Exploring the ways in which artistic practices reflect on social and ecological phenomena, James Jack will reference one of his curatorial projects, Play with Nature, Played by Nature (2013), an exhibition and series of conversations that looked at creative practices as a way to reinvigorate our consciousness of cycles occurring in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, Japan. Jack will also share his artistic research process of Sea Birth (2017), a project that takes as a starting point the spirits in the sea off the Okinawa coast for a re-imagination of the links between fragments from a turbulent past.
A newly commissioned work by James Jack with over twenty local dirt samples from Singapore.
James Jack. Sea Birth: part one. 2017, Installation view.
The third installment in the “Focus on the Flatfiles” series, featuring rotating selections from the Kentler Flatfiles on view in our front gallery space. The works in this selection explore the personal meaning and subjectivity of place.
This work begins with the land beneath us—the soil which sustains life from birth to death. Today this land is in crisis. From a human-centric view of the earth, it appears that we are in control of land—it is bought, sold and utilized as capital—real estate ventures, expansive governments and businesses all rely on this illusion. Yet land endures trauma, crisis and controversies— it may be scarred, but the land is resilient and strong. This artwork is born from the richness of the land, seen through the layers of the earth, creating a window allowing the luminous colors of the land itself to shine through.