Within the City Hall Courtyard of the National Gallery Singapore, hovers a spectral image that evokes a simultaneous interplay between the abstract and the concrete. The intervention speaks poetically to the building’s architecture while critically engaging with its history and sense of place. Set against the skylight, Eidolon is defined by a simple yet rigorous line that bisects the interior volume along a diagonal plane. Two parallel rows of beaded link-chains extend over 28.5 metres and connect opposite corners of the courtyard; the delicate, vertical lines introduce an optical interference when overlaid, shifting between transparency and opacity depending on where you stand.
The title Eidolon comes from the Greek word for phantom yet its root, eidos, refers to “that which is seen.” It may thus be read as a veil or a mirage—a fragile limit between what is suggested and what is seen. The work resists easy definition, neither a hanging mobile nor a suspended sculpture. Its monumental scale elicits you to look closely only to see through its physical presence. Through the work, the symmetries of the building’s neoclassical lines are still visible, but gently diffused. As a counterpoise to the cultivated histories of the space—a museum, a municipal building, a private residence—Eidolon brings attention to what is visible, but also what lies beneath, inviting you to experience the space anew.
Eidolon was commissioned by National Gallery Singapore for OUTBOUND, a series of public art commissions that respond critically and experientially to the spaces around the Gallery.
Watch video of Vong and Claire talk about their art practice, followed by a response by Jakarta-based architect/urbanist Marco Kusumawijaya and a discussion moderated by curator Goh Sze Ying:
Photographs courtesy of National Gallery Singapore: https://www.nationalgallery.sg/ and the artists.
