Agency & Cybernetics

In this discussion, artist Chok Sixuan reflects on her material investigations and notions on bodily gestures through techno-centric research.

- Racy Lim

“My relationship to physical forms has developed exponentially throughout the years. Growing up with the internet, I spent a lot of time just cooped up in my room and this impacted the way I learnt about the world,” shares artist Chok Si Xuan. She continues, “While I was presented a sea of information through my screen, there was little to experience within my body. It took me a long time to create boundaries away from the screen and take time to truly observe my surroundings, and what was happening within my material flesh.” Chok’s practice as a sculptor can be considered ruminative. She creates kinetic and gestural elements through electronics, motors, 3D printing sensors and more recently, coding and visual programming. “I see my practice as a form of strong urgency to return to physical, in-person experiences, with our bodies being complex machines with the ability to receive information from our surroundings from the things we see, touch, smell, hear, taste,” she shares. Since 2018, the artist has shown at multiple platforms — the National Museum of Singapore, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore and Yeo Workshop, to name a few — and received varied commissions across art and design, including automotive clients. I was first intrigued by the post-human gaze embedded in her works.