Image courtesy of McNally School of Fine Arts
Ivan Ong, BA(Hons) Fine Arts Level 2 (2019)
Last February (2019), we were given the opportunity to hear five of our graduating cohort of 2019 BA(Hons) Fine Arts Level 3 students shared their dissertations in a public talk. Trans/ Mission 2019 was an informative and insightful platform that has engaged both the students and the public to think more deeply about the topics presented: topics range from topics of identity, history, consumption and institutional system and structures. The students, who had been asked to share their dissertations this year, reflected that this experience of having to present their studio practice/personal journeys through the various forms of research, has forced them to step out of their comfort zones. Throughout their presentations, the audience learnt how the students had progressively turned their vulnerability and curiosity into questions that propelled their research throughout the year. Both students and audience alike mutually shared a sense of excitement and knowing.
Lai Yu Tong shared about his views on the consumption of images both by the individual and by society, and commented on how artists and thinkers are affected by the overproduction and consumption of images. This acknowledgement, urges us as active participants to be aware of how we should consume and produce images in this day and age.
Tanak Bajaj expounded on how stringency and repetition, especially through religious traditions, have seeped into our male and female identities. Her paper explores and compares archival content against Hindu scriptures, setting them against the everyday reality and the role of women in society.
Vidhi Gupta discussed the role of gender and the relevance of rituals in today’s context. In her paper, she aimed to deconstruct myths and examine them deeper. She also followed up by sharing both a general observation on human behaviour and a personal account of how she reflected on her family’s insistence in following these religious practices and rituals.
Building on the recent archaeological excavations of Empress Place, Fazleen Karlan grappled with the phenomenon of commemorating historiographies of Singapore. In regarding the Bicentennial 2019, her paper critically argues for a deeper engagement with Singapore’s history through different frames instead of the conventional top-down approach initiated by the State.
Pooja Kanade’s paper rationalises the predicament of existing institutional systems and structures while exploring ground- up initiatives to provide alternative voices in the art scene and society as a whole.
After hearing about how layered and complex the ideas and concepts within specific nodes of histories and culture were, that instigated such research and examination in their dissertations, one cannot leave without taking away an understanding of the value of writing a dissertation.
