I grew up in this city and have seen it through so many changes. Since the British colonial period, the island’s size has increased by 25 percent – from 58,150 to 71,910 hectares (or 578 to 719 sq km. Thus, it is impossible in Singapore to not question just where the intertidal zone is and what has been lost getting here.
These interviews were conducted in February 2018 and I speak to a range of artists whose work has been centered around documenting these changes and these losses ---- what some might instead call “progress.” What is foremost on everyone’s minds is the fragility of these iterations, the speed and pace of the alterations and of the acceleration from reality to memory.
At the foreshore in Singapore, one is struck by the business of the waters but also by the careful demarcations of space. The barrage that awaits the rising tides of sea level changes. The glass towers built on so much reclaimed land. The way it becomes almost impossible to trace where the original seam of the coastline is.
Patiently documenting these changes are Charles Lim, Robert Zhao, and Juria Toramae. Thinking through the political and social implications are Jason Wee and Jeremy Tiang. Fantasizing about how it might be otherwise: Nuraliah Norasid and Clara Chow. I am grateful for the time they have given me.

Singapore Interviewees

• Charles Lim
• Robert Zhao
• Juria Toramae
• Jason Wee
• Jeremy Tiang
• Nuraliah Norasid
• Clara Chow