CURATOR'S NOTES
By Elizabeth Low Sue Mei
“How liveable is the environment we have created for ourselves?
How would the world look like if the planet continues to heat up unabated?”
These are some of the questions that artist Tan Kar Mern attempts to answer through her latest series, Wondering. From the conversation with the artist and from observing her work, it is clear that Wondering attempts to depict a grim future as a result of climate change. However, it is always interesting to try to scratch beneath the surface to better understand the multiple layers and elements that have been woven together to capture the entirety of what a body of work represents.
We are presented with a series of six greyscale print works. Paired with the dramatic play of light and shadows, the monotonous colours set a solemn tone for the gloomy scenes that has been portrayed by the artist. With each work highlighting a different set of concerns as a result of climate change, do we dare to risk the fate of our planet?
Although almost unnoticeable at first glance, a key, and constant subject matter in each print work, is the element of what the artist describes as “the wanderer”, a concept inspired by Caspar Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea Fog (1818). The juxtaposition of the scale between the wanderer and the other elements that make up the scene, is a possible expression of the problem being overwhelmingly bigger than just one person. It illustrates the severity of the problem, and the permanence of the consequence that awaits us should we choose to not address the matter at hand together.
In four of six prints, the lone wanderer can be found standing on a concrete, blocky, and rigid like structure. This is potentially an ever so subtle nod towards Kar Mern’s previous series, Beton Brut, which is French for raw concrete.
Developed from her fascination towards brutalist buildings, the series Beton Brut observes how the style of architecture was never fully embraced by the general public due to its unfamiliarity. How does the hint of brutalist structures, complement the theme of climate change? What is its relationship to the lone wanderer? Albeit its seemingly insignificant and inferior presence at first glance, perhaps there is more to the phantom of the monolithic structure than meets the eye. Barely peeking out from the frames of the compositions, the concrete structure may be a metaphorical whisper of mankind’s stubborn and superior nature, being reduced and beaten down by nature’s inevitable revenge.
The presence of clouds in the sky, and lines created in the prints play a role in suggesting movement and depth within the print works; this evokes a sense of realism in the scenes created. It is clear that it is not the artist’s intention to present Wondering as a fictional depiction; it represents the reality of our future living conditions and climate should we choose to not take action.