스킵네비게이션

Born 1973 in Singapore

Lives in Singapore

Charles LIM Yi Yong, SEA STATE 8: Polymath, 2014, Single channel video, color, sound, 64min 44sec

 

Since the days of Christopher Columbus, the West embarked on a series of expansions and discoveries that effectively began the Age of Imperialism. Hence the sea subsequently became the main route for the colonialist invasions, a new domain that western powers sought to pioneer in order to realize their ambitions of territorial expansion and project political and economic influence over rival states. Imperialist hegemony powered by such development of maritime routes thus accelerated the modernization of western powers, and soon continued as the expansion into the New World. The modernity arising from this era thus expanded from western territories into alien lands, manifesting and even enforcing itself upon the conquered. Such trends rendered the sea a venue of modern violence and territorial expansion, and no longer the subject of awe or veneration.

Needless to say, the sea not only serves as the physical and geographic borders between countries but also the psychological and virtual boundaries. Once active as a yacht racer representing his country, Charles LIM Yi Yong offers a unique perspective on the maritime environment that cannot be found among other artists. Based on his personal experience, LIM focuses on the present state of urban development in his home nation and poses questions about the boundary between land and the sea in terms of the geopolitical implications. By examining the complex relationship between the island city state of Singapore and the sea, LIM presents a reminder of the national anxiety that his country faces as a small nation in the era of globalization in SEA STATE.