WEAPONS OF MASS DESIRE
Design and Consumption in the Aftermath of WWII
Thursday 28 August Sunday 16 November 08
The Canyon, Basement
Free Admission
Technological development during WWII made killing and destruction more efficient and effective as compared to human conflicts of the past. New technologies and synthetic materials were harnessed and modern warfare employing planes, tanks and ships took the conflicts off the land and into the sky and sea. In the aftermath of the war, production shifted from military hardware to consumer production and wartime technologies became channelled towards the consumer market. Many of the advanced technologies that were to transform our daily lives in the sixties including television, transistors, automation, nuclear power and new plastics became available in the 1950s.
Weapons of Mass Desire aims to provide visitors with a fresh perspective into war and its legacy by looking at post-WWII design and consumption. The exhibition will examine how ideas and technologies initially employed for violence were adapted by designers and manufacturers for the postwar peacetime improvement of everyday life, first globally and then in Singapore.
Storm by Jinnie Seo (Korea)
14 Jul 11 Jan 09
10am 8pm, daily
Glass Atrium, Level 2
Free
The concept of the work is on "Theater". From different angles, perspectives or positions from the museum whether inside or outside, the work will look different, resonating different acts of a theatre work. Visitors of the museum will become audience and be part of this play along with the glass atrium environment, creating an intimate yet monumental space. In these new, three-dimensional works, the abstract linear forms have become real things, colourful lattices that drape and envelope the viewer. Radiant in saturated colour and transparent in an utterly different manner, these hanging paper grids ingeniously reiterate Seo's knack for idiosyncratic geometric form and her ongoing fascination with achieving a poetic visual reflection on life and social meaning.
Performances
Block 33 大牌三十三
Thursday 4 September Saturday 6 September 08
8pm 9pm
Entrance to History Gallery, Level 2
S$30
Block 33; the man believes that he is safe in the realm of the divine. Getting ready for his daily work, he ritualistically offers flower and incense at the alter where the image of the Bodhisattva sits.
The overseas Chinese finds counterpoints in ritual, drama and being, in his daily search of existence and protection. Entangled within the multi-layered web of history, culture, traditions that does not necessarily belong to him, he searched deeper.
Tang Quartet collaborates with choreographers Ix Wong and Aaron Khek in this multi-layered performance.
Set to the music of Hu Xiao-ous Mo Xie and Tan Duns Eight Colors the ensemble takes a trip where dreams and reality collides.
Old Sounds 古声 - A work in progress by Swee Boon Kuik
Thursday 11 September Saturday 13 September 08
8pm 9pm
Gallery Theatre, Basement
S$30
Old Sounds is multimedia blend of modern city sounds, endangered dialects, folksongs and film projection. This work explores modern mans profound and intimate relationship with the gradual loss of tradition and the incessant changes in the environment. This is the third part of Project: Empty Room Echo, and is the first time it is being presented to the public.
Project: Empty Room Echo aims to preserve and revive the eroding cultural heritage that has been neglected by modern society. Empty Room was done by photographer Tan Nigap Heng. Part of his work will be exhibited in the lobby of the theatre while the remaining work will be incorporated into the dance choreography.
The second part - Echo, focuses on what has emerged as a significant concern in the Singapore-Malaysian region, the research and collection of the most pristine form possible of endangered dialects spoken via memoirs, stories and folksongs etc. These materials will then be integrated into the music for the performance.
ENQUIRIES
www.nationalmuseum.sg
Tel: 6332 3659 / 6332 5642
Design and Consumption in the Aftermath of WWII
Thursday 28 August Sunday 16 November 08
The Canyon, Basement
Free Admission
Technological development during WWII made killing and destruction more efficient and effective as compared to human conflicts of the past. New technologies and synthetic materials were harnessed and modern warfare employing planes, tanks and ships took the conflicts off the land and into the sky and sea. In the aftermath of the war, production shifted from military hardware to consumer production and wartime technologies became channelled towards the consumer market. Many of the advanced technologies that were to transform our daily lives in the sixties including television, transistors, automation, nuclear power and new plastics became available in the 1950s.
Weapons of Mass Desire aims to provide visitors with a fresh perspective into war and its legacy by looking at post-WWII design and consumption. The exhibition will examine how ideas and technologies initially employed for violence were adapted by designers and manufacturers for the postwar peacetime improvement of everyday life, first globally and then in Singapore.
Storm by Jinnie Seo (Korea)
14 Jul 11 Jan 09
10am 8pm, daily
Glass Atrium, Level 2
Free
The concept of the work is on "Theater". From different angles, perspectives or positions from the museum whether inside or outside, the work will look different, resonating different acts of a theatre work. Visitors of the museum will become audience and be part of this play along with the glass atrium environment, creating an intimate yet monumental space. In these new, three-dimensional works, the abstract linear forms have become real things, colourful lattices that drape and envelope the viewer. Radiant in saturated colour and transparent in an utterly different manner, these hanging paper grids ingeniously reiterate Seo's knack for idiosyncratic geometric form and her ongoing fascination with achieving a poetic visual reflection on life and social meaning.
Performances
Block 33 大牌三十三
Thursday 4 September Saturday 6 September 08
8pm 9pm
Entrance to History Gallery, Level 2
S$30
Block 33; the man believes that he is safe in the realm of the divine. Getting ready for his daily work, he ritualistically offers flower and incense at the alter where the image of the Bodhisattva sits.
The overseas Chinese finds counterpoints in ritual, drama and being, in his daily search of existence and protection. Entangled within the multi-layered web of history, culture, traditions that does not necessarily belong to him, he searched deeper.
Tang Quartet collaborates with choreographers Ix Wong and Aaron Khek in this multi-layered performance.
Set to the music of Hu Xiao-ous Mo Xie and Tan Duns Eight Colors the ensemble takes a trip where dreams and reality collides.
Old Sounds 古声 - A work in progress by Swee Boon Kuik
Thursday 11 September Saturday 13 September 08
8pm 9pm
Gallery Theatre, Basement
S$30
Old Sounds is multimedia blend of modern city sounds, endangered dialects, folksongs and film projection. This work explores modern mans profound and intimate relationship with the gradual loss of tradition and the incessant changes in the environment. This is the third part of Project: Empty Room Echo, and is the first time it is being presented to the public.
Project: Empty Room Echo aims to preserve and revive the eroding cultural heritage that has been neglected by modern society. Empty Room was done by photographer Tan Nigap Heng. Part of his work will be exhibited in the lobby of the theatre while the remaining work will be incorporated into the dance choreography.
The second part - Echo, focuses on what has emerged as a significant concern in the Singapore-Malaysian region, the research and collection of the most pristine form possible of endangered dialects spoken via memoirs, stories and folksongs etc. These materials will then be integrated into the music for the performance.
ENQUIRIES
www.nationalmuseum.sg
Tel: 6332 3659 / 6332 5642
