or even less tangibly as unofficial vernacular names. The current landscape also includes many informal footpaths that have developed and are used in parallel to the explicit design of the built environment. Where do they lead? Who uses them and for what purpose? How do the Past and the Present intersect in the form of these unseen paths?
This residency will take the form of a series of on-site experiments or explorations in specific locations, with all participants contributing and gaining from each other. Over the course of the residency, Chua and the residency group will examine different ways of mapping and re/presenting not only the visible and the historical, but also sensory, imaginative, emotional and spiritual landscapes. Explorations can approach the city and history on different scales of distance and time, and from different perspectives.
Commitment
Period of commitment: January 2018—May 2018
The Group will be expected to come together at least once a week for the duration of the residency for focused peer-to-peer research. At the start of the residency, participants will be invited to make a presentation, informally introducing themselves and their practice to the rest of the group.
Other key milestones include:
3 walking explorations -- each at a different site, to be decided by the Resident Group
3 public seminars -- sharing the personal reflections of Residents following each walk and to discuss how the different perspectives speak to each other
1 public talk/sharing -- presenting closing reflections of the Residency
Applicants who are unable to commit to the full six months are still welcome to apply. Each application will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
Timeline
November 10, 2017
Open Call closes
November 20–24, 2017
Interviews with shortlisted applicants
December 5, 2017
Residency Group announced
January 2, 2018
Residency commences
Budget
All residents are given a modest stipend. Participants will be given a small budget to work with to cover research/material costs. Participants will work together to determine the allocation of this budget amongst their projects, with the advice of the lead resident.
Readings
Some texts that have inspired this residency:
Alexandra Horowitz, On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes (2013)
Janet Pillai, Cultural mapping: a guide to understanding place, community and continuity (2013)
Keri Smith, How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum (2008)
Lynda Barry, What It Is (2008)
--- Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor (2014)
Atelier Hoko, HABIT©AT (2014)
Rodolphe De Koninck, Singapore's Permanent Territorial Revolution: Fifty Years in Fifty Maps (2017)
Victor Savage and Brenda Yeoh, Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (2013)
Dept of Chinese Studies, NUS, Singapore Historical GIS, http://shgis.nus.edu.sg
Singapore Land Authority, Historical Maps 1954-2009, https://hm.onemap.sg
--- One Historical Map, https://ohm.onemap.sg
About the Lead Resident
Chua Ai Lin is the Vice President of the Singapore Heritage Society, having served as its president (2013-2017), and a member of the Society since 1996. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge (UK) and was previously an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore, specialising in Singapore social and cultural history. Currently, she serves as a member of the National Library Advisory Committee, and in the past has been on the advisory board of the National Heritage Board and on the former UNESCO Singapore Sub-Commission on Culture and Information. In 2012, she was the first Singapore representative on the Cultural Heritage Preservation project of the International Visitor Leadership Programme organised by the United States of America’s State Department. She has published in Modern Asian Studies, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies and BiblioAsia among other journals, and is active in bringing heritage news and information to a wider public through running online platforms such as Singapore Heritage Yahoogroup (since 2000), and more recently, Facebook groups such as Heritage Languages of Singapore.
Closing date:
10 November 2017
How to apply
Email the following to:
residency@substation.org
1. An application form (Downloadable here)
2. CV
3. Example of work*
* The work that is submitted should be representative of the applicant's interests. It can take the form of an essay, a piece of artwork (any medium), a blog, description & photos of a project etc.
Shortlisting of participants
Shortlisted participants will be asked for an interview at The Substation in the week of 20—24 November 2017.
We will be selecting participants based on their ability to commit to this project as well as the nature of their interest in being a part of a community of inquiry. We are keen on having a diverse mix of participants and this will also inform the selection process.
For any clarifications or enquiries, please contact
residency@substation.org.