Varying Progressions: Selected Graphic Symbols of Singapore, 1956–2003
2017
Analogue and digital projection (loop)

Singapore’s recent history is often summarized as a leap from the so-called Third World into the developed world. In just five decades, the former British colony has grown to become a gleaming, cosmopolitan city-state. Graphic design has played a significant role in this accelerated modernization project, which can be witnessed in part through this loose collection of one hundred symbols and logos from Singapore government agencies, organizations, and corporations since the 1960s. Presented in an ambivalent and seemingly counterproductive manner, this installation encourages alternative readings of the ‘Singapore Story’. It hints at the challenges and complexities that befall the production and understanding of design in a nation where progress is an imperative.

 

The artists do not own copyright of the graphic symbols or logos used in this work and are not associated with those who own, represent, license, or designed them.