This keynote by Tamares Goh, artist and head of visual arts at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, moves beyond the finish of the gallery wall to examine art as a raw, lived process.
Through the work of diverse contemporary artists, we explore why the logic of fracture might be essential to a meaningful practice. Perhaps art is not a chase for intellectual prestige or aesthetic perfection, but is instead a sheer dedication to the crises of the everyday. By embracing vulnerability, maybe we are able to transform personal and systemic ruptures into a visual language of radical honesty.
We will analyse how the “broken” line and the “unstable” medium might serve as acts of resistance against a world that demands constant, manufactured composure.
This keynote is the public, opening event for the annual undergraduate research seminar Trans/Mission. All are welcome.
Trans/Mission is an annual undergraduate research seminar that convenes Year 3 BA (Hons) students from LASALLE’s eight Schools to present and critically reflect on their final year projects.
Beginning as a small-scale collaboration between two Schools in 2015, Trans/Mission has since evolved into a College-wide programme encompassing disciplines across fine art, creative industries, music, film, animation, fashion, spatial and product design, design communication, dance and theatre. The platform has fostered a culture of intellectual openness within the College, and encouraged shared learning across programmes and levels of study.
Conceived as a forum for scholarly exchange, the initiative foregrounds research methodologies, conceptual frameworks and experimental processes that underpin diverse creative practices. It seeks to cultivate an environment for interdisciplinary dialogue, collaborative inquiry and transdisciplinary knowledge production, positioning undergraduate research as both rigorous and publicly engaged.
A distinctive dimension of Trans/Mission is its integrative pedagogical structure. MA students participate as panel moderators, gaining formative experience in facilitating academic discourse and strengthening their critical skills. Each year, invited industry specialists contribute professional perspectives, allowing the seminar to sustain intellectual depth while remaining responsive to contemporary cultural and creative industries.
