RESET Talk 2 | Mix & It’s a Match! Cross-Pollinations With Art
Jeremy Sharma, Regina De Rozario, Rizman Putra, Salty Xi Jie Ng
By Clara Peh
Key points:
Cross-disciplinary collaborations can emerge from a shared language, then move towards uncharted territories together.
Defining the nature and degrees of a collaboration is a crucial process.
Working across disciplines allows artists to question preconceived notions and reimagine possibilities.
Talk 2 of RESET saw a fruitful conversation surrounding cross-disciplinary artistic collaborations within artistic forms and disciplines and beyond. The panel featured Jeremy Sharma, artist, Regina De Rozario, artist, Rizman Putra, visual artist and performer, as well as Salty Xi Jie Ng, artist. The conversation was moderated by Shawn Chua, artist and researcher. Here are the takeaways from the panels:
At the beginning of the session, the artists introduced their projects for the upcoming SAW. Regina and Seah Sze Yunn of interdisciplinary duo Perception3 will be presenting ‘You Will Not Feel This Way Forever’, alongside Rizman’s ‘Jom* Draw’, for Bus.Stop.Art., Xi Jie is collaborating with fellow artist ila to present ‘your room inside my room inside yours and mine’, as part of ON/OFF/SCREEN held at DECK. Jeremy’s ‘Curtains’ is currently featured in the Strange Forms of Life exhibition presented by STPI.
Cross-disciplinary collaborations can emerge from a shared language, then move towards uncharted territories together. Regina shared that her collaborations with Sze Yunn in Perception3 began in the common medium of photography. Xi Jie’s collaboration with ila were based on their individual practices working with resonant themes of tenderness and intimacy. Rizman and Jeremy’s involvement in artist collective Kill Your Television, formed in 2002, arose out of a mutual desire to move outside of their comfort zones. Regina suggested that productive friction arises in every cross-disciplinary collaboration, but leaning into the friction and discomfort that arises with unfamiliarity allows the project to grow further.
Defining the nature and degrees of a collaboration is a crucial process. Based on her experience working with different groups of the community including prisoners, Xi Jie emphasised the importance of defining the collaborative relationship, such as clearly stating how participants’ inputs will be used and being genuine in learning from your participants. Regina expanded upon this power dynamic by differentiating cooperation with collaboration through the different hierarchies they invoke. In addition, Jeremy clarified that collaboration may involve working with people one will not always agree with, but having faith in where the synergy can take the project.
Working across disciplines allows artists to question preconceived notions and reimagine possibilities. The panel collectively agreed that interdisciplinary collaborations have allowed them to unlearn conventional understandings of what is possible and what is not. In particular, Rizman views collaborations as a pathway to refuse the status quo. Regina stated that collaborations have taken her to places she would not have gone to alone. This was echoed by Jeremy and Xi Jie, as they believe collaborations allow artists to move beyond what seems feasible in their own minds.
Watch the full recording of RESET Talk 2 | Mix & It’s a Match! Cross-Pollinations With Art here:
If you'd like, you can skip to:
2:57 – for Regina’s introduction
6:00 – for Rizman’s introduction
7:26 – for Xi Jia’s introduction
9:20 – for Jeremy’s introduction
11:13 – for panel discussion*
*We apologise that due to a technical error, the recording from this point does not show the panel live onscreen. We are working to rectify the issue. In the meantime, if you would prefer to listen to this as a podcast recording, click here:
You can also access the podcast by searching “artandmarket” on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
RESET runs from December 2020 to January 2021 on Zoom. The talks are free for all to attend with registration. Click here to find the full programme details and to secure your spot for Talk 3 | IRL or WWW: Between Physical and Virtual Spaces.
Please note that RESET was originally titled POWWOW. For more information about the change, which was made on 18 December 2020, please click here.
