Zhao Renhui and his series of photographs titled (from left) The Space In Between #1: The Blind, The Space In Between #6: A Black Mouse and The Space In Between #63: Sparrow In Acusis. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
THE notion of photographs being a record of reality is turned on its head by this year's UOB Painting Of The Year artist Zhao Renhui.
The 26-year-old won with his photographic series, The Space In Between, three 90cm by 130cm pictures of a person in a camouflage cloak, an animal trap and a lifeless-looking bird.
The wall texts accompanying the pictures speak of developments at the Institute of Critical Zoologists, including a cloak that allows zoologists to blend into the landscape when observing nature and the use of acupuncture to prolong the life of endangered animals, such as the photographed bird.
For the unsuspecting viewer, the camouflage cloak might seem like a real invention, and the use of acupuncture to induce prolonged hibernation in an animal seems highly plausible since this Chinese medical practice is purportedly able to regulate metabolism.
Read the full report in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times, Life!.
