Facing it-Head On

The National Museum of Singapore is located on Stanford Road and there was an interesting exhibition from 2nd July to 31st August 2010. It was a free admissions art exhibition, and being the "cheapo" who I am, I headed down to take a look.

Entitled "Head On" by renowed artist Cai Guo-Qiang, it featured 99 live-sized wolves arranged in a circular formation, with the front end leaping en masse towards an unseen glass wall. Those in the front of the pack fall and tumble down after striking the wall, ending up in a heap while those rearing up from behind continue to surge forward, undeterred.

The exhibit is showcased in a well-lit hall but with darken walls. And once I entered the hall, I was drawn to those life-like wolves in various postures. Some of them were running, one was looking back, one was snarling and many others were just leaping into the air.

You can immediately feel the dynamics that the artist is trying to convey to you if you position yourself in the center of the piece. After landing in a heap, the wolves attempt to get up. Some try and fail but others succeed.

Those that recover and pick themselves up start to walk and run again. They gather momentum and surge forward. Finally they leap into the air together, continue their sprint and gain height. Right at the plateau, at the peak, they crash into the unseen glass wall. The wolves fall in disarray and land back onto the heap. According to some related websites, the piece conveyed a message of herd instinct. That humanity can be blinded by collective action and mentality and that mankind will repeat its past mistakes. The glass wall represents some invisble barrier which we fail to see. However, the lesson that I took home after viewing the piece was somewhat different. The glass wall presents the challenges and barriers that we face in our lives. The fact that it was glass meant that the problems can be overcome (someday at least). All we have to do is to pick ourselves up, dust off the dirt, and start running again. We just have to try again,and face the problem head on. You may have a different appreciation of the piece based on your life experiences. Think about it.....