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For Bookmark, ArtAsiaPacific invites an artist to spotlight some of their online sources of inspiration. This week we asked Tiffany Singh.
Tiffany Singh is an Auckland-based installation artist. Her work since 2005 is influenced by the many religious and mythological belief systems she has encountered while travelling through Asia, and Central and South America. Her recent wind-chime installation, Knock on the Sky, Listen to the Sound (2011), which will be recreated for the 2012 Biennale of Sydney, is representative of her efforts to create spiritual public spaces by incorporating ritual or votive elements into everyday settings and materials.
1. UP Projects
UP Projects curates and produces art projects and events outside traditional institutional spaces, which offers challenging and innovative opportunities that are backed by professional, discerning production support and project management. This platform for creatives explores alternative art world models and by doing so makes art accessible and widely available for engagement within multiple contexts. Work of this nature inspires and encourages me to find alternative platforms for artwork to exist in and to keep pushing my own boundaries of the roles and locations of art in contemporary society.
3. Ferrofluid Sculpture
I love the simplicity and delicate nature of something that looks so natural and organic—like a flower or tree—that is generated by magnetically charged oil. It’s cool.
5. ISAM
This is potentially the most cutting edge display of sound and visual work. This huge technical and engineering achievement piques interest in both an audio and visual sense. Pushing out three-dimensional content requires insane technology and set design. I love the synchronicity and collaborative processes that have been created by this team—it makes me believe that anything is possible!
2. John and Yoko
John Lennon and Yoko Ono will always be muses to me. Their dialogue about ownership, responsibility and the power of the people is still beautiful and encouraging to hear. The conversation prioritizes love and peace, and references Gandhi’s ahimsha movement with a very profound quote at the end. John and Yoko ask us all to wake up and be conscious about who we are and what we want—a message accompanied by a poignant clip of the film War Is Over. I watch this video often, as its helps me clarify my objectives and responsibility every time.
4. In Aankhon Ki Masti
I adore India’s aesthetic culture. I lived in India for three years and miss the sounds, scents, colors and vibrancy of life on a daily basis. I try and start my day with a Hindustani classical song like the above, as the vibration of sound that is created through the vocals, tabla and sitar makes me feel full of energy.
6. Mary Jacob
This is the most visited site in my bookmarks. Mary Jacob’s writings help me identify and consolidate my approach—which in my own work is located in the process rather than the outcome of art-making—toward contemporary art. I am particularly interested in Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004). Through it, Jacob explores the Buddhist concept of the “empty mind” as a source of creative possibility for artists.