School
of Creative
Industries
Tan Kun Yan, Jack Kenneth
Jack Kenneth Tan's enthusiasm for the arts stems from his keen interest to better understand how the arts transforms individuals, connects communities and shapes culture. He is particularly interested in how public art affects, impacts and elicits responses from its surroundings. He believes it is more important to focus on the processes and rationale of art and not merely the presentation of artworks. With his work, Jack hopes to foster an increase in the public's acceptance of the significance of art.
Work
Research interests: public art, public art policy, audience participation.
Past projects: ARTWALK Little India (2019), LASALLE's Rock and Indie Festival (2018 – 2019), LASALLE's Lunchtime Concert Series (2017 – 2018).
Thesis abstract
Public art for who? Artist vs. public
To better understand art's public functions and its values, this research considers the interrelationship between the audience and content; to whom does art speak to, what it has to say, and the various messages it could convey. The conversations and dialogues on public art should be about the social engagement that is as fundamentally complex as the multifaceted-ness of society. Public artworks often walk a tightrope between displacement and/or preservation. On the whole, public art faced tension on the issue of functionality (i.e. the usefulness of public artwork) and the degree of public’s involvement in public art (i.e. the level of involvement and the power to decide the characteristics of public artwork). By examining the current treatment of public art in society and the perceived functions and value of public artworks, this research paper will attempt to identify the dichotomy in public artwork and the current gap on the functions and values of public art between the artists, public and the agents of public opinion.