DO: I think the biggest difference is maybe the idea of the view. I am not sure whether in modern Asia we have so many views. Going to a mountain to look at a view – I think that could be a Western concept. The way you go to a particular place to look at something which is deemed beautiful. I think in Asia we are often surrounded by the landscape. It surrounds you and you are in it. It’s not too much that you stand apart from it and admire it, but you are within it, working in it. Yes, you can admire it, but you are within it. You are part of it. There is never a point when you are separated from that landscape itself.
And, I think in Singapore there are very few views. I mean, if you need a view you have to pay 20 Euros and then you can go up to the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands and have a look at the view. There is not so many views that are readily available and most of them are high-rised, bird viewpoint views. A lot of the spaces I am working with feature views that are very close up – right next to it, you come across it, you come upon it. In Singapore in particular, because there is not many views, everything is very detailed and close-up. We tend to look at things close-up, we tend to close things out, spaces are quite small, the flats and things like that. So, we look at things closer. If we think of exhibitions, the size is different or the perspective is different, lower or a different kind of scale. Usually, it is more a micro view, from far away looking down, close-up. As a result, the detail becomes more important. Everything is very tight. I will say just one last thing about landscape from the Asian and Western viewpoints: I think in Asia it is more about things jumbled up together and being tied together, whereas in Western culture, things are more separate and distinct. One looks at things in isolation, separated from others.
