Tucked away in the second floor of Waterloo Centre is Knuckles & Notch, a local creative risograph studio. As 7 p.m. approaches on the eve of National Day, the studio’s staff and friends are preparing for the opening night of a small exhibition titled Semalam Berlalu, Esok Menanti: A New Yesterday. Through the windows of Chaos Gallery – an extension of the humble Knuckles & Notch studio — warm spotlights draw you into the space.
Hosting workshops and exhibitions spotlighting everything from watercolour risographs to glass art, Knuckles & Notch is no stranger to the wonderful intersections of art and design. Continuing in this vein, Semalam Berlalu features 12 Singaporean artists and their respective risograph prints — designed and crafted in their mediums of choice — which are also available for visitors to purchase. From old-school ice cream carts to pasar malam (night markets), the artworks all spotlight places in Singapore that are special to the artists, commemorating iconic landscapes in danger of disappearing.
The spirit of a place
Upon entering the Knuckles & Notch studio, you are greeted by an eclectic assortment of zines, prints, and knickknacks. While risograph printing may be an unfamiliar process, the studio’s artful clutter and well-stickered printer are friendly and appealing. In the exhibition space, the 12 artworks, in an A3 format, hang in a staggered pattern on the walls.
It may take you some time to orientate yourself within the bright, contrasting colours, intricate linework, and minute details of the prints. But, as you look closer, their visual busyness unfolds itself to reveal recognisable symbols, icons, and landmarks.
For Semalam Berlalu is premised on the unique local identities of its artists and their perspectives on Singapore’s cultural landmarks. In our land-scarce country, our beloved local spaces and their genius loci — meaning the spirit of a place — are often lost through gentrification and modernisation.
Whether they’re creating cheerful, comical caricatures or addressing darker, more taboo themes, the 12 artists of Semalam Berlalu each bring their lived experiences and personal perspectives to bear on landmarks such as Haw Par Villa or the Botanic Gardens, helping us to see our familiar built environment through new eyes.
For example, Party Pooper by Shu (also known as yeowcarrot) draws inspiration from the recently shuttered Khiam Teck Party Supply Shop in Holland Village. Stocked wall-to-wall with balloons, decorations, and other party essentials, such stores have seen decreased sales due in part to the ease of online shopping.
Shu’s creepy, compositionally driven piece depicts a balloon character arriving in a cavernous environment, surrounded by globs of melting wax and party props like streamers, masks, and a piñata. A UFO beam and some aliens give the scene a sci-fi twist. The psychedelic colours and symmetrical composition invite viewers to bravely explore this strange world Shu has constructed.
Imagining Singapore
As a recent architecture graduate, I relate personally to the theme of Semalam Berlalu. To me, our built environment and the notion of home are topics of great concern. Our cultural and social landmarks, often imbued with memories and layers of genius loci, are subject to the whims of urban redevelopment and the state. Selective conservation and adaptive reuse can only go so far — they can never replace or replicate the soul of a place. Only through imaginative channels like art and illustration can we express our desires for what our present and future can be. Only through such mediums can we wholly express the most unburdened versions of our ideals.
Some of the artworks I saw at Semalam Berlalu reminded me of this mindset. They presented unique, individualised takes, not replicable by top-down governing bodies, of how we can envision our past, present, or future.
Ethan Sim’s Heritage Garden is one of my personal favourites from the exhibition. Here, he explores themes of memory and urban decay, collaging different endangered landmarks into a fantastical theme park constructed on the remains of the Bukit Timah Railway Station. This fever dream of a drawing visualises the chaos and complexity of our desires, mod-podging various elements that are intimate and special to us into an outlandish alternative future.
Another interesting artwork I viewed was by Anthea Tan, with the charmingly ominous title scornful gods haggle for my soul. This work takes an absurdist approach, depicting the creatures that roam and rule the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery late at night indulging in hedonistic pleasures like smoking and gambling. This dense collage of bones, centipedes, and gravestones beckons you to study the clever details and Easter eggs littered across the composition — keep an eye out for Tan’s artist pseudonym “ratking.”
The risograph medium
I also feel that the medium of risograph printing is relevant to the exhibition’s theme. In case you haven’t heard of it, risograph printing is a semi-analogue method of printing created by Noboru Hayama in 1946, which used soy-based inks in response to the postwar shortage of emulsion inks. Today, the medium is still admired for its vivid colours, accessibility, and uniquely imperfect results, and preserved and popularised through the hard work of studios like Knuckles & Notch.
The risograph printing process takes considerable time and effort compared to the convenience of modern digital printing. But its analogue, tactile, hands-on qualities resonate with the issues of authenticity and progress raised by Semalam Berlalu, prompting us to think about what we lose to the inevitable march of modernisation. During the meticulous process of creating master stencils and toggling between coloured ink drums, the difficulty and joy of art creation go hand in hand, resulting in a final product steeped in the labour and love of all that is involved.
The persistence of memory
You should definitely check out this month-long exhibition at Waterloo Centre, along with the Knuckles & Notch studio. Drawing from their personal experiences and inclinations, the 12 participating artists present creative twists on Singaporean place histories, capturing feelings as diverse as fear, joy, wonder, and innocence. Imbued with brilliant memories, these illustrations help us re-encounter and remember the sacred and significant spaces of our island nation.
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Semalam Berlalu, Esok Menanti: A New Yesterday runs at Chaos Gallery by Knuckles & Notch till 24 August 2024. Bring an A3-sized bag if you plan to purchase prints!
Header image: The Knuckles & Notch shopfront at Waterloo Centre.
