Re-imagining The Future

Jul 16

Acclaimed up-and-coming artist Debbie Ding is a visual artist and technologist from Singapore. Her works often utilize non-conventional media such as holograms, food and soil, and explores subjects including archaeology, psychogeography and neuroscience. She literally studies her work, ranging from historical research to urban geography, which she transforms into visions of the future. She creates interactive computer simulations, prototyping and visual technology, and combines these environmental changes and its effect on the human psyche and behaviour.

One of our favourite works is The Library of Pulau Saigon. Did you know that Pulau Saigon is a lost island in Singapore? Formerly located in the Singapore River, it had been absorbed in the mainland and vanished from street maps after 1975.

Another notable work is the Flatlands, which Debbie dreamt up when she was confined at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. She created an alternative world when she was still walking outdoors from images of her previous walk versus the confinement of her flat. Her work has the imprints of the film Matrix, no doubt Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk would be knocking on her door for some ideas.