Since its establishment in 2006, FOST Gallery has built a reputation as one of Singapore’s more innovative galleries. Through its exhibitions, the gallery hopes to sustain a discourse among artists and art enthusiasts, as well as stimulate contemporary art practices. In just a few years, FOST Gallery has presented works from international and Singapore’s emerging and established artists, including Tang Ling Nah, Adeel uz Zafar and Chun Kai Qun. Some of its artists have also won acclaimed local art prizes, such as Namiko Chan Takahashi (25th UOB Painting Of The Year 2006) and Chun Kaifeng (Singapore Art Exhibition Prize 2009).
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FOST Gallery is proud to present Logical Progressions, a solo exhibition by Singaporean artist Song-Ming Ang. Central to Ang’s practice is the question, ‘What does music mean to us?’ Informed by the disciplines of music and visual art, Ang’s works span a variety of media, and are often made from the overlapping perspectives of artist, fan, and amateur.
At the heart of Logical Progressions lies Backwards Bach (2013) - a new, two-channel video of the artist performing on a harpsichord. Having never received piano or harpsichord training, Ang set himself the task of learning to play the Prelude in C Major from J. S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier (Book 1). Ang then formulated a ‘backwards’ version of the Prelude and learnt to play it, eventually filming both performances in a Baroque-era villa in Germany.
The exhibition marks the debut of not only Backwards Bach, but also Music Manuscripts (2013), a new series in which lines are meticulously hand-drawn by the artist onto music manuscript paper, systematically exploring the limits of the medium. Both works reflect the artist's idiosyncratic approach towards art, reconciling conceptual drive with seemingly futile physical labour.
Another work, Colour Scale (2010), reveals the seeds of Ang's interest in process and order. Made during his residency at ARCUS Project in Ibaraki, Japan, seven colour photographs of Japanese houses are displayed alongside a glockenspiel, whose keys are spray-painted to match the colours of the houses.
The works in Logical Progressions indicate Ang's debt to early Conceptualism and avant-garde music, in which artists such as Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) employed rules and restrictions to create art. Appearing mundane or absurd at first glance, Ang's works often reveal themselves to be thoughtful or humorous.
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