The first energy saving LED 3D Billboard 3D billboard in Singapore, Ten Square, Landmark of Good is a 15-floor car vending machine & tower located in the heart of downtown Singapore. With a large-scale media façade and interest in developing the media arts scene in Singapore, Project Ten Square invited students from University of Ansbach, Germany and NTU ADM, Singapore to create a series of media artworks about climate change and sustainability. This cross-cultural collaboration further strengthened existing bilateral ties between Singapore and Germany – showcasing the power of media arts in inspiring and promoting creativity across borders.
“… to adapt successfully to climate change,
Karen O’Brien
we need to adapt to the very idea that we are creating the future right now….
there is no better way to transform than by telling new stories about ourselves
and our significance in an entangled future…”
MAIN THEME: Borrowing the idea of an “entangled future” by Karen O’Brien, artists were asked to create multimedia artworks that respond to the idea of a positive outlook of the future for the earth, climate change and sustainability.
SUB-TOPICS: Areas of consideration in response to the main theme include: the ideas of macro and micro/invisible in nature, en-dangered species, one’s own subjective experiences and observations of familiar places, mass-consumption, natural disasters, pollution affecting ocean birds, planktons and marine animals, city light and noise pollution on wildlife.
SITE-SPECIFICITY: Artists from both NTU ADM as well as Hochschule Ansbach, under the mentorship of Professor Ina Conradi (Singapore), Professors Verena Kraemer and Christian Barta (Germany), were asked to consider the architectural dimensions, typology and location of the Ten Square building. The unique curved screen on the façade of Ten Square also enabled artists to reconstruct anamorphic effects and other optical illusions.
While NTU ADM students focused on creating multimedia works with a 2D cinematic approach, Hochschule Ansbach students introduced anamorphic geometries that played around with optical illusions and effects. For both institutions, the intention was to create artworks that would transform a flat LED display screen into a hyper-realistic artwork that could transform a three-dimensional space.
Such larger-than-life multimedia artworks encourages artists to consider not only the aesthetics of their artworks but also the technicalities required to calibrate the best viewing angle and distance by reconstructing their works according to perspective elements – in hopes that all of the visual components within the artworks will align perfectly.
Throughout the creation process, the Professors mentoring the artists ensured that there was an emphasis on a clear and coherent story and message for each piece of work – so that the works could be presented together in a curated manner, the ideas that were explored in the various artworks complemented each other.
IMPACT OF THIS COLLABORATION ON THE MEDIA ARTS SCENE
Media architectures have proliferated in public spaces across the world but they are typically used for advertising. As the costs associated with installing, running and maintaining these technologies are high, such platforms are predominantly used by businesses that can afford to run them for commercial purposes.
However, these displays can also be used to enhance the aesthetic experience of our built environments and challenge established cultural ideas. Collaborations such as Entangled Futures generate artworks that respond to the built environment, enabling artists to create works of art using tools that are sensitive to not only aesthetics but also the site-specificity of the environment.
The Entangled Futures exhibition gave artists the opportunity to be visible locally, internationally and in the public realm – outside the classroom context and away from small screens on personal electronic devices. This in turn motivates them to produce higher quality artworks and democratises the access to technologies used by media and advertising industries.
As most of the artists were students at the time they made the artworks, this opportunity taught them to face challenging, highly demanding computer-mediated professional and social environments. The cross-cultural collaboration also further increased students’ sensitivities to location and cultural sensitivities.
THE ROLE OF MEDIA ARTS IN ENABLING A CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGE
For a few years now, both Professor Ina Conradi and Professor Verena Kraemer have prepared students to face the challenging, highly demanding computer-mediated professional and social environments where individuals are expected to re-wire themselves, and continue developing their skills and knowledge throughout their working lives.
They both shared a passion for integrative and interdisciplinary learning – discussing the performance of our cohorts, being virtually present in each other’s classes both in Germany and in Singapore, as well as organising in-person visits to deepen and reflect on our teaching approach so as to take the collaboration to new heights. This cross-cultural exchange began with a project on the Elbphilharmonie Concert façade LED media wall in 2018 and 2019, then on the Media Art Nexus LED screen, at the NTU Campus and now in the heart of Singapore at the Ten Square building.
TEN SQUARE’S IMPACT ON MEDIA ARTS IN SINGAPORE
The screen located on the façade of the Ten Square building opened up new dimensions for media artists in Singapore and beyond. With its prime location at the Selegie arts district in downtown Singapore and the latest 3D technologies with large scale solar powered LED display, it opened up new possibilities to media artists. Unlike white-cube exhibition spaces, the screen is able to propel artists to respond to the architecture and environment while creating visually compelling works of art that can capture the attention of passers-by.