On The Dot

'On the Dot’, is the title for this year’s graduation show of the Diploma in Fine Art cohort of 2012 at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore. This show marks a point in time when we start looking back in reflection and looking forward in expectation- like using a pen to punctuate the end of a sentence on a piece of paper in order to continue to write the next one.

What does it mean to be ‘on the dot’? It is to firstly, be punctual. It is to be aware of time- the time spent, time left to spend. Time has been spent searching for what it is that draws each art practitioner towards art-making in the first place. Time spent searching for material. Time sometimes spent being the material.

A mole has its unpredictable qualities and its untold stories- Was this person born with it? Or did it develop over time, from something unnoticeable to a force to be reckoned with? Would life be the same if it were removed? But what would life be like if we decide to live with it?

Is that dot on the surface cancerous? Speaking in medical terms, it might not necessarily be a good thing. Aesthetically speaking, it might be a good thing- especially if it is in Stage Four. It signifies the completion of each work being put up and its ability to overwhelm the audience.

This show may be like a dot on a piece of paper and the end of a sentence. Now all that is left to figure out is what the sentence that comes after is.

NAFA Diploma Graduation Show Committee 2012