narrativeforms.
A multi-disciplinary studio
for passions.
The Hyper Curation of
Nature in Singapore
Format: A5 Portrait Booklet
Pages: 32 Pages
Published: 2023
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Available in different colours
Saddle Stitched and Assembled by Hand
This photo zine compiles film and digital images captured whilst travelling, using Singapore as a key precedent for the apotheosis of Nature Curation. Contrasting moments of control and respite, we see the dualities of a policed ‘nature’ and how life flourishes within our City in Nature.
The current planting and landscaping
methodology of Singapore, lies in a highly
curated image of what the state wants to be
perceived as. This current top-down approach
to gardening and greening of the state stifles
the individual and personal expressions. It
centres our greening efforts into a central
utopic vision, dedicated to establishing a clear
optic for Singapore.
From excessive pruning
to the uprooting of potential trees that might
fall, the optics of nature in Singapore is highly
policed and reviewed. A part of it lies in the
innate societal programming, whereby nature
is an ornament, and the people expects the
proliferation of nature, but in a controlled and
predictable manner. Thus, this creates a vicious
cycle of the exploitation of nature, and the usage
of nature as a symbol to portray a desire of the
perfect nation.