JUST NOT NUDE ENOUGH, 2019

Singapore Utopia Group Exhibition, curated by Deborah Lim and Lisa Polten.

"Just not nude enough" a lecture-installation

Singapore abides by a mandate that any person appearing nude in public or in a private place is criminally liable. These laws results in a reconsideration of the body and its representation and display. Yanyun Chen presents a lecture-installation meandering through policy, media coverage, abandoned artworks and the residues of nudities.

This year marks the Bicentennial celebrations for Singapore, with explorations into what constitutes the current state of Singaporean national identity. Instead of looking back, we want to examine current socio-political and cultural contexts. Split into chapters, Singapore Utopia presents artists who address themes of multiculturalism, intimacy, diaspora, land and language. A series of programmes to accompany the exhibition will hold equivalent weight, occupying a central space in the gallery and reaching into genres of literature and performance.

Section 27A of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, Chapter 184 sets us apart from international art practices. It seeps into our subconscious as a flesh toned fence, framing the structures of our self-censorship. Like skin holding in our organs, blood, bones, nerves, guts from spilling our anxiety onto public terrain, our laws against nudity–both public, private, visual, and performative—stretches out to fix in a definition of our bodies, bind the bodies of our works, and prevent these bodies from touching each other.

17th August 2019 5pm - 6pm Chan+Hori Contemporary, Singapore