Rumah Filem (2018)
Rumah Filem
Size: 6x3m
Medium: Canvas, wood, beeswax, steel wire, concrete
Year: 2018
Commissioned by Asian Film Archive for State of Motion 2018 at National Library Singapore
This sculptural work draws inspiration from the traditional wooden houses often seen in Malay-language films of the 50s and 60s, and that has now come to represent a nostalgic attachment to a particular cultural history. Within the hollow interior of the structure hangs 20 suspended canvases, symbolising the Malay-language films made between 1947 to 1967, beginning with the release of the first post-WWII Malay-language film Singapura di Waktu Malam (Night Time in Singapore), to the closure of the Malay Film Productions Ltd.
Each canvas is a palimpsest of the films made during those years. Through a variety of mediums and treatments such as dyeing, encaustic and paint, the canvas becomes an embodiment of the aged films. The aged aesthetic bears the mark of time—a facet of the film as a time-based medium and its materiality on 35mm film. The artwork is part painting, sculpture, and cenotaph of all the films produced during those golden years.