RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
21 - 24 November 2019

Rules of Engagement is an exhibition-event that engages the implicit rules of the art world as related to public spaces. 20 artists respond to the theme of A Public Square. Both artists and the audience are asked to comply with the Rules of Engagement.

The exhibition takes place over four days at The Substation SAD Bar. Every night is both a Vernissage and a Finissage, because we all know everyone only turns up for an opening or a closing! All exhibiting artists are eligible for a nightly Public Choice Prize, voted and paid for by the audience through the purchase of DRINK/VOTE tickets. Each DRINK/VOTE ticket is $5 and entitles the purchaser to 1 x free drink and 1 x Public Choice prize vote.

The artists and the audience are governed by their own sets of rules. The rules are left open to interpretation. Fines will be issued by undercover officers for violations of any rules, which are subject to change without notice. The exhibition will be opened and closed each night by a different Guest of Honour, who will also present the prize to the winning artist/s. The audience will be given a short survey on the way out.

Like the oft unspoken rules for engaging with public spaces, the art world – itself a public space – has its own rules. Opaque and often unknown to participants, these rules are constantly changing and ever contested. Just as the public are compelled to know the rules that guide their interactions and behaviour in public spaces, so too are artists as they navigate the artworld. Rules of Engagement aims to generate an open discussion and hopes to redress an implicit imbalance, shining a light on the complicated negotiations – financial, social, emotion – in which artists engage when they create work for the public.

HELLO, HOW DO YOU MOVE?
7 December 2019

Hello, How Do You Move? is a site-specific dance performance jointly created by Ammar, a deaf choreographer, dancer, and film maker and Rachel Nip, a hearing dance, choreographer, and theatre practitioner.

The project explores how people of varying abilities can communicate and express themselves through movement and the senses. The project engages the audience to experience the public space in and around The Substation's SAD Bar with improvised dance movements that respond to the design, history, uses, and people associated with the space. Hello, How Do You Move? was first developed for 实堂 Practice Tuckshop's Incubation Programme in 2019.

RED THREAD
13 - 15 December

When prancing nude in your own home puts you at risk of a fine or some jail time, and with the impending criminalisation of cyber flashing (e.g. the sending of unsolicited “dick pics”), visual artist ila and performance-maker Sonia Kwek think it's about time we reconsider the concept of nude bodies as displays of public indecency or even societal nuisances.

Nudity isn't just about the flashing of genitalia, and being in a state of nakedness shouldn't always carry sexual connotations. Red Thread is a series of events that invites you to break away from the discomfort and shame of your nudity by reclaiming the parts of your body that are unique to you—in a public space.

Your moles, scars, and stretch marks carry stories of traumas and triumphs. We invite you to enter the Red Thread photo booth, undress and photograph yourself, then share with us a personal story about your body. We urge you to feel empowered by this act of protesting against the social stigmas that have been imposed on your nude body, for it is not a burden that you need to carry around by covering up.

Learn more about the Red Thread project: https://www.instagram.com/redthread.sg/

AN ACTUAL MAMA SHOP
12 - 18 March 2020

The city is primed for war. Metal rails turn void decks into dead space. Clusters of CCTVs at every corner capture our #OOTDs every second, enshrining them in 0s and 1s forever. Ours is a city covered in spikes and studs, divided by fences, turning inwards and on itself.

The city is a battlefield, but we are lovers, not fighters. We suit up and ship out every day, braving the crowds and the city itself in navigating everyday life. We get creative in the face of hostility and exclusion by design.

Touch Me, Touch Me Not invites artists and designers from various creative fields to respond to hostile design and the politics of space in Singapore. The show features wearables, installations, and performances that riff on the theme of personal space, exclusivity, reclaiming our right to public space, and what it means to have an unassailable sense of belonging and ownership.

TOUCH ME, TOUCH ME NOT
21 - 29 March 2020

The city is primed for war. Metal rails turn void decks into dead space. Clusters of CCTVs at every corner capture our #OOTDs every second, enshrining them in 0s and 1s forever. Ours is a city covered in spikes and studs, divided by fences, turning inwards and on itself.

The city is a battlefield, but we are lovers, not fighters. We suit up and ship out every day, braving the crowds and the city itself in navigating everyday life. We get creative in the face of hostility and exclusion by design.

Touch Me, Touch Me Not invites artists and designers from various creative fields to respond to hostile design and the politics of space in Singapore. The show features wearables, installations, and performances that riff on the theme of personal space, exclusivity, reclaiming our right to public space, and what it means to have an unassailable sense of belonging and ownership.