Expansive in scope and in spirit, Bloodline of Peace brings together a diverse range of Singaporeans who are conjoined through the shared act of giving life’s most precious fluid: blood. Unfolding like a monumental quilt, the work comprises over 11,500 units created from more than 34,500 prismatic Fresnel lenses, a material that Victor first used in 1997. Now, in Bloodline of Peace, each segment holds and magnifies in its ‘heart’, a single drop of blood contributed by individuals representing Singapore’s key communities such as the armed forces, medicine, civil defence, the arts and the pioneer generation.

Blood is life, visceral, and when drawn by force, it implies brutality, pain, and death. Yet, when donated voluntarily, it is an act that saves the lives of loved ones—and strangers—during medical emergencies. Ultimately, the symbolically rich gift of blood signifies the utmost sacrifice for a fellow human being and for nation, and poignantly, peace—that most fragile of conditions—can oftentimes only be attained, upheld and protected through a willingness to make this highest sacrifice. In the artist’s words: “A transient state, ‘Peace’ is defined by absence – that of war and bloodshed. To be sustainable, commitment and preservation are necessary processes undertaken by civilians while armed and medical personnel are at the frontiers.”

Matthew Ngui’s use of the optical effect of anamorphosis is particularly apt in his engagement with the idea of Democracy. Dense with the vertical whiteness of over 400 PVC pipes, Every Point of View invokes the multi-pillared Parthenon in Athens, coincidentally the birthplace of democracy as an ideal and practice. 

Wandering amidst the forest of pipes, a viewer fleetingly encounters perspectives on the idea of ‘Democracy’. Representatives of particular demographics were invited to respond to two questions about ‘Democracy’, and the written responses were projected and traced onto the pipes. At specific points, the pipes become a continuous surface, where each statement is ‘jigsawed’ into coherence. Operating on the dynamics of anamorphic perception, only exact viewer positioning enables each statement to be read: the instant the viewer steps away from this tightly configured point, the perspective vanishes. These perspectives on democracy are experienced as moments of surveilled epiphany, as live camera feedback captures real-time footage at those points, which is projected in a separate space. A soundscape of murmurings of public enunciations on democracy is ‘piped’ through, and viewers become listeners and speakers too—speaking into, or listening from openings on certain pipes. The artist sees the work as “analogous” to the democratic process: that democracy “is an understanding that different viewpoints exist and that it is within this acknowledgment that ways to co-exist are devised consensually and sometimes, not so.”

Working tirelessly as an art historian, educator, critic, writer and curator, T.K. Sabapathy’s entire life’s work has been focused around the creative output of artists—an endeavour to establish art history as an academic discipline in Singapore. In recognising the value of his singular and foundational role in Singapore, Of Equal Measure also seeks to underscore the irrevocable value of art – and its roots – to the history and legacy of any nation, society and culture. Insofar that artistic talent and creative expression may originate from any individual, art may be regarded as a precious space of equality and egalitarianism within society.

Drawing upon Sabapathy’s personal book collection, one component of this specially curated presentation traces the chronology of his critical writings in a practice spanning over four decades—a remarkable production of knowledge that has resulted in ‘textual topology’ that is vital to the study of art from this region. Expressed through the medium of language, the work of the art critic and historian also pivots upon deeply personal relationships with the creators of the artworks, and where individual artists have often been the subjects of Sabapathy’s work, on occasion, the roles are reversed. Three very different portraits capture the art historian—now the subject of the artist’s gaze—and here, in the realm of art, between word and image, a measure of mindful symmetry is framed.