Single-channel video, (colour and sound), 14:15 min
H.E.A.T Data Report_1,
H.E.A.T Data Report_2, 2023
Lenticular prints, 200mm x 300mm
In the collection of Singapore Art Museum and Kadist Foundation
SAM Contemporaries: Residues & Remixes 2023
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
H.E.A.T Data Report_1,
H.E.A.T Data Report_2, 2023
Lenticular prints, 200mm x 300mm
In the collection of Singapore Art Museum and Kadist Foundation
SAM Contemporaries: Residues & Remixes 2023
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
LAMENT H.E.A.T examines the historical and socio-cultural conditions of rubber plantations in Malaya through lamentation as both a method of mourning and a form of resistance. The work situates the plantation within broader constellations of memory and labour, foregrounding how grief operates as a political and archival force. Drawing on the concept of the third space, the rubber plantation is articulated as a shifting and contested terrain—simultaneously a site of economic extraction, social stratification, and cultural hybridity.
At the core of the installation is a reconfiguration of oppāri, a Tamil lamentation practice historically performed by Dalits. This practice is mediated through H.E.A.T (Hevea Errichal Automation Tech), a speculative technological entity that performs oppāri as an act of mourning and refusal. Through this gesture, the work critiques colonial regimes of extraction while speculating on technology’s capacity to bear empathy, to memorialise non-human life, and to function as a conduit for collective grief and remembrance.
At the core of the installation is a reconfiguration of oppāri, a Tamil lamentation practice historically performed by Dalits. This practice is mediated through H.E.A.T (Hevea Errichal Automation Tech), a speculative technological entity that performs oppāri as an act of mourning and refusal. Through this gesture, the work critiques colonial regimes of extraction while speculating on technology’s capacity to bear empathy, to memorialise non-human life, and to function as a conduit for collective grief and remembrance.