Ryan Lim Zi Yi

27 Nov

Discomfort and disruption in ‘We will never have earthquakes’
By Ian Tee

Ryan Lim Zi Yi, ‘Comfortable’, 2022, wall putty on chipped ceramic wall tile, looped video projection. Exhibition view in ‘Moulding, grazing tampering, shifting’ at starch, Singapore. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ryan Lim Zi Yi’s works are often presented as a tableau. The artist employs sculptural components as well as text in his installations, and they come together to evoke a cinematic quality. In ‘Comfortable’ (2022) and ‘We will never have earthquakes’ (2022), text is projected onto the wall at timed intervals. One such line reads: “All I thought about was how (comfortable) my life was.” It flashes over a ceramic wall tile piece, giving context to the lone word “comfortable” that is applied using wall putty. The statement registers like a voiceover by an unseen narrator, adding an “aural” dimension to the work.

Ryan Lim Zi Yi, ‘We will never have earthquakes’, 2022, looped projection on motorised rotating platform, wall putty, emulsion paint, archival print on canvas and handmade wall putty frame. Image courtesy of the artist.

The two aforementioned works are part of Ryan’s ongoing series titled ‘We will never have earthquakes’ (2022-). They take the phenomenon of an earthquake as a point of entry to explore themes of discomfort and disruption. Having not experienced an earthquake himself, Ryan taps into an imagined idea of one as a narrative device. This sense of alienation is perhaps revealed in the projected text “But perhaps we will never know what disruption truly feels like either.” The texts in Ryan’s works carry an almost confessional tone and they speak to the difficulty, or even impossibility, of empathising with another person due to our individual subjective experiences.

There is a similar sense of fragility in the artist’s use of wall putty as a material. They can be seen as gentle reliefs, applied directly onto the exhibition space or on two-dimensional works. Originally used as a quick fix to fill holes and cracks on walls, there is a contradictory tension in Ryan’s decision to use wall putty as an artistic medium. The material dries at a fast rate, and extreme care is required to manipulate it into a desired form. While wall putty is usually found under the surface and painted over, Ryan exposes it in a manner that highlights its vulnerability and brittleness.

Ryan Lim Zi Yi, ‘Tremors’, 2023, installation view at I_S_L_A_N_D_S. Image courtesy of the artist.

The theme of disruption comes through most strongly in his recent solo exhibition ‘Tremors’ (2023). Presented in a transitional space within a shopping mall, the mundanity of this setting is shaken by the swaying ceiling lamp in Ryan’s installation. This striking yet unfamiliar image is recreated from video footage of tremors experienced in Singapore over the past decade, which are a result of earthquakes from neighbouring regions such as Sumatra, Indonesia. ‘Tremors’ invite audiences to think about what it means to experience sudden change and our attitudes towards such encounters.

Click here to read our dialogue with Ryan Lim Zi Yi, where he speaks about his interest in zines as an artistic form, and his relationship with independent spaces in Singapore.