New Forest 2, New Worlds / Robert Zhao
$58.00
New Worlds
From the window of my high-rise flat, I can see several green spaces. One of them is a small and lush green island bordered by several roads, and further away, a larger secondary forest. During Singapore's Covid-19 lockdown, I spent a lot of time looking at them.
In December 2020, the secondary forest started being cleared. At around the same time, I spotted a wild boar in the green island building a nest, preparing to give birth. She must have been evicted from the secondary forest, and her journey to her new home would have involved crossing several roads. In the end, this mother pig gave birth to six piglets. The secondary forest is now mostly gone. In the green island, I occasionally see the odd wild boar surfacing from the sides of the greenery.
Images of deforestation outside my window, with a wild boar giving birth in a nearby forest during the same period. View from my window, December 2020.
Archival images of deforestation in Singapore.
Conceived by The Institute of Critical Zoologists (ICZ) between 2014 and 2019, this book features images of cows in Singapore from the 1890s to 2016 from ICZ's archive.
Designed by H55 in Singapore
Published in 2022 by Robert Zhao Renhui
Edition of 500
64 pages, 63 images. Hard Cover.
14.5cm x 18.5cm x 1cm (Thick)
ISBN: 978-981-18-3978-8
Quantity
Artist Info
Robert Zhao Renhui (b. 1983, Singapore) is a multi-disciplinary artist and the founder of the Institute of Critical Zoologists. His artistic practice addresses the human relationship with nature challenging accepted parameters of objectivity and scientific modes of classifications.
Zhao received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Photography from Camberwell College of Arts and London College of Communication respectively. His work has been exhibited in international group shows such as Jiwa: Jakarta Biennale, Indonesia, 2017; 7th Moscow Biennale, Russia, 2017; 20th Sydney Biennale, Australia 2016; Les Recontres d’Arles, France, 2015. Amongst his more recent solo exhibitions in Singapore are The Nature Museum, commissioned by Singapore International Festival of Art (SIFA) and The Bizarre Honour, realized for OH! Open House, both in 2017. Zhao has undertaken residencies at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France, and Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, United States, and the Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. He was awarded Young Artist Award by National Arts Council in 2010 and was a finalist of Hugo Boss Asia Art Award 2017.
