Emergence of Tanglin’s DNA

EMERGENCE OF TAGLIN’S

DNA How did the ‘eye-mazing’ art installation hanging prominently in the Infant Foyer come about? Mona Choo, Tanglin’s Technical Art & Design Executive, tells us more.

If you’ve been in the Infant Foyer recently, you would have seen the “eye-mazing” art installation hanging prominently on the wall. Titled “Emergence”, it’s a 4 x 1.2m infant art installation and features over 500 clear resin cubes in different sizes. Each cube encapsulates a small object such as Lego, seashells, mini clay figurines, marbles and even hand-drawn items that were collected or created by Infant children. These special resin cubes range from 2-6.5cm in size and were arranged to form the image of an eye.

According to Mona Choo, Tanglin’s former Technical Art & Design Executive, it’s a rich tapestry of the Tanglin culture and identity inspired by the people who pass through Tanglin Trust School—each one an individual piece that forms the anatomy of the school.

Mona, who is also an established interdisciplinary artist in her own right, shares more with us.

How did it all begin?

The Infant School approached me last year before COVID to consider creating an art piece to commemorate the 95th anniversary of Tanglin. At that time, I struggled with the brief as I don’t specialise in commemorative art. The process of developing ideas for the art piece slowed down considerably once the circuit breaker kicked in but I knew that I had to seriously work on the conceptualisation when I knew I had to relocate to Australia.

Although the art installation is meant to commemorate Tanglin’s rich history, I decided to focus on its present and future instead. We are all fragments of time in physical form and we contribute to a multidimensional, living puzzle that is being created at every moment, in perpetuity. Everyone who passes through Tanglin Trust School, be they students, teachers, staff, or parents, are the DNA of this school. This was the starting point or inspiration that led to the final piece which is pieced together from the little objects that the Infant children were asked to bring to school and encased in clear resin.

Why did you choose to install the artwork on the wall located in the Infant Foyer?

This particular wall used to have a window that looked into the Infant Office conference room. After the decision was made to brick up the window and create a solid wall, it became evident that it would be a good wall for some art.

Tell us about the process from conception to installation; were there any obstacles you had to overcome and how did you do it?

kind of art I do - which is contemporary and conceptual - and involving the Infant children in a meaningful way. I took some time to develop and refine my concept into something that was workable, meaningful and timeless.

The production issues I faced were mostly to do with the variety of objects that came from the children and the diversity of materials that all reacted differently to the resin when they were being encapsulated. Some would sink, others would float or change colour, and many of them created bubbles as the resin hardened. This meant that the process took longer than anticipated because it was not a standard procedure for the 300+ objects that I received. This required a lot of patience and some trial and error, but this is the best part of being an artist; you are constantly learning and experimenting.

Another challenge I faced was the length of time the resin took to harden. I used high quality bio-resin for its non-yellowing properties and clarity, and this resin took around 36 hours to harden to a stage where I could pop them out of the mould. All in all it took me around two months to cast the 500 cubes that would go into the art installation.

Following that, the next challenge was to securely fasten the cubes onto a backing panel, and figure out the sort of material that would be strong enough to support the weight of 500 resin cubes. I worked closely with our reliable supplier, Wilson from OzPrint, to work out what materials to use, how many panels were required and how we would install them on the 4-metre wide wall in the Infant Foyer. I also researched on the strongest adhesive that would work with resin and then I just had to cross all fingers that it would work.

Any memorable moments?

Due to the length of the art piece, the only place big enough to accommodate it was at the Infant foyer itself, so we set up some tables and that was where I adhered the cubes to the backing panels for a week. During that time, we scheduled periods of time for the Infant children to come watch me and ask any questions. There were also many curious staff members and passers-by who stopped to watch, admire and ask their own questions too. I think being able to interact with people about art is always a good thing, especially in Singapore, where art is not necessarily accessible to the masses.

What do you hope to achieve with this project?

I would very much like the children and adults who contributed something to this piece to feel as though they have left a small part of themselves in Tanglin, and that they will always be a part of this school, not just physically but energetically. Naturally I hope, for those who have left Infant School or will eventually leave, that they return some time in the future to find their little object and reminisce, as well as reflect on their time in Tanglin, and also on that particular time in their lives.

I also hope that many people for years to come will just enjoy it and that it brings some beauty and delight to everyone who walks past. ■

Although Mona has since left Tanglin to begin a new chapter in Australia, her art installation and its beautiful meaning will stay with Tanglin forever. Thank you Mona and we wish you all the best!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE RESIN PIECE?

Now that you know the story behind “Emergence”, let’s find out what the Tanglin community thinks about it. We ask a few people what their favourite resin piece is.

I like the one with a tiny magnifying glass as it symbolises the curiosity of our students and being equipped with the tools to find out about the world. - John Ridley,

Director of Learning

I love the ones that had little handwritten notes and drawings because they add such a personal touch to the installation. - Nur Firzillia,

Communications Executive (Digital)

I love the resin with a baby tooth! The installation is supposed to represent Tanglin’s DNA and someone actually contributed their own! - Tom Evans, Director of

Marketing & Communications

Contact lenses! I love that it’s a pair of eyes within an eye. The colleague who ‘donated’ them had lasik surgery so they no longer needed it. -

Libby Henderson, Head of Infant Art

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