Kresek - Daily Life of Plastic Bags
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Kresek - Daily Life of Plastic Bags is an upcoming publication by Cynthia Delaney Suwito, it is a light-hearted wordless comic. The name Kresek is the rustling of plastic bags in Bahasa Indonesia. The comic revolves around the little movements of the plastic bag. Extending from Cynthia’s core artistic interest to explore subtleties of everyday life and the experience of time, Kresek investigates the latent life of an everyday object- the plastic bag and its place in today’s culture by giving it a face and a personality.
Kresek is an existing project which Cynthia had been working on (the artwork of the publication had already been completed), since the beginning of the year, we have been in discussions with Artist Cynthia Delaney Suwito on the format of collaboration. Due to the shifting condition of the social space arrangements, the meeting had always been happening in different locations, her studio, coffee shops, our office at Jalan Besar, and the zoom meeting rooms.
With the prompt to participate in an island-wide open studio, Walk Walk Don’t Run, Cynthia is invited to present in the open studio in Jalan Besar Salon. Having in mind, the physical limitation of space, social gathering in this pandemic time, and the shifting geographical location differences of the programmer and the artist, we expand the format of the residency and experiment with a new format of presentation.
Through the goal to disseminate Kresek, we explore the different sites a residency can take place with the artist. The open studio at JBS marks the beginning of her 3 months project at this year’s edition of JBS. In the open studio, Cynthia will showcase a range of work-in-progress materials. With the site in mind, she will reinterpret the spatial relationship of the artist in residency and the Jalan Besar Salon office.
JBS x CYNTHIA
About the Collaboration
Things/stuff/objects
by Cynthia delaney Suwito
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Things/Stuff/Objects is a residency showcase with Cynthia Delaney Suwito that would include a preview of the upcoming independent publication, Kresek - Daily Life of Plastic Bags.
In a way, a book of studio objects can describe an artist’s practice, like an abstract autobiography. The reading of the things printed on the book can show what an artist might have done, what he/she might be making, and what he/she might have tried.
When I started taking pictures of every object in my home studio, I was hoping to get reflections on individual objects; the ones that I take for granted and the ones that have been sitting inside its box for years. Though I did get a little of that, there are more aspects to these things than I realize. I have been using this room as my studio for almost 1 year but many of the stuff that's here have been with me for many more. It was during the process of documentation that I started to see these objects as building blocks to an artistic practice.
Many artists collect, whether it is physical items, journals of ideas or just thoughts in the mind, these collections are the components that help us build our artistic practice. Using the boxes of objects in my collection as metaphor, these components can be stacked higher and higher, or get replaced and rearranged as we reconsider our choices and methods. The boxes that we decide to keep, throw or deconstruct will change along with what we decide to do.
In the case of this work, these blocks encompass a mix of personal and professional practice. They are the things that I can’t let go of, the stuff that gives me inspiration, and the objects that can be utilized to make works.
Artist statement
About the Artist
Cynthia Delaney Suwito’s practice explores the subtleties of everyday life and the experience of time. Based in Singapore, this Indonesian-born artist takes inspiration from simple materials, such as instant noodles, and everyday situations, such as filling out forms. As we pause in front of her works, seemingly ordinary items, the meanings we attach to them, the stories we involve them in, all slowly unravel. Her works breathe life into these familiar objects, enabling people to see and value the beauty and significance that is overlooked in their daily lives. She hopes that her works can invite people to reflect on their own daily activities and see things with different perspectives and new approaches of thinking.
Cynthia is curious about the way things work and what lies behind each person’s behaviour. She believes that our actions are never truly our own, but informed by multi-layered systems of learnt behaviour. Cynthia is able to distill this complexity into a poetic simplicity so that it is accessible and relatable. Using different mediums, such as installation, drawing and video, her works engage the audience both experientially, and in participatory ways, allowing a rediscovery of the wonder inherent in the everyday.
Born in 1993 in Jakarta, Cynthia completed her Bachelor in Fine Arts, First Class Honours, at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. Internationally, Cynthia was featured on BBC Asia and Channel NewsAsia and was in the 2017 FORBES 30 under 30 Asia in the Arts. In Indonesia, she exhibited at 2017’s Body-Out and 2019’s Media Art Globale, both in Jakarta, as well as the Bandung Contemporary Art Award Assemblage in 2019. In Singapore, Cynthia was a finalist at the Harpers Bazaar Art Prize 2015, exhibited at the 2016 Affordable Art Fair and at The Only Paradise is Paradise Lost in 2019.
Walk walk DON't RUN
30th October (10:45AM - 6PM)
6 November (12PM-7PM)
Cynthia DELANEY Suwito
Grey Projects
An island-wide open studio walk happening over four Saturdays in October and November 2021, 10.30am to 6pm. Walk Walk Don’t Run involves over 35 artists, design studios, artist-run and craft spaces across Singapore that will open their doors for public visits to share their work in progress, ongoing concerns and ideas. Walk Walk Don’t Run encourages informality, conversation, and spontaneity, and a different speed to the circulation of our words and ideas within the art scene.
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Stay tuned for art objects from our favourite artists from all over the world and any upcoming publications and collaborations by signing up for the mailing list. If you are interested in listing with the JBS shop, kindly write to us via jalanbesarsalon@eomm.co for more information.
