Timothy Soh

Following up on my previous work titled “Shibboleth” where I explore linkages between our collective shared experiences and objects or situations, this artwork before you is a projection of places living once upon a time but now sidelined to the kingdom of the past.

The pictures are of present day sites of cultural importance. They are, for all intents and purposes, mummified for the present day. Gentrified if you prefer. The shell is there but the soul we connected with is gone. Imagine what we have lost with time. To question, also, why we find it hard to let go of our past, why do our hearts ache when we look at old places being torn down and rebuilt or built over. Is regeneration always a bad thing?
The purpose of the projection is not meant to have you merely think of our past intellectually. Instead, I would like you to be fully aware of sensations, feelings, and thoughts arising from viewing the projection. To study your own emotional state when viewing or reminiscing about such places. To think of your own linkages to these places. Why do the loss of old places ache? Is it merely romanticism or nostalgia at work? What are your ties to such places?

Title

Vestige

Medium

Wood, nylon, projector, digital media

Year

2021

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Writer

Charlene Jade Ng

Memoir: The Carpenter’s Shophouse