republic of daydreams

8/9/2019 Republic of Daydreams

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For Jeremy Hiah and Lina Adam,

and all brothers and sisters of the revolution.

Copyright 2007 Lee Wen, Singapore

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or

by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and

retrieval systems, without prior permission from the publisher, except by a

reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Published by Lee Wen in conjunction with

Freedom of daydreams, Mothers of imagination,

solo exhibition by Lee Wen

at Your Mother Gallery,

11 September to 11 November 2007

Photographs by Lee Wen,with the special assistance of Chua Chye Teck.

Design by Lee Wen,

with special assistance of Ken Yeo

ISBN 978-981-05-9112-0

With the support of

Your Mother Gallery,

91A Hindoo Road, Little India,

Singapore 209126

Tel/Fax: (+65) 97877874 / (+65) 63963310

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.geocities.com/yourmothergallery/


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Invocation

Did you come so farJust to buy that car?

Or was it just a game of golfYou were looking for?There was so much moreIn your dreams beforeWhen you were young, green and full of steamWhistling and singing your sweet idyllic songsWhile happily working along on that factory oorOh virtuous virgin in spirit and innocenceNow if not later you wont recall the words

To those quixotic songs you sungBut the melody still sitsOn the tip of a once so fresh now bitter-soured tongueHey why do our hearts still cry?Oh why are our weary souls still yearning?No dont want to keep on compromisingDont you know theres a battle still raging?While the fat cats sits on the mansion on the hillThey are still scheming for more games and greed for to kill

So ever ready to send you on the killing eldsSo they can lick that shame stained gainBe proud oh chosen oneNot to mindlessly help them steal the sacred act and close their dealsDont touch that blood and dirt on their handsBite your lips and make your standFor yours is the freedom to daydreamOh mothers of imaginationBe my consort be my guide

Steer us clear from our fearsTrauma this life have brought us aplentyYour manifold forms to dispel our varied distressing ordealsOh mothers of imaginationYou are one though your manifestations are limitlessTo attend our human multiplicityIn nature we hold our inner splendorIn reality we created a world of destruction and conictOh mothers of imagination

With your brilliance and benevolenceReturn us to our fateful deliveranceThat which in harmony for affection of learning and wisdomThat which is equilibrium in composureThat which is blissEcstasyRapturous in freedom of daydreams once and forever


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The Republic of

Daydreams

Lee Wen


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When was it rst Yin San or Cloud Mountain was able to

escape the Void and enter into the Republic of Daydreams, he cant

remember. Despite many a stimulating successes evil is ever adamant

at every step of the progression. And if anyone so much as doubted they

would be returned to the Void. It was rumored amongst those who had

similarly found their way in that there was a limit to the number of times

they were allowed a re-entry by their own individual processes and for

those who had been returned by way of self-doubt or compromising to

the ways of the Void too many times beyond that limit they would have

to nd a new process or means of re-entry into the Republic. Otherwise

the processes they had practiced would merely be the remainders, good

for the passage to a simulacrum of the Republic of Daydreams and

worse than that a simulacrum of the Void or even the simulacrum of the

simulacrum itself.

Most of those who found their way in were called arthists and

many thought it was their privilege however the truth was the idea of

privilege was a delusion and that there were more who were citizensin the Republic than just arthists. Boeys or Not Yet was one who knew

well this and even used this as one of his processes by announcing

Everyone is an arthist and became famous for that. In countless talks

and interviews to the media, which was part of his process, he spoke of


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it and he was well regarded for this. Sometimes sounding like a wise

enlightened man of mystical dimensions and there are those who claim

hes a fake because he played it too well that he seem like a trickster

charlatan especially with his funny hat on all the time and the way hemakes in clumsy means by way of something called performance art.

But that was his knack, which only showed how each one of us had our

own means of entry into the Republic. And then there would be many

who tried to follow suit and copied his processes even to the point of the

way he dressed as if such processes could be replicated.

There are those who not only think that their presence in the

Republic and evasion from the Void were that of being an arthist of

privilege but were also so arrogant as not to accept their fellow citizens

of daydreams whose practices were processes and means which were at

the same time seemingly useful directly for the expansion and upkeep

of the Void and not what one would normally call an arthistic process.

This did not cause them their dismissal or expulsion from the Republic

for arrogance is quite common amongst those who arrived through

processes as arthists, which entitle them as such so we normally call

them arthists. For it is the extension of the exaggerated ego, which

is mostly useful for the arthists who need this somewhat egotism to

overcome their being rejected for being indulgence in processes not

usually seen as supportive of the auspices within the Void. There was

also a persistent confusion for there are overlaps between the Void and

the Republic of Daydreams in trans-activity and some like to see it as

actually one and the same but there are gaps which catches all of us and

that its nature had been evolving all the time, dying and regenerating

itself through a process of historical and cultural revolution.But not all arthists have such self-seeking needs for impulses

like that does limit one in the end if not bring one to the end. Whereas

those who go by other seless processes not even caring for those of the

so called arthists may go about the Republic of Daydreams out of the


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Void, completely ignoring the existence of art or the arthists let alone

being known as one. And this is one thing Yin San or Cloud Mountain

have been trying at best in his processes and capacities to incorporate

and inculcate but not yet found success in, for he believes it is onemajor necessary step towards bringing the Republic into a new level

of pursuit which would put the transformation in its original intended

direction once again. For Yin San or Cloud Mountain is not like that of

what Boeys or Not Yet spoke of Everyone is an arthist but instead

of that Everybody is a revolutionary. Those whose practices are not

what normally would be called that of the arthist can be as equally

capable of bringing about changes for the transformation, or what may

be referred to as that of the revolution. And it is more important for Yin

San or Cloud Mountain to see that everybody as revolutionaries than

as arthists.

*

The work and practice has to be motivated by questioning.

Making processes of daydreams is a thought process seeking a

language to put forward questions of our individual living condition

with response to history as well as to current changes. Yet much of

what is being done today is actually rubbish made for entertainment

and for the prot of speculators or the game of one-upmanship in

the Void. Of course it is not wrong if we aim to entertain and make a

living in order to continue with the work of trans-activating between

the Void and the Republic but that should not be the sole motivation,

which would then kill the spirit of our genuine intention. I have my

doubts about the current situation of the trans-activation of daydreamsbased on tested traditions that is why I need to explore alternative

processes to overcome them.

*


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The Art Competition was one of the ways those in the

Void was always trying to show their sympathy for those of us who

gained entry into the Republic of Daydreams. It was also a way to gain

complicity of those in negation of the Void and almost revolting byway of seemingly self-imposed poverty and their exceptional economic

attitudes amongst the arthists who inhabit the Republic of Daydreams.

These ways will hopefully affect those who are slacking in faith,

conviction and commitment to the mothers of imagination and hence

are occupying a shaky existence between the Void and maintaining

their enduring stand in the Republic to be enticed back into the Void.

Such arthists would sit on their laurels after winning the awards offered

or acceptance by the Void, repeating in already irrelevant and by now

mendacious processes only to gain and maintain riches from the Void

but losing their continuing effectiveness in the Republic.

There had been a growing interest within the Void in what

the arthists were now doing as over time in history new forms and

processes were developing in the Republic beyond the comprehension

of the Void. Mostly those in the Void indulge in activities of pointless

entertainment of popularity and functional pragmatic consumption.

With their recent changed status as powerful and wealthy authorities

of the Void they would want to be seen as sophisticated and cultured

within the Void if not beyond it.

The beach at Sentosa was reputed to be most special on the

autumnal night where the full moon would make the sand on the beach

sparkle and shine exceptionally. Arthists used to congregate there

drinking wine and creating spontaneous works of daydreams. This

attracted the wealthy of the Void to also hold wine drinking partiesoften accompanied by a shopping spree of the inspired production by

the arthists. Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull had rightly observed that

the Art Competition was a culmination symptomatic of the possessive

megalomaniac nature of those in the Void to overcome their anal


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retentive and accumulative neuroses in order to recollect themselves. It

was also an act indicative of a pompous consumption disorder to show

their authority and supremacy.

The Mayor took advantage of the phenomenal success ofthe spontaneous full moon festival on Sentosa beach to inaugurate an

Art Competition and also offered a grand prize more than the record

amount paid for any work yet sold before at the shopping spree, which

accompanied the full moon festival on Sentosa. What was interesting in

the rst inaugural competition was how Yin San or Cloud Mountain had

responded to the call to submit his work for the competition. Yin San or

Cloud Mountain was at the time reputedly one of the most consummate

arthists who could paint in any medium and wrote poetry in all possible

manner, and his work was easily seen as worthy of respect to those

who clung on to traditions as well as those who only accepted the

experimental or even fashionable. Thus he was one most likely and

favored to win if there ever was a competition. The competition was

to be held in the central main section of the beach and arthists were

invited to pitch their works there for the judges to view them. It was

open the whole night and arthists were allowed to submit their works

up to an hour before sunrise. Two hours before sunrise most arthists

in attendance had already submitted except for Yin San and this upset

the Mayor as he had many dignitaries and special guests and would

feel embarrassed by Yin Sans shunning the competition because of his

reputation.

Neither the festival nor the competition was of any concern

to him. Yin San or Cloud Mountain was enjoying himself with his few

trusted ones from the Republic of Daydreams as if the festival andcompetition was not even happening. He was one of the rst arthists

who had congregated there in the beginning. In fact many had said

that it was he who initially invited just a few friends to the rst full

moon party on Sentosa beach many years ago before it grew to become


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such a popular practice. The Mayor sent one of his clerks to specially

invite Yin San to submit his work. By then Yin San already smashed

and inebriated had already made many works of exception and anyone

of them could be worthy of an award if not the Grand Prize. Whenthe clerk announced the Mayors special invitation he rose in silence

and followed him empty handed. His friends followed him thinking

he will make a spontaneous submission. As he approached the ofcial

competition compound he felt his stomach acting up and aching. Without

even a salutation to the Mayor he proceeded to the shore in full view of

all who gathered and took center stage. He felt a need to answer the call

of nature and loosening his sarong he squatted down to discharge his

bowels a nice pile of shit. He cleaned himself with some leaves lying

around and as he dressed he announced: Writing and drawing shit on

moon-lit sand, for the rich, to get rich, thats not art.

Yin Sans act turned out to be a historical milestone, which

many had tried to interpret and theorize his act as spontaneous theater

or performance art to this day. Bringing attention to the debate and to

what De Dubei or Virtuous Poison Cup had said that art today should

no longer question what is beautiful? but rather, what is art to be?

Some even saw it as the kind of radical gesture, which was at the most

essential point of ssion and fusion of trans-activity between that of

the Void and the Republic of Daydreams necessary for the continued

success of the revolution. In his drunken state at that point of execution,

Yin San or Cloud Mountain did not even consciously knew in exactitude

if it was art or not but a spontaneous bodily response in disgust how

the natural processes of the Republic was being hijacked by the Void.

In order to avoid punishment by the authorities of the Void, he had toadmit that it was a serious submission of performance art to the Art

Competition as there were no restrictions stipulated. It was a eld day

of scandalous news for the media arousing condemnation and also led

to a twelve-year prohibition of performance art and other spontaneous


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theater within the Void. Even today after the proscription was lifted a

licensing process of policing was enforced which had crippled many for

a natural and unaffected production of daydreams.

*

Whether you hang a painting on the wall or when you

perform an action, what matters more is its relevance to the ability

of the process to trans-activate between the Republic and the Void.

It may be different due to the time frame and the nature of the

presentation. After all, painting is a performance done with paint on

a surface then hung on a wall for some time to be viewed. What is

important is what are we doing as in terms of this thing called art?

The need to shift our attitudes may be responding to as what De Dubei

or Virtuous Poison Cup suggest that we also question, What is art

to be?And not only what is beautiful? hence at the same time

questioning the value of art itself. Is art still necessary? What is it

good for in our day and age? I have not found all the answers to these

questions yet but my work is also to use it as my thinking process and

hope people can help me or I would think we are working together

on this through further dialogues and discussions. In terms of making

a live presentation as part of the creative process one feels totally

absorbed in it both physically as well as spiritually while also being

conscious of looking and being looked at. But it is like a moment we

look for to make it right and then the work is done and hence

a kind of catharsis perhaps or overcoming some opposed threshold

which we bring forth though that does not always happens or if it doesits not always the same in terms of intensity or success. That is the risk

we take to get to the edge in order to trans-activate the processes.

*


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During the twelve years of proscription Yin San traveled

widely and almost abandoned his own gift and aptitude of painting

and other object making processes. The proscription was blamed onhis act at the inaugural Art Competition and his paintings and object

works were shunned, accumulated and lled his humble tiny dwelling

to the brim, as no one wanted them even when they were of exceptional

and unique quality. Mostly the authorities used its media machinery in

the Void to spread rumors about his inauthenticity and dishonesty and

made a joke about his previously admired experimental nature of his

paintings and object works as only of equal worth to the droppings he

had discharged during the inaugural Art Competition. Even his circle of

fellow practitioners who made works of a similar inclination were also

desecrated and censured. Many had to abandon them and seek other

processes in order to overcome the concerted ofcial censure.

He pulled the accumulated disgraced works out of his home

on the eld outside the Farrer Swimming Pool one day and invited all

his friends for a barbecue. Singing his poems he gave each one painting

or object work of daydreams a last chance to be seen by his friends

and burnt them one by one. Many friends were moved to tears but for

Yin San or Cloud Mountain it was a new beginning. After this he was

seldom seen in any one place for long in the Void giving rise to the

suspicion he had given up or was living in exile.

After the burning of his paintings and object works of

daydreams was the beginning of his new processes of daydreams in

performance art. In fact it was at this time that he decided he was now

an artoot and no more an arthist. He did not believe in art but wouldbe seen as doing it still as that was how he could still trans-activate

between the Void and the Republic of Daydreams in a process more

or less like performance art or seen as such. However what Yin San

or Cloud Mountain did was something yet unnamed. He left his tiny


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dwelling and moved to stay and live surreptitiously on the cremation

grounds in Redada where he met another of his mothers of imagination

for the rst time which he had never seen or heard of before when

he was most prolic in making paintings and objects of daydreams.Yin San or Cloud Mountain had a strong urge to inhabit the cremation

ground in Redada as he felt himself a desire and need to have to die

somewhat in order to live anew.

To help him overcome his urge to practice his surrendered

gift and former aptitude in making paintings and objects of daydreams

he began to write instead. The act of writing was a new habit, which

he had difculty with. He copied his favorite books by hand when he

did not know what to write and made notes on all his thoughts and

questions in seeking new discoveries and new processes of daydreams.

Yin San or Cloud Mountain became interested in the roots of rituals and

theater and what was sometimes seen as the indenable performance

art practice. He sometimes used the notes to repeat them as answers

to interviews and questions from the media of the Void about his

processes. Especially after he was awarded the LCC medal of honor as

usually they often asked the same questions repeatedly, as it seems they

lack the facility for history and memory in the Void.

*

Ritual or repetition is a dirty word for some; even within

the Republic of Daydreams when it is unquestioningly performed as

prescriptive motions it is not functioning, as it should. If one goes

by the denition of ritual it usually comes with many derogatoryadjectives and insinuations such as prescribed patterns, inexible,

stylized repetition, rigid formality etc. it should be noted that

rituals are meant to function in a way, which is more alive than dead

responding to the Void and up keeping the principles of daydreams.


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I suspect somewhere along we seek to enter into what Dun Er or

Storage Ear had described as the liminal, that neutral state

between the pre-conceived, already dened and before entering

anew back into the Void that is pushed forward by our present actionand I believe this is where the essential state of questioning and

being alive lies with our work or our actions and rituals while trans-

activating between the Void and the Republic of Daydreams.

*

He could not sleep the rst few nights after moving to the

cremation grounds of Redada. The sudden withdrawal from the making

of paintings and objects of daydreams left him with too much unspent

energies within him, as his new practice of writing did not dissipate

them. Then one night his tiredness overtook him and he went to sleep

just before midnight and met her. He felt her coming across the sky like

overcast shadow and suddenly lay over his body. Her face was covered

with black long silky hair and he could feel her breath on his cheeks. She

felt weightless yet he could not move when he tried. He felt an unusual

serenity and knew that she is one of the incarnations of the mothers of

imagination he had never met before. Yet there was fear in him and so he

shufed with all his might that made both of them tumble off the bed to

the oor. When he got up she had disappeared. In his tiredness he went

back on his bed wondering if it was just a dream and was soon sound

asleep. On waking, Yin San or Cloud Mountain dismissed it as a dream

or a nightmare as sometimes when one moves to a new habitat, the

changed environment may trigger ones perception that results in them.The next night she appeared again in the same way. This time

Yin San or Cloud Mountain was not with fear as he came to understand

that she was Tian Ker or Sky Song, the mother of imagination who was

the guide to processes of daydreams that involved an element of time,


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materials and environment, and usually a presence of the progenitors

during the processes. Within the Void it would appear as ritual, dance,

theater, performance art and usually referred to in the lowest common

insignicant descriptive name of performing arts. Performance art was theclosest term to describe what Yin San or Cloud Mountain used as processes

when trans-activating between the Republic of Daydreams and the Void.

On the cremation grounds at Redada, Yin San or Cloud

Mountain came into acquaintance with various other dwellers that

practice processes of the Republic of Daydreams of whom Tian Ker

or Sky Song was also a mother of imagination to. Many had found

the cremation grounds of Redada a serene space of inspiration

to develop their processes away from the hustle of increasing

population in the Void. In less than two years and half they were

also evicted from the cremation grounds of Redada as the powers

of the Void had been watching and was getting signals that it was a

fast breeding ground for the Republic of Daydreams who were able

to live without contributing much to the economy or paying taxes to

the Void. They gave the excuse that the site would be redeveloped

into a new station for the subway trains that was diverted in the

direction running under and across the cremation grounds of Redada.

By the time of the eviction from the cremation grounds at

Redada many of those who dwelled and worked there had gained some

reputation and were in fraternity with each other. However the eviction

and ensuing dispersal caused many fractures and tensions amongst

them as they scrambled for alternative locations for continuing their

processes in the Void. The news of the notorious incident of Yin San

or Cloud Mountains performance at the Art Competition and thefollowing imposed proscription had had by now spread far and wide

which aroused the curiosity of various organizers and presenters of

performance art to seek him out.

Yin San or Cloud Mountain accepted these invitations with


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reservations but was curious to nd out how by way of performance art

the processes of trans-activating between the Republic of Daydreams

and the Void were being enacted by others in the far corners of the Void.

Though Yin San or Cloud Mountain found excitement at the idea oftravel he was more concerned about his ability to carry out his processes

of daydreams in strange lands with strange people who spoke different

languages and have different histories. Not only there were also new

friends and associates of the Republic of Daydreams but also Yin San

or Cloud Mountain discovered many other mothers of imagination he

had never heard of before. But not all of them were responsive to his

practice for perhaps they were there to help those of a different climate

and temperament.

He encountered a greater range of different forms and degree

of collusions between the Void and the Republic of Daydreams for it

usually require more resources to bring the many practitioners from

further a eld than those from the neighboring sectors. The complexities

and convolutions brought on more corruption and arrogance of

privilege amongst the arthists and they begin to work in self-interest

and competition amongst themselves rather than in co-operation. There

was also complacency brought about by a lack of reection by arthists

over time where they merely repeated tested processes formulated to

address the already past state of affairs but not responding to the recent

changes. Yin San or Cloud Mountains disgust and disappointments

with the current situation for the effective trans-activation between the

Republic of Daydreams and the Void grew and became diverted to more

and more the behavior of the fellow arthists which made him all the

more the need to differentiate from them and thus calling himself anartoot instead.

*

We are losing the essence of our trans-activation processes


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of the Republic of Daydreams. So-called arthists are more selshly

addicted to the idea of amassing nancial and political powers from

the Void and forgetting the genuine joy of sharing and community

work of the Republic. At the same time the commercial powers in theVoid are dishing out popular mass cultures of mindless entertainments,

appropriating ideas from the Republic of Daydreams and using them

to stupefy the audiences with endless hypnotic games and programs

of seductions. Can we still believe the arthists when we know this is

happening today? What remains is just residue of what it used to be,

only wastes, corruption, pollution and the consistent repression of

those who persists to differ. I am apprehensive of how we as arthists

also contribute to the destruction of the intentions of our actual work

in our enthusiasm to create processes of trans-activation. We need

to be more careful not only in what we say but also how we say it

before its too late. Perhaps we need to differentiate from those who

are lost without a clear consciousness. Perhaps we should stop calling

ourselves arthists. Yes a new role needs a new name in order to raise

the questions anew.

*

Yin San or Cloud Mountain one day announced: I dont

believe in art, but I do it. He called himself an artoot instead to

differentiate himself from other arthists as a response to all the

confusion of recent times and the profusion and burgeon of arthists

in conspiracy with the Void, which Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull

spoke about. For now that there was an acceptance within the Void forthe various once frowned upon processes many arthists had lost their

genuine relationship with the mothers of imagination working within

the policing enforced by the Void. Many saw the dangers that the

Republic of Daydreams faced and the impending loss of sovereignty to


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that of the Void and agreed with Yin San to calling themselves artoots as

a way of showing solidarity in the continuing processes of daydreams

for the revolution.

By the time Yin San or Cloud Mountain was conferred theLCC medal of honor and hence properly rehabilitated into the Void, his

disgust and disappointments was almost so extreme he was on the verge

of giving up any hope for the processes of the Republic of Daydreams

ability to still trans-activate for the sake of the revolution. For to him

the degeneration had meant the need to ask various searching questions

and to desist in the process until all the problems are resolved. With the

recent state of the Republic of Daydreams and its dialectical relationship

with the Void where many who attempt to grasp and gauge the speed of

recent massive changes have pronounced the death or end where even

all mothers of imagination would not be able to resurrect at this stage.

The present situation is considered by them who proclaim the end or

our state of death to be continued only in simulation or surrogate form

of what it used to be or some would even claim the ultimate fate of

daydreams of which Yin San or Cloud Mountain would strongly profess

to defer. It occurred to some that when he was conferred the LCC medal

of honor that it would mean the death of the arthist in Yin San or Cloud

Mountain and he would be exorcised for good into the Void while only

in simulation remain one within the Republic.

As there were many speculations why Yin San or Cloud

Mountain was given this LCC medal of honor, which in the rst

place there was no clarity what LCC actually stood for or how one

was selected for sanction. The ofcial version was that it stands for

Legendary Cultural Conveyer but some said it meant Lowest CommonCulture with reference to what Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull had

expounded in his theorizing. In actuality no one knows for sure as it had

often been referred to simply as the LCC medal of honor but they were

all in suspicion that once bestowed one would actually be subjected


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to the control of manipulators and perpetuators of the Void. However

the medal does have its advantages especially when negotiating the

bureaucracy of the Void, which even now Yin San or Cloud Mountain

have to intermittently enter by necessity for the sake of acquiringresources lacking for the sake of the revolution. But it is Yin San or

Cloud Mountain who admitted it himself that the one primary rationale

for him to accept the medal was to make his aging mother happy. For

after all she was Yin San or Cloud Mountains rst of the many mothers

of imagination that had given him the initial stimulation and motivation

to enter into the Republic although she had never once was in agreement

to his decision to quit an apparently promising career in the Void.

But demands of working for the revolution especially during

the prohibition period would not allow Yin San or Cloud Mountain

to sort the actualities in details and as from his own perspective not

all revolutionaries are conscious of their own roles not to say those of

their fellow citizens of the Republic. Such was his mother who had the

intuitive nature of incarnating herself as a unique mother of imagination

as she entranced Yin San or Cloud Mountain with her natural ability to

tell tales of vividness based on her real tragic experiences from her life.

Which in reality was half as spirited as her lively storytelling. And as Yin

San or Cloud Mountains nancial situation had become worse over the

years in the Void as is common for a sincere practitioner of daydreams

to the point of being cold-shouldered although he gained respect with

his work in the Republic. He only wanted her to feel with pride as she

saw it as an honorable award so that she in her old age would not be

spent worrying for having a simpleton son lacking in respectable status

within the Void which did not worry Yin San or Cloud Mountain asmuch as her growing disappointment in him over the years.

*

Besides making my mother happy one could only hope


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for a voice that would be heard more clearly especially from those

in the Void in order to make things happen. But alas! What kinds of

revelations would I rather not be shown in those who should be more

sympathetic to the struggle? I have always believed and perseveredin what I do. At the end of the day, we must be responsible for our

actions. How difcult can it be to continue the play with the processes

when the codes of functional consumption in the cycles of the Void will

only be yet trivialized into fashionable trends and sterile simulacra?

And who needs the arthists today when most are in conspiracy with

the Void and instead of working towards higher possibilities nd it

more protable to send negative vibes about death and destruction of

the cause for the Republic of Daydreams?

*

With the lifting of the twelve years of proscription and Yin

San or Cloud Mountain being conferred the LCC medal of honor soon

after, there was a widespread suspicion that it was the death of the

arthist in Yin San or Cloud Mountain and he had been seduced to return

to the Void. Little do they know that he had already embarked on being

an artoot instead which was another level of practice he had discovered

in the Republic of Daydreams. For some felt that even the Republic

had already ended and dismantled itself after its acquiescence into the

Void especially with the inauguration of the Great To Be Alive Biennale

which superseded the Art Competition as a celebration of the many

new processes of daydreams conventionalized and appropriated, some

say hijacked by auspices of the Void which even included performanceart. But in order to rehabilitate performance art without being confused

by the other kinds of extreme and often deemed as disgusting and

obscene acts or subversive dangers by the Void, the new name of live

art was invented. One could still partake in acts involved with nudity,


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bloodletting, bodily wastes or the transgression of other social taboos

but in a more constrained or acceptable form of live art, ofcially

sanctioned by the Void.

Hence the Great To Be Alive Biennale, which supersededthe Art Competition also now accepted performance art but are being

repackaged as live art, a more acceptable and domesticated form for

the mass consumption of the Void. Perhaps it was all the speculation

that art is dead or near its end as proposed by Bau Li Lard or Father

Strong Pull that such a new name was invented just before Yin San or

Cloud Mountain was being conferred the LCC medal and the subsequent

inauguration of the Great To Be Alive Biennale thereafter. It was a clear

attempt to emphasize the living-ness or aliveness rather than a dead or

dying practice through such names. The situation put him in a rut and

whatever Yin San or Cloud Mountain did was unsatisfactory to himself

as well as to a harsh suspicious audience that he faced. It was also the

confusion of our time of the beginning of the decline which made many

efforts hardly now effective for the trans-activating between the Republic

of Daydreams and the Void although the collectors and speculators of

the Void were snapping them up mindlessly and escalating their prices

further with little relevance to their actual worth.

In his dejection Yin San or Cloud Mountain turned to the bottle

in extremity. Barely a day past without his total abandon to alcoholic

drunkenness and many were of deep concern for him. It was not doubt

he had but perhaps an overwhelming desolation lled with confusion,

which perplexed him to a point of frustration. One day he passed out in

his bed and lay there for 3 days or more he could not be sure. During

his state of unconsciousness all the mothers of imagination he had comeacross visited him. They were a comfort to his perplexed state of mind

and being and probably kept him alive as he found himself lying in a

pool of his own vomit and shit when he woke. He realized the need for

reconciliation of his contradictory dilemma and this would have to be


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based on his historical act during the inaugural Art Competition. He

decided to package his shit in tin cans and sell them at the prize beyond

any work sold to date in the Void and to submit it as a new work for the

Great To Be Alive Biennale.He had produced with careful planning a limited edition of

24 and will premiere it as part of a presentation at a conference on

international multi-trans-activity at the Art Station. The Art Station was

becoming a trendy meeting space for arthists where many conferences

were held discussing and presenting the current questions about the

trans-activation between the Republic of Daydreams and the Void by

way of processes normally known as art. Although Yin San or Cloud

Mountain had gained a status of higher regard since being conferred

the LCC medal it was still not easy to nd venues sympathetic to

the presentations of sincere processes of trans-activity between the

Republic of Daydreams and the Void. The Art Station was one of the few

places in the Void where he could nd ready acceptance for his work.

Despite its popularity, the Art Station faced nancial difculties with

accumulated debts from year after many years of not being able to be

nancially sound, that is showing protable returns in presenting works

which were pertinent processes of trans-activity between the Republic

of Daydreams and the Void. There was a decision to hold a fund raising

exhibition during the annual conference held in conjunction with the

Great To Be Alive Biennale. Half of the proceeds from the sale of works

during the exhibition would be donated to the Art Station.

Yin San or Cloud Mountain submitted his 24 tin cans and

exhibited them neatly in a pyramid pile on a pristine white pedestal.

All the cans were neatly labeled The Artists Shit with details suchas its date of production and its weight of 30 grams each, and the

announcement, freshly preserved, produced and tinned, which he

signed and numbered personally. Many crowded round to make jokes

about it but some went into serious discussions about their signicance


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as bringing the question of art to a different level. Just when they were

about to speculate if anyone would be convinced about the validity

of such a work to be submitted, word began to spread amongst them

like wild re that the millionaire philanthropist, Mr. Soho had boughtthe whole lot at the record price. The interest in the conference was

immediately diverted to the sole discussion of Yin San or Cloud

Mountains submission and its hasty sale.

There were all kinds of stories that circulated about how it

happened. It was said that Mr. Soho was the most typical of conspicuous

consumers who needed the exercise to show his supremacy and

recollect his anxious, anal driven self-image through offering to buy

the most expensive work. He had just arrived in a hurry from another art

auction and was anxious to purchase the most expensive work before

anyone else at the Art Station exhibition. Just when he was instructing

his personal assistant to make the purchase he received an urgent call on

his mobile phone. His broker was calling him for instructions regarding

his shares at the stock market, which was going through some jittery

uctuations as he arrived at the Art Station.

Just buy the most expensive work, he instructed to his

assistant while being distracted on his mobile phone.

But thats just some artists shit, his assistant replied.

Ya, any shit will do as long as its the most expensive, he

retorted while distracted by his broker on the phone.

Later when Mr. Soho found out he had actually bought 24

tin cans of Yin San or Cloud Mountains work, The Artists Shit,

he was initially embarrassed and angry but in order to save face, he

began to defend the work. Everybody was surprised to hear Mr. Sohothe well-known philanthropist who only collected conservatively and

mostly of the highest priced watercolors and scroll paintings and at

the most the odd abstract oil paintings had now become an outspoken

defender of such complex works of trans-activity between the Republic


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of Daydreams and the Void. But as Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull

has propounded, such proclamations was more than that of a simple act

of self-preservation but bespoke of intricate signs of our complex social

intimations and sublimated motivations.Although Mr. Soho had defended the work with all the jargon

he knew of the ideas of Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull, he secretly

felt he had made a mistake in actuality. However he consistently used

and quoted the ideas of Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull and even

studied them more in order to defend the work and hence his own

action of purchasing it. Anyone who questioned him for buying the

most expensive shit would receive an earful from him on the ideas of

Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull. Over time Mr. Soho even convinced

himself entirely into becoming a rm believer and one of the most

updated followers and staunch believer of the ideas of Bau Li Lard or

Father Strong Pull, which he tried to also impart to his family and his

descendents. Mr. Soho gradually became quite reverential of Yin San

or Cloud Mountain and his work that he even enlarged his collection

of which The Artists Shit became the most vital piece of them all.

However Yin San or Cloud Mountains production was not that prolic

after The Artists Shit and he also soon passed away of a rare illness

at quite a young age.

Not all of Mr. Sohos family and descendents were similarly

devout for they were too indulgent with the ways in the Void and only

dismissed ideas of Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pull as superstitious

nonsense. Over time it was also difcult to sustain newly acquired

family traditions and it was only one great grandson, Ah Tai who was

the most ardent follower of ideas of Bau Li Lard or Father Strong Pullor other family traditions during the time of the continued decline. The

descendents of Mr. Soho were still in possession of the 24 tin cans of

The Artists Shit and other works by Yin San or Cloud Mountains.

However over time and especially after the passing of Mr. Soho the


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familys faith in the teachings as propounded by Bau Li Lard or Father

Strong Pull waned and became corrupted with the decline. Yin San

or Cloud Mountains works lost the status of pride and reverence

within the family and would have been sold at some auction if not forAh Tais insistence on keeping them. Most of the other works were

gradually sold at auctions and The Artists Shit was the only one

Ah Tai could salvage but it was relegated from its honorable place of

display, to be stored in a black cardboard box in an obscure corner of

the basement storeroom.

*

There seems to be repetition within the context of rituals.

To me that repetition within rituals references our being in time and

becomes in itself an image or metaphor of or for time within eternity.

Such as in nature we see the sun or stars rising and setting everyday

or the planets revolving around the sun and in the waves on the beach.

In most ancient traditions there is a tendency to create human rituals

based on the observation of nature. When we refer to repetition within

a historical context a different discourse ensues.

Perhaps it becomes numbing and hence an anesthetic

function or rather dysfunction occurs due to overkill of repetition

when done to the point of losing its original creation of meaning

which is not my intention nor I believe what motivates us towards

ritual and repetition in rituals. That is why we need to recreate them

and via making works of daydreams with the consciousness of the

need to make it novel and that our current production of daydreamsremains relevant and contemporaneous. Yes every repetition makes

difference that is why a production of process in daydreams can never

in actuality be repeated however the essence of it can only acquire

authenticity if it is done with this consciousness.


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*

There were signs that the nal days of the Great Decay wasnigh due to a continued decline and the corruption of the preservation of

sincere practices of trans-activity between the Republic of Daydreams

and the Void. Natural climate was disrupted to unusual behaviors

of extremity. Animals and ora were disappearing to the point of

extinction. Great oods caused by freak hurricanes and excessive rains

were followed by great periods of drought and famine. Monstrous

pests and self-destructive weeds evolved due to unnatural practices of

technological advances in violation of the ways and grew to consume

the crops in the elds. It had become a constant battle where crops were

lost from the attack of monstrous pests and weeds or for the lack of

proper irrigation, extremities of climate and the land was exhausted of

all its fertility.

Mr. Sohos family and descendents were fortunate to have a

large storage in the basement. In anticipation of the depletion of food

supplies due to the decline, dried preserved foods or tinned canned food

were being kept in the basement storeroom. While rummaging through

for canned food, during the great drought, his great grandson Ah Tai

found the all but forgotten 24 tin cans of Yin San or Cloud Mountains

The Artists Shit in its black cardboard box. Inside the box was also

a scrolled up certicate explaining the work and acknowledging its

authenticity of The Artists Shit as a process work of trans-activity

between the Republic of Daydreams and the Void. When Ah Tai held

those tin cans in his hands he immediately knew what he needed to do.He brought them out to the elds where grains were growing

before the great drought. On each plot he opened a tin can and sprinkled

out what was inside spreading out as evenly over the plot as he could.

The rain immediately fell as he opened and sprinkled out the last can.


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The land soon was all shining again with crops and elds of grains

in splendid glory. There were many speculations about how this could

happen. Some said that Yin San or Cloud Mountain did not put his

shit in the tin cans but something special that he had discovered in histravels. Others conjectured that it was the vegetarian diet he was on

during the time he produced that work and the years of fermentation

in the tin cans that transformed them into fertilizers of exceptional

potency. What reasons in actuality no one really knows. For Ah Tai, it

was quintessential point of ssion and fusion of trans-activity between

the Republic of Daydreams and the Void and a completion to full cycle

had transpired as predicted in the writings of Bau Li Lard or Father

Strong Pull.


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Lee Wens performances and installations often

expose and question the ideologies and value systems of individuals

as well as social structures. His work attempts to combine Southeast Asian contexts with international currents in contemporary art.

Lee emphasizes versatility in strategizing and establishing visual

language, meaning and message through live performance work. He

is also interested in developing new possibilities of performativity and

interactivity in art. His early practice was associated with the Artists

Village, an alternative art group in Singapore and later forged a more

individuated artistic career.Lee has been represented at the Busan Biennale (2004),

the 3rdAsia Pacic Triennial in Brisbane (1999), the Sexta Bienal de La

Habana, (1997), the Kwang Ju Biennial (1995), the 4th Asian Art Show,

Fukuoka (1994) Sea Art Festival, Busan Biennale (S.Korea, 2004),

National Review of Live Art (Scotland, 2004 & 2005).

Born in Singapore, Lee now lives and works extensively

on a global circuit and based between Singapore and Tokyo. Lees

enthusiasm as an artist goes beyond his solo work and continues to beactive and involved with the new generation in spawning possibilities

of collaborations, networks and dialogical discourses. In 2003 Lee

initiated, The Future of Imagination, an international performance

art event encompassing forum, documentation and presentation of

performance art in Singapore. Since 1999 Lee has also worked with

Black Market International an utopian performance art group

comprising artists from various countries and cultural backgrounds. Lee was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapores cultural

award for artistic excellence in 2005.


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republic of daydreams

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