Pressure Makes Diamonds

Five participating artists from the Singapore International Festival of the Arts 2023 lineup share what it takes to make art that glows with light.

- Charmaine Tan

Creating performance art is an exertive process that derives so much more value in its action than in its finished form. For most who are only privy to the glossy surfaces and rounded corners of final works, diving into the gestation period and space of a work-in-progress can be quite alarming because of the energy and effort it takes for emotions, words or thoughts to be condensed into short hourly sittings. It requires the artists to go through a dramatic transformative process that is either intentionally or unintentionally unperceivable to the naked eye.

However, the opposite can also be true. Art can come as easy as breathing, and there is no rule that the higher the number of performers, the more pivotal the work. So where does the magic come from? At what point in the creative process does the work take on a life of its own, independent of the intentions of the artists and enriched by the participation of its audience? How do artists find light in their arduous journeys towards realisation? We invite five participating artists from the Singapore International Festival of the Arts to share how light exists in their creative processes and works, illuminating the power of human connection and experience present in the art of art-making.

Jaha Koo, Creator, Performer, CUCKOO and LOLLING & ROLLING

"I think all artists - who work in the contemporary performing arts field - want to develop their own artistic languages in their artistic practice. As a theatre-maker, when I look back at the recent history of contemporary experimental theatre, most artists have always struggled to live in the overflowing information in the digital age over the past 30 years. They have strived to figure out their relevant way of artistic articulation. Creative work shines the brightest when unique artistic articulations are born significantly at the centre of artistic urgency in our contemporary society.