Artist John Clang’s films and photography often delve into the themes of identity, loss and detachment through the lens of everyday life. Experiencing Clang’s Reading by an Artist is akin to stepping into the slow, layered process of a long-exposure portrait. In the performance, the artist adopts Purple Star Astrology (or Zi Wei Dou Shu), a metaphysical philosophy dating back to imperial China, to forecast events in the lives of invited participants and shed light on their challenges. These 40-min sessions with Clang welcome everyone seeking advice, figuring one’s life.

  • When: 14 March 2025 and 15 March 2025
  • Suitable For: All
  • Where: Supreme Court Wing, Level 3, UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, Dalam Southeast Asia
  • Free. Registration required
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About the Exhibition

Figuring a Scene traces the process of form-making within specific contexts, such as history, society, faith and identity. In doing so, it raises questions around making and making sense, and how emotions, imagination and sensory experiences take centre stage in our understanding of art, redefining how we make sense of the world around us and of ourselves.

Artist John Clang’s films and photography often delve into the themes of identity, loss and detachment through the lens of everyday life. Experiencing Clang’s Reading by an Artist is akin to stepping into the slow, layered process of a long-exposure portrait. In the performance, the artist adopts Purple Star Astrology (or Zi Wei Dou Shu), a metaphysical philosophy dating back to imperial China, to forecast events in the lives of invited participants and shed light on their challenges. These 40-min sessions with Clang welcome everyone seeking advice, figuring one’s life.

*This programme is free for exhibition ticket holders. You will be directed to purchase an admission ticket to "Figuring a Scene".

About the artist

The practice of Singaporean visual artist John Clang often straddles dual realities of global cities, unfettered by confines of time and geography. A double-sight navigator of a world in constant flux, he absorbs seemingly mundane and banal external stimuli and conveys his internal observations and ruminations through the mediums of photography and film. His approach, reminiscent to that of a barometer, accords his works a unique position at the confluences of the open-ended and definitive, surreal and factual, personal and universal. 

He presented solo exhibitions at Jendela Gallery, Singapore (2004), The Substation, Singapore (2007), 2902 Gallery, Singapore (2010), Pekin Fine Arts, Beijing (2012), National Museum of Singapore (2013) and FOST Gallery (2016, 2023). He also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Singapore Art Museum (2009); National Museum of Singapore (2010); LACE, Los Angeles (2011); KSU Art Museum, Kennesaw (2012); CCC Strozzina, Florence (2014); Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York (2014); 1X1 Art Gallery, Dubai (2017); Pera Müzesi, Turkey (2018); ArtScience Museum, Singapore (2020); Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany (2021) and Gajah Gallery, Singapore (2021).

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