Plasplus is an ongoing project looking into artisanal small-batch plastic recycling in
urban high-density areas. It is highly inspired by work done by Precious Plastic.

Plasplus aims to reimagine plastic as a precious and artisanal material that is reclaimed from urban waste streams. The name is a play on the suffix “++”, often used in computer science to denote a new version (as in C++). Plasplus is currently still in the research and development phase. We are hoping to launch a few products using 100% recycled plastic by the end of 2021.

In the process, we have built our own hydraulic press, PID-controlled oven, and several aluminium and steel molds.

Rush Hour is an interactive art installation about pace and perception. It was a collaboration with filmmaker Victor Gan.

In 2006, a study confirmed that Singaporeans are the fastest walkers on the planet.

This finding confirms Singapore’s reputation as a nation full of competitive go-getters egged on by its meritocratic system. While being faster, stronger and better seems perfectly desirable, is there an underside to this speed? How much faster can – and should – we go?

Rush Hour is an interactive installation that responds to the walking speed of the participant. The video shows working adults in the business district during rush hour, which connects our local phenomenon to larger narratives of capitalism and the global economy.

Rush Hour was exhibited at “aedge ; (semicolon)” at SOTA Gallery in 2020.

The participant steps onto a step sensor. The slow-motion video changes in real-time based on her/his steps. When s/he walks faster, the figures in the video become more blurred. When s/he stops walking, the video reverts back to clarity.

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Find out more about my art practice on Luke Warme

60 Second Counts is an interactive art installation about time and timing.

There are two distinct words for time in Greek: kairos and chronos. Kairos refers to a subjective time that is felt by the individual through circadian rhythms, breaths and heartbeats, whereas chronos refers to an objective time measured in hours, minutes and seconds. 60 Second Counts attempts to reconcile subjective and objective time by getting audiences to record their own “minutes”.

60 Second Counts was shown at “aedge: Time and Space” at the SOTA gallery in 2019.

The participant goes into a booth and interacts with a single button. S/he goes through a process of clicking the button sixty times to record her/his interpretation of one minute. The resulting “minute” is projected on the screen as a blinking dot, along with “minutes” by eleven other individuals. Each “minute” starts with a red dot.

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Find out more about my art practice on Luke Warme

Chrolo is a rumination on the nature of time materialized in the form of a curio.

Time is both linear and circular, continuous and discrete, and exists both subjectively and objectively. Chrolo is an attempt at reconciling the seemingly contradictory qualities of time. Impossible to manufacture through traditional processes, Chrolo is realized through stereolithography 3D printing.

Chrolo engages multiple senses of sight, touch, and hearing, creating an embodied experience of time that draws the user back to the present. The sixty steps of Chrolo descend like a spiral staircase, forming the helix shape of the timer.

Chrolo begins with the user picking up a steel ball from the base and dropping it into the top funnel. As it descends down the sixty steps, the ball creates a ticking sound reminiscent of analog clocks. The ball oscillates back-and-forth on the steps which evokes the mesmerizing quality of pendulums. At the end of sixty seconds, the ball rings the bell and signals the end of a minute.

Chrolo was successfully funded and fulfilled on Kickstarter. The project is archived on Kickstarter

Chrolo was exhibited in Venice Design and Dubai Design Week in 2018.

Stored Value is a collaboration between sparkpluck and EZ-Link, a company that creates contactless smart cards that are used primarily for public transportation in Singapore.
Description

EZ-Link cards store not only money but also record passenger’s trips around Singapore. Stored Value is a metaphor for a Singaporean collective memory that emerges from the sum of passengers’ journeys, which are each represented by the everyday sounds that we hear.

Stored Value explores the tacitness of Singaporean identity. It captures everyday sounds that people pay little attention to because of how ordinary they are. Yet, when decontextualized, they evoke specific memories that tie us to shared experiences that form a national identity.

Stored Value was exhibited at Singaplural and SHINE Festival in 2017.

The participant taps an EZ-Link card (stored value card) on the replica of a public bus fare deductor. Instead of the usual beep, the “deductor” responds by playing a uniquely Singaporean sound and also becomes illuminated, showing a graphic.

When multiple “deductors” are activated, a mix of sounds are played in concert, creating an immersive soundscape. The sounds are repeatedly played, fading in volume with time.

Tack is a product that I tried (unsuccessfully) to launch through Kickstarter during my senior year at RISD. An important objective of the project was to work with local manufacturers.

Tack is a task light designed for modern urbanites. As more people move into cities, living spaces will continue to shrink. The number of discrete spaces in typical rental housing is decreasing, as seen by the rise in one-room studio apartments. Nowadays, one space has to perform multiple functions. Millennials are also moving from one city to another more than previous generations, necessitating furniture that can be easily moved between homes.

Tack was featured as a Kickstarter “Project We Love”. It was also exhibited at RISD Senior Show 2016. The project is archived on Kickstarter