The birth of The Dung Beetle Project was marked by a moment – the realization that art making process is futile, parallel to the absurd labor of Sisyphus who infinitely pushes a boulder uphill to only watch it roll back down again. In the believe that the meaninglessness of art constitutes our freedom, The Dung Beetle Project exhibition is comprised of dialogues on the worth of our absurdly free existence, in the same way as how our art-making process poses questions against its own purpose and value. This exhibition is thus a platform for each of us to doubt against the world’s indifference in multiple aspects of the everyday; a showcase of our attempts to answer it all.
Through her burnt felt objects, Nuridah Rostam ponders upon the concept of hope. In a position where there exist a predetermined end for us all, how does hope prevail?
Joshua Kane Gomes’ symbolizes the perseverance in art as a “faith game in a weak religion”. Kinetic sculpture discusses the incomprehensibility of art and its worth, playing with the possibility that the perceived worth of art is only a mere delusion.
Likewise, Lija Markus presents a situation where futility becomes a purpose in art. Setting a paradoxical ideal so masochistically unachievable, it demoralizes one from creating art. Through her installation, the artist hopes to find an absolution from her self-prosecution.
Asyraf Said’s automatist paintings is a parable between our sleeping sequence and our time in earth, questioning how legitimate is our freedom and choices in our momentary waking moment, or whether it is just a meaningless dip in the ever expanding line of time.
Amierah Azman’s prints stems from her quest of accepting predetermined conditions between her and her brother. Her prints hope to convey emotions inexpressible through words.
Feng Yaqiu questions our trust in the currency system through a cryptocurrency game. The decentralised cryptocurrency enables us to reject the system we are pre-determinedly placed in, highlighting centralization of currency as a possible culprit of instability.
Jay Ho’s process paintings are an ode to to the gentle indifference of the world that constitutes our freedom. A realization of man’s minuteness within nature’s grandness.
A proposal on the possibility of art without meaning, Phua Shiying conducted a formal study based on arbitrarily chosen objects, liberating the chosen objects from set interpretation.
The Dung Beetle Project 