Great to know that my work in the safe hands and discerning eyes of @louabelasamson and @michelangelosamson. They are installing a selection from their collection at @helutrans_artmove from 16 Sept to 17 Oct. Please take some time to have a look! #SafeEntry is a national digital check-in system that logs an individual’s visit to venues; it was introduced during #COVID19 in #Singapore. The service is a means for contact-tracing should an outbreak in a location occur. These QR codes are invisible interfaces that govern physical access to public spaces. In 2019, the @singaporeartmuseum (SAM) closed for renovations. During Singapore’s 2020 Circuit Breaker, the museum turned the hoardings that covered its construction into a commissioning space and approached Chong to develop an artwork specifically for this space. One of the two works that Chong developed was Safe Entry (2020) — enlarged repetitive black and white QR codes that spanned the entire perimeter around SAM, and along Bras Basah Road. While this artwork recalled the QR codes of the SafeEntry programme, it did not lead to the national registration system. Rather, it led to an hour-long video of a walk that Chong took at Changi Airport Terminal 2 on YouTube as part of the series @ambientwalking. #AmbientWalking is a depository of videos hosted on YouTube of long walks shot with a DJI Osmo Pocket. Each walk takes place in a city of personal significance to the artist. During COVID-19, Ambient Walking garnered new meaning. Chong provided public information about the #CircuitBreakerSG, advocated for people to stay home and offered them a series of walking tours of Singapore that they could access from the safety of their homes. The #ChangiAirport Terminal 2 video that Safe Entry directly links to was posted on 30 April 2020 — the day before the terminal closed for renovations. Filmed on 16 April 2020, the 10th day of the Circuit Breaker, it was also a document of the airport at a time when international travel ground to a halt. Chong’s video is eerily silent because the airport is empty. It was the sound of global capitalism faltering. Text by @kat_ditzig. #HemanChong (at Helutrans Relocation) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTt3sNGlg_G/?utm_medium=tumblr
