OKA9420 – Peach Blossom, 2025
OKA9420 is based eponymously on the disease and biological warfare unit of the Japanese army during World War II. Singapore, or Syonan-To, was not only used as a research station but also a production centre because the Malayan tropical weather was ideal for breeding rat fleas. Porcelain bombs were designed to house fleas that would scatter and spread the bubonic plague. Nature is weaponised in the colonial gaze.
Chin’s work is simultaneously weapon and eulogy to some estimated 20,000 test victims in China. Singapore’s tropical weather data is fed into the machine that simulates the flea farming conditions, with the spray pattern derived from the analysis. Inside, the peach blossom tree — culturally symbolic for ideas of spring, hope, love — is gradually debased by a black mist that recalls the symptoms of the black plague.
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Anthony Chin (b. 1969, Singapore) is a designer-turned-visual artist. He creates site-specific works responding to a site’s architectural presence and history, exploring power structures and challenging colonial and post-colonial narratives. Anthony has an MA in Industrial Design from the Royal College of Art, London.
His works have been showcased at the Singapore Art Museum, Beijing’s 798 Art District, and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. He has participated in four editions of OH! Open House and was recently part of NTU CCA Singapore Residencies Programme (Sep 2023–Jan 2024).
Chin’s work is simultaneously weapon and eulogy to some estimated 20,000 test victims in China. Singapore’s tropical weather data is fed into the machine that simulates the flea farming conditions, with the spray pattern derived from the analysis. Inside, the peach blossom tree — culturally symbolic for ideas of spring, hope, love — is gradually debased by a black mist that recalls the symptoms of the black plague.
***
Anthony Chin (b. 1969, Singapore) is a designer-turned-visual artist. He creates site-specific works responding to a site’s architectural presence and history, exploring power structures and challenging colonial and post-colonial narratives. Anthony has an MA in Industrial Design from the Royal College of Art, London.
His works have been showcased at the Singapore Art Museum, Beijing’s 798 Art District, and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. He has participated in four editions of OH! Open House and was recently part of NTU CCA Singapore Residencies Programme (Sep 2023–Jan 2024).
Artist:
Anthony Chin
Paint, Synthetic Tree, Spray System, Vitrine
Dimensions variable
Anthony Chin
Paint, Synthetic Tree, Spray System, Vitrine
Dimensions variable