Three Domes: Simulacara 1.0

URICH LAU
THREE DOMES: SIMULACRA 1.0

2020
Interactive digital media / 3D Print, Video And Sound Installation

Developed for Otherworlds - as part of Singapore Art Week 2021

DESCRIPTION

The work is a virtual expedition in an alienated streetscape of Singapore. As part of the latest addition to Lau’s “Three Domes” series, the work discusses the symbolic meaning and the future of cultural institutions through the long-standing heritage architectural structures.

Lau responds to the topographical memories and nuances of the Singapore cultural landscape, adopting the presence of the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum to National Gallery Singapore as a symbolic gesture to the state of the institutional arts.

The route that spans the three art institutions are created by walking from one building to another. The journey is captured by using a running application that shows a graphical tracking map. A 3D rendering is then created for a pace-by-pace walk- through with a total distance of 4.45 km that relays the three art institutions in the city district. The work is also presented as a 3D printed model made to the likeness of the district but with re-imagined architectural features of the three institutions.

The process represents a physical endeavour that situates in a digital simulacrum and shows how reality and virtuality intertwine with each other.

ABOUT ARTIST

Urich Lau is a visual artist, independent curator and art educator based in Singapore. Working in video art and photography, he has presented works in Singapore, Argentina, Australia, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, Serbia, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA and Uzbekistan. Exhibitions include Singapore Biennale 2013, VII Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Art, the 7th Geumgang Nature Art Biennale and Pyeongchang Biennale 2017. He graduated with a Master of Fine Art from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2004. He is a lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts, a founding member of the art collective INTER–MISSION, a member of The Artists Village, and Instinctive (INSTINC Art Space).