The Oort Cloud and the Blue Mountain: Edition Tanjong Pagar Distripark (2022) is an installation work by Hazel Lim-Schlegel and Andreas Schlegel, in collaboration with neuewave. It refers both to Blue Mountain, an early 20th century painting by Wassily Kandinsky and the Oort Cloud, an astronomical phenomenon described as an extended shell of icy objects that exist on the outer reaches of our solar system. The distant Oort Cloud, out of reach to our capacity to experience, is the opposite of tangibility and perceptibility which the Blue Mountain represents. The work thus refers to the broader idea of senses and/or the limit of sensing, that some things can be tangible and sensed but remain distant from our comprehension.
The installation is also a reflection of the increasingly digitalised world where technology has become a key mediator of human experiences – the large-scale vinyl print of an abstract image of the Blue Mountain is generated by a computer program, animated by a series of light fixtures; a set of QR codes further extend the physical experience of the work into a virtual space. Visitors are invited to scan the QR codes for 3D micro-experiences through which they can explore and interact with the relief objects as well as capture and share their experience through the use of selfies. The digital content will be refreshed quarterly by other local artists invited by the Schlegels. This, and other potential activations, not only offer viewers new encounters with the work but also open it up to an organic and evolving process of improvisation and adaptations.
The Oort Cloud and the Blue Mountain: Edition Tanjong Pagar Distripark is commissioned with the support of Mapletree and is part of The Everyday Museum, a public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum. The first edition of the work was commissioned by the National Gallery Singapore for The Children’s Biennale 2019.
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Dedicated to supporting artistic practices in public spaces, The Everyday Museum is a public art initiative by SAM and a platform for creative production and experimentation that transforms everyday experiences into meaningful encounters.
