Mnemosyne Arcade  

The Mnemosyne Arcade aligns with Real Time Roaming | Real-time Roaming by emphasizing discovery, reflection, and the fluid, layered nature of memory. The use of democratic, low-resolution archives underscores the accessibility of digital culture, while the arcade format invites viewers to engage with memory as an open, participatory process. 

The Mnemosyne Arcade evolves from Yen Peng’s exploration of memory through the juxtaposition of disparate images, centering on the punctum- the emotional core or evocative resonance of an image that transcends recognition or context. Inspired by Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas and Walter Benjamin’s concept of the arcade as a layered space of discovery, the project creates a visual dialogue between archival Singaporean images (sourced from free-access online archives) and French images collected during the artist’s Paris residency. 

The Mnemosyne Arcade invites viewers to reflect on how images, through their accessibility and ability to evoke shared experiences, become powerful carriers of memory and emotional connection across cultures and histories. The project investigates how punctum, rather than historical specificity, creates connections across time, place, and culture. 

The Mnemosyne Arcade will have a digital counterpart, replicating the physical installation. 

Viewers will be able to browse the image pairings and contribute their own reflections or suggested pairings, expanding the archive collaboratively. 

The installation will mimic an arcade, with image pairings displayed side by side like shop windows. Each pairing will emphasize their shared punctum, allowing viewers to engage emotionally with their resonances. 

Cloud Roaming

Historically, the declaration of an Open City was intended to protect its people and cultural landmarks during wartime. The concept of an open citymay land itself in a paradoxical situation. It embodies both the potential of being open yet destroyed, as evidence in history and being inclusive yet exclusive in reality. 

As ‘nature knows no borders[1]’, a phrase reflecting the reality that natural phenomena often transcend political boundaries. I will reference my past drawings with similar themes on natural phenomena[2] in the construction of the digital version. Digital Cloudscape will be presented real-time, parallel with the onsite physical work. Roaming will take place in real-time, where the artist will first map the digital works around the city and the participants will carry out the virtual roaming in an attempt to encounter the works. 

 My work usually deals with the idea of constant flux experienced in our immediate urban and natural environment. The drawings often combined different natural phenomena to magnify its fluid and unstable condition. Intentionally exaggerated natural phenomena such as explosives/ melting clouds or moving yet disintegrating/ burnt clouds are presented to suggest a sense of uncertainty and unpredictability in our environment. 

[1] First transboundary resolution adopted by the UN to enhance international cooperation to enhance ecological connectivity, promote awareness and action on many environmental issues including climate change mitigation. 

[2] Artwork references 

Explore varied processes in transforming two-dimensional physical work (real time) using traditional drawing medium into a three-dimensional virtual work (real-time). 

Use digital tools to construct 3D models based on past/new physical work and integrate it in the digital continuum space created by Lead Artist. 

Using AR technology to overlay the 3D model to augment perception of the real world. Explore ways to enhance participant’s interactivity. 

Drawing - A series of physical works will be installed onsite 

“In War, an Open City is a settlement which abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction.”[1]The declaration of Open City by the French government on 11 June 1940 during the Battle of France was intended to protect the city's civilians and cultural landmarks from a futile battle, and it also reminds us the beginning of WWII more than eight decades ago. As we celebrate the centennial event of the Paris Olympic Games between 1924 and 2024, the cessation of hostilities known as the Olympic Truce[2]has been widely promoted during the Games.

In Contemporary Urban Planning, architects, planners, and theorists envision the Open City as a space where social integration, cultural diversity, and collective identity can be actively fostered through interaction and exchange.[3]The 2024 Olympic logo features a symbolic female portrait, Marianne[4], a republican icon representing the champion of freedom and democracy against all forms of oppression. This holds huge significance as the establishment of an Open City without the free people from all races is unimaginable. 

The Paris trip at the end of 2024 presents a valuable opportunity for us to examine how, through the lens of both art and sports, we can continue to critically evaluate our efforts to ease the devastating conflicts plaguing humanity, considering both peacetime and wartime contexts within the city's contemporary happenings and history in the past. Through in depth field work and investigation, Chee Kiong and Yen Peng will each present a work that will be housed under the Open City. They will employ elements of shared experiences to articulate nuanced perspectives on the complexity of human connectedness. 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_city

[2] https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-truce

[3] https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/research/projects/isc/opencity/

[4] https://www.paris2024.org/en/a-single-emblem-for-paris-

In the Pantheon - the Paris Avatar

• The Pantheon of Open City - on a macro aspect, I aim to create an in progress digital continuum space that accommodates the classical and contemporary civilians of Open City, incorporated with a physical installation of a Curiosity Cabinet that illustrates an imaginable cultural landmarks of an Open City, through VR digital Modelling tools, 3D Printing, VR & AR.

• The Paris Avatar - on a micro aspect, I will explore the iconic personality in the making of historical events, in search of historical portraits of the WWII and Olympic Games together with the contemporary celebrities such as the cultural figures and sportsmen/sportswoman of our modern time, based on both classical printed materials such as stamps, posters, pictogram of the local museums’ collection within the Normandy region and Paris region, and other online images of contemporary digital platforms.

The Paris-SG Mnemosyne Atlas

Inspired by an experience stumbling upon scenes and figures from personal travel photos that bare uncanny similarities with found online archival images, Yen Peng’s works play with the montage or juxtaposition of archival images that resonate with a punctum beyond mere recognition. Her most recent research further draws upon the concept of the *Mnemosyne Atlas  from the German art historian Aby Warburg, putting together disparate images from various times and regions, juxtaposing them in search of a visual, non-linear historical narrative. This memory/punctum-aligned expression hopes to study the crossings between personal experiences and unexpected resonances of collective memories versus official and historical accounts.

In the Paris-SG Mnemosyne Atlas (tentative name), the artist will work with images collected from the on-site research during the Paris trip, and explore unknown or forgotten links between France and Singapore. Specific topics and images related to shared experiences or histories (e.g. war, colonialism, migrants, architecture, etc) will evolve through discoveries and research processes. More than just image collection, this project aims to be a thought-provoking investigation of personal identity, collective memory, and the complex tapestry of connections across cultures.

The Atlas will be part of the Pantheon in the Open City. 

*Mnemosyne Atlas - the Map of the Goddess of Memory, refers to an unfinished project by German art historian Aby Warburg (1866-1929). As a collection of thousands of images including photographs, engravings, and postcards, etc arranged on panels, it explored recurring symbols and themes across time and cultures, providing glimpses into interconnectedness of human experience across time and space.