The Gentleman in Stripes, 2024
Purposefully sited at a colonial bungalow, whose architectural form is derived from the plantation villa, it is a work that complicates our nostalgia for these architectural hangovers from colonialism.
In the first place, these bungalows reflect the colonial fear of the tropics as “the white man’s grave,” physically separating the white body from both the servants, as well as the larger native populace that was thought to be teeming with disease. In the second place, the plantation villa was at the heart of the dark history of cash crop plantations.
The work intimates the figure of George Coleman, who not only created the first survey map of Singapore (enabling the creation of plantations), but who was also attacked dramatically by a tiger. Contrary to belief that encroachment on nature caused tiger attacks, it was plantations that provided new hunting ground for tigers. In this way, Oei conjoins the history of the (plantation) bungalow with the history of tigers.
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Alan Oei (b. 1976, Singapore) is an artist-curator whose work explores the intersection of art history and politics. He holds a BA in Art History from Columbia University and a Diploma in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts.
Alan is the artistic director of OH! Open House and has exhibited in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and New York. He was formerly artistic director of The Substation (2016–2019) and Sculpture Square (2012–2014).
In the first place, these bungalows reflect the colonial fear of the tropics as “the white man’s grave,” physically separating the white body from both the servants, as well as the larger native populace that was thought to be teeming with disease. In the second place, the plantation villa was at the heart of the dark history of cash crop plantations.
The work intimates the figure of George Coleman, who not only created the first survey map of Singapore (enabling the creation of plantations), but who was also attacked dramatically by a tiger. Contrary to belief that encroachment on nature caused tiger attacks, it was plantations that provided new hunting ground for tigers. In this way, Oei conjoins the history of the (plantation) bungalow with the history of tigers.
***
Alan Oei (b. 1976, Singapore) is an artist-curator whose work explores the intersection of art history and politics. He holds a BA in Art History from Columbia University and a Diploma in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts.
Alan is the artistic director of OH! Open House and has exhibited in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and New York. He was formerly artistic director of The Substation (2016–2019) and Sculpture Square (2012–2014).
Artist:
Alan Oei
Mixed Media
Dimensions variable
Alan Oei
Mixed Media
Dimensions variable