| The Intangible
Read Between The Lines, An Exhibition of Artistamps
1 August 2004 - 27
August 2004
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This exhibition features artistamps
inspired by the personal correspondence and experience
of nine local artists, designers and illustrators:
Elsie Koh, Eric Kong, Sandra Kong, Lee Huei Hoon,
Connie Pamg, Tanya De Rozario, Sun Yu-Li, Sun
I-Yu and Andy Yang.
Probably the first exhibition of artistamps in
Singapore, the designs printed to resemble stamps
and mounted on envelopes capture the intangible:
feelings, thoughts and ideas encapsulated in their
personal letters. The phrase "read between
the lines" captures the process by which
we make meaning of text and images.
The gallery, inspired by the Griffin and Sabine
Trilogy by Nick Bantock and literary works like
Lady Susan by Jane Austen, invites visitors to
engage in the delightful forbidden sensation of
reading someone else's mail. The difference: protagonists
of the different stories waiting inside the envelopes
are real, and visitors get to 'talk back' by writing
letters in response.
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What
are Artistamps?
Artistamps are stamps produced by artists,
designers and those who reject these terms but
participate in the activity. They are not meant
for postage, unlike postage stamps which are produced
by postal authorities for use in the official
postal systems of the world. Artistamps form part
of a larger phenomenon known as Network and Correspondence
Art that comprise mail art, artistamps and rubber
stamp art.
While artistamps resemble postage stamps, they
do not follow the conventions of postage stamp
designs. The birth, existence and role of each
could not be more different. Yet they share the
same design format.
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Read what some of our contributors say…
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To my
not-so-well
kept secret
by Tania De Rozario
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The process
I took to create this work was special to me because
my stamp was based on a letter I never sent... its
recipient being someone I loved deeply. I've always
been interested in what happens to the function
of words that are left "unspoken". Do
they really exist if they are not communicated?
And what happens when private words are given public
display...do they still retain their meaning or
function even though they are read by people they
were not intended for? |
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Joie de
Vivre
by Sun I-Yu
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E-mails have became
the most commonly used mode of written communication.
Although they seem to have replaced letter writing,
I feel that you should differentiate your personal
and work e-mails. When you write or receive a personal
e-mail, the content in the e-mail is actually valuable
and is specially composed by you or for you, and
the good thing is that you can keep both sent and
received mails. Today, even though telecommunication
is the easiest way to contact people, for close
friends, writing is still more intimate than vocal
expression. |
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Letter
to myself
- window series
by Eric Kong
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Artistamps are different
from the usual postage stamps we use. For artistamps,
there is the element of 'personal emotions', it
allows more space for creativity. The design of
the artistamp tends to be more abstract, so I feel
there is a need to explain to people what the artistamp
means, as people can interpret the design in different
ways.
Although the idea of the artistamp is not original,
I think this exhibition is a good start to stamp
design. Artistamps is another form of expressing
one's ideas. I hope this exhibition will develop
into an annual activity, where schools can also
participate and design artistamps. |
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Cheesecake
recipe
from Hasami
by Connie Pamg
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Having my emotions
as part of the stamp design gives a very personal
touch to the stamp. Since emotions are so personal
and intimate, it is expressed in individual ways
that each stamp becomes a unique piece of work.
Taking part in this exhibition was a fun experience
for me. I've never designed a stamp before but I've
learnt more about artistamps after I participated
in this exhibition. What I designed is a simple
piece of cheese cake. I chose to draw that because
it was the recipe of the cheese cake that brought
back memories of my Hasami trip. I've expressed
the cheese cake using the illustration style that
I'm most comfortable with. |
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Correspondence
series
by Andy Yang
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The process involves
three main items - a phone bill envelope, used bass
guitar strings and the artistamp brief. The emotive
content in the paintings is a simple appreciation
of the task involved in sorting out the mails and
sending them to the respective recipient. I am trying
to see the emotional correspondence process taking
place not just between the sender and recipient,
but the people who make it possible as well. |
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Dark Manchester
by Lee Huei Hoon
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"Manchester
reintroduced me to the non-colour black. By night,
the post-industrial city with its aged buildings,
cobbled streets and desolate corners, seemed to
exude a palpable dark life of its own. The attempt
to portray what I can't see but can only feel resulted
in a series of self developed and printed monochromatic
photographs. One of these revealed my friend (and
"bodyguard") in a private moment, intense
in his reading, while waiting for me to wrap up
my shots." |
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"The Intangible/Read
between the Lines, An Exhibition of Artistamps"
is part of Design
Design!, a National Heritage Board festival
celebrating design in its various forms. Design
Design! is proudly associated with DesignSingapore,
a national collaborative to promote design excellence
in Singapore. |
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