SINGAPORE -- Think Singapore and what probably pops to mind is a rigidly controlled, over-sanitized, hyper-efficient -- and dull -- technopolis. Time for an update. These days, Singapore is an artistic and creative hub, especially when it comes to the digital arts.
Why the sudden change? Because the government said so, that's why.
The famously far-sighted technocrats who rule the city-state have several reasons for the makeover.
One is simply that Singapore has become an advanced economy looking for a fresh growth area. Then there's the more compelling reason: Multinational corporations are moving their business and regional headquarters to booming Shanghai and other parts of China. Singapore, in other words, needs a new bag.
So for the Lion City, it's art to the rescue. Digital art especially.
"Considering that Singapore is a very wired society, the idea of focusing on digital media and technology is apt," says Elaine Ng, deputy director of "arts capability development" at the government's National Arts Council.
This month, the city-state hosts several digital arts events. Interrupt, at the Singapore Art Museum, showcases an installation connected by live webcam to Valencia, Spain. The visitor stands on a platform that, with the use of air pumps, moves depending on what his counterpart in Spain does.
Meanwhile, the National University of Singapore just played host to the International Computer Music Conference.
The most notable event, a month-long festival called The Year of Living Digitally, features the exhibit Wirecrossing, which uses digital video cameras to record 24 continuous hours in the heart of the city.
Organizers call it the "longest feature film ever made," though whether it can be called a feature film is up for debate: Other than being filmed in sequence, the 24 one-hour segments are unrelated. The results, posted online, are mixed.
"A lot of effort here has been put into collecting content, but there are still important questions about how best to deliver it," says Lee Weng Choy, a Singapore art critic and artistic co-director of The Substation Arts Center. He says each segment should be broken down into smaller chapters for easier navigation and reference.
That would help. Wirecrossing has gems worth watching, but good luck finding them.
One oddly touching segment (11 p.m.) documents a philosophical taxi driver who serenades passengers using karaoke equipment he keeps on board -- a third of the way through he sings "Achy Breaky Heart." Another segment (5 a.m.) views an open market through the compound vision of a fly, or something close to it.
It's weird, and that's good. Singapore needs weird.
"The artists didn't want to bow down to structure," says Christine Molloy, a director of the film. "This was a chance to do what they wanted."
The spirit of loosening up is unmistakable in Singapore -- even bar-top dancing is OK now. (What next, repeal gum control?) A film called 15, shown at the Venice International Film Festival, documents the aimless, sometimes violent lives of disaffected teens in Singapore -- and will actually be shown in Singapore soon, with only five minutes removed by the censors.
But old habits die hard. Ben Slater, festival director with theater company spell7, which curated and produced the event, notes that the funding application forms "said something to the effect that you promise not to do anything to destabilize the government. It was vague enough for them to pick you up on different aspects."
But Slater doesn't deny the success of the government's efforts to foster creativity and the arts. He just wishes they'd better appreciate quirky individuality. Some government funding agencies turn down projects, he says, for being "too Singaporean" and "not universal enough" -- they won't sell abroad, the reasoning goes.
"But you can't succeed if you intentionally set out to make art that appeals to everybody," Slater says. "Art takes time, and it's an individual thing."
Dawn Teo, director of Objectifs, a photography and filmmaking center, believes the government simply needs to be more open-minded. "Their heart is in the right place, but they need to fund more independent artists."
With this in mind, The Year of Living Digitally will showcase the works of digital animator and filmmaker Tim Hope -- of the mesmerizing Coldplay videos "Trouble" and "Don't Panic" -- partly to drive home a point.
Says Slater: "He's a great example of someone who's doing his own thing, yet succeeding commercially and artistically -- which is what the Singapore government wants, but what it's not going to get if it funds only things that it sees as potentially profitable and universally appealing."
Other works in the festival include two nights of electronic music from such cutting-edge international artists as Miroque, Hecker, SND and Farmers Manual, who will perform at the tech-savvy nightclub Zouk.
Later in the month, a live performance called Skinworks will try to reflect -- in a theater setting -- the experience of being in a chat room. The actors, standing amid the audience, will shift their identities as they perform.
A bit similar, then, to what Singapore is attempting.
