Creatif Compleks

Michael Lee

14 Jan 2022–31 Dec 2024
Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Side gate entrance
Public outdoor work. Accessible at all times.

Creatif Compleks is the culmination of Michael Lee’s reflection on the function of the artist’s studio within the arts ecology of a city. The work takes the form of a diagram about a hypothetical property development consisting of various configurations of the artist’s home/studio. The use of LED rope lights, a popular fixture in advertising and interior design, alludes to latent apprehensions about the development and promotion of the arts in Singapore which today are, arguably, at a feverish pitch. Informed by myths and fantasies of artists in their studios, the work takes a speculative leap into the utopian and the absurd.

The work’s first iteration, developed during the artist’s residency at NTU CCA Singapore in 2018, is in the Singapore Art Museum Collection. This 2022 version is commissioned with the support of Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd and as part of The Everyday Museum, a public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum.

 

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About the Artist

Michael Lee (b. 1972) is an artist, curator and publisher based in Berlin and Singapore. He researches urban memory and fiction, especially the contexts and implications of loss. Lee transforms his observations into objects, diagrams, situations, curations or texts. The artist has staged solo exhibitions at Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), Hanart TZ Gallery (Hong Kong), Baba House (Singapore) and Alliance Francaise de Singapour (Singapore). Lee’s group exhibition participations include Kuandu Biennale 2012, Asia Triennial Manchester 2011, Singapore Biennale 2011, 8th Shanghai Biennale 2010, Guangzhou Triennial 2011 and 2008, the 2005 World Exposition (Singapore Pavilion) and International Film & Video Association Film Award & Festival 1997 (co-winner, Experimental category). Lee was recipient of the People’s Choice Award at the APBF Signature Art Prize 2011 and Young Artist Award (Visual Arts) in 2005, conferred by the National Arts Council, Singapore.

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