M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
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Entertainment & Arts - General
Description:
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is an annual festival of theatre, performance arts, dance, visual arts, mixed media, music and forum created and presented by Singaporean and international artists. Themed differently each year, the Festival aims to bring the best of contemporary, cutting-edge and socially-engaged works to the Singapore audience

The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is set to be a creative centre, with a twin-purpose of innovation and discussion; a platform for meaningful and... (read more)
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  • Mel
  • Jezamine
  • Alvin
  • おんあのこ (creator)

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Alvin
Co-Artistic Director
おんあのこ
Festival Manager
Mel
Festival Manager
Jezamine
International Relations Executive
Irma
Events Executive
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Lynne
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Lynn
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M1 Singapore Fringe Festival

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Name:
M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
Category:
Entertainment & Arts - General
Description:
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is an annual festival of theatre, performance arts, dance, visual arts, mixed media, music and forum created and presented by Singaporean and international artists. Themed differently each year, the Festival aims to bring the best of contemporary, cutting-edge and socially-engaged works to the Singapore audience

The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is set to be a creative centre, with a twin-purpose of innovation and discussion; a platform for meaningful and... (read more)
Privacy Type:
Open: All content is public.

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News:
For 2010, the Festival will take place from 13 - 24 January 2010 at various venues including:

* Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
* National Museum
* ION Orchard
* The Substation
* Sculpture Square

The theme for 2010's edition of the Festival is ART AND THE LAW.

The line-up for 2010 will be unveiled at our media launch and on our website at www.singaporefringe.com on 13 October 2009. Keep a lookout for that!

The curatorial statement for Art and the Law is as follows:

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“Art... is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.”
Stephen Sondheim

The process of artistic creation and its players are inextricably linked in some way or other to the notion of law and order. Art consists of a constellation of creators, distributors, presenters, critics, philanthropists, sponsors, audiences and even forgers and looters. In societies like Singapore, the creation and presentation of art are also connected to aspects of law that pertain to licensing and state funding.

“Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.”
Mark Twain

In this technological age, where dissemination, proliferation and (re)appropriation develop at high speed and reach, do the articulated laws on creative rights still seem relevant? When do borrowing, sampling and appropriation become duplication instead? Given the development of copyleft concepts, Web 2.0 as the next (or current?) phase of the internet evolution, it has become even easier than before to initiate and participate in collaborative work across geographical and genre boundaries. Has this new freedom redefined the scope of law in the forms of legal statutes and rights of creation and dissemination?

“The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual.”
Aristotle

Law also manifests itself through the wider community in myriad ways and serves as the foremost social mediator of relationships amongst people. At the same time, the nature of law is such that in its attempt to be “fair”, given that no two individuals – let alone communities – are alike, it will inevitably marginalise and sometimes discriminate against a minority group. How does art then allow for a transcendence of these boundaries? How can the creator be less an antagoniser seeking to simply dismantle the establishment, and more a seeker who questions, offers alternative utopias, and widens our definitions and interpretations?

On the personal realm, the social mores of the era, culture, religion and geography all play a part in determining the laws that govern human relationships. An individual may not be a criminal, but he may become a social outcast if he does not adhere to the social laws and customs of his ethnic, religious communities or country. Yet if an individual succeeds in negotiating existing institutions surrounding his life, if his actions do not harm another social being, is he then left to his own moral compass? Can he create his own laws and his own communities with its own rules and regulations?

Creativity deals with the business of dismantling or subverting established paradigms. So how do we evaluate communities operating on non-mainstream rules and regulations of today, which could well become socialised as norms tomorrow?

“There is no better way to exercise the imagination than the study of the law. No artist ever interpreted nature as freely as a lawyer interprets the truth.”
Jean Giradoux

When breaking down established laws in the name of creativity, how far do we go? Is there a limit to artistic freedom and the freedom of expression? When censorship happens, we often blame the censors and side the artist. How often do we ask if the artist is employing less sophisticated artistic strategies? Or is his intention to question the law by breaking it the point of the matter? When does freedom of expression end and the respect for difference begin?

Within art itself, there are also rules of creation – they could come in the form of musical structures, visual composition, theatrical conventions, and so on. In looking at the role of law in art, we need to also take into consideration the paradox of limitations that these well-established tenets provide. Artistic norms and traditions are often questioned and challenged by contemporary art,. In doing so, boundaries become mutable and blurred, and artists can become forerunners of change and progress.

Our existence is structured by individually imposed laws of relations, of understanding, or acceptance. There are tacit agreements and understanding of what one should or should not do in love, respect and duty. How does art serve as a means for us to constantly reassess these constructs and shift these boundaries – or even question whether they should be altered at all? In fact, should our emotions be subject to the constraints of any form of law?

Once again, the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival casts its focus on a socially relevant issue to be teased and grappled with. Join us to engage this potent and explosive combination through the variety of works to be presented at the Fringe. We seek your participation in the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival: Art & the Law. 13 – 24 January 2010.

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www.singaporefringe.com