Le Journal Exhibitions

Currently running until September 18, 2016 at the Esplanade Concourse in Singapore is the collaborative, site-specific installation between established Singaporean artists Delia and Milenko Prvacki, Construction Site 2016.

This installation is a dressed-up stage combining both artists’ notable styles of work. Inspired by the landscape of change in Singapore’s geographical and economic development over the past five decades, the two artists use a wide array of contrasting and complementing construction materials to create a metaphorical island that has been through rapid changes, akin to a colorful stage production.

Situated within the heart of the Esplanade performing arts center, it is effectively an allegorical representation of life in a fast-developing country, where people must find a balance between preserving their natural surroundings and the needs of urban living — and where life is theatre and theatre mimics life.

“Although we have exhibited together several times, this is the first time that we are doing an installation as a collaborative project. It is a significant and meaningful endeavor for both of us as we are able to assess and evaluate the similarities and differences between our practices, sharing an interwoven common vision and aesthetic sense that has developed over more than four decades. This exhibition is an opportunity for us to crystalise our creative forces and accumulated experiences in an effort to find the right form and content for a composition that is relevant to our separate, individual artistic identities. It is also a response to the challenge of creating a work of public art that is site-specific and integrated in architecture, while still conveying a strong message to the viewer” Prvacki said.

The reflecting mirror acts as a literal metaphor for a picture created in a virtual space, an aerial view, or as a focused, cropped frame much like postcards of panoramic vistas that are kept as memorabilia from one’s travels. The final projection or tentative search for similarities to a real location is left to the viewer’s imagination.