Ways to Tie Trees (2015-2016)
Tree-staking, like our innate human instinct to control, is ubiquitous yet goes largely unnoticed.
Featuring a diversity of (sometimes unorthodox) approaches to the art of tree-tying, this work presents an intimate encounter with the trees and their much-overlooked structures in the man-made garden city of Singapore. Similar to many cities around the world, trees are uprooted and relocated to conform to a controlled cityscape determined by urban- planning. In an attempt to construct a productive and aesthetic living environment for ourselves, nature has long since been subjected to manipulation at the mercy of human hands.
Woong Soak Teng (b. 1994, Singapore) is currently completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and Digital Imaging at the Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design and Media. Her explorations are primarily concerned with the intrinsic human need for control against natural processes and the relationship between man-made and natural elements existing in urban social phenomena. Her works have been showcased internationally in Tokyo, Shanghai, Dali, Auckland and Singapore.
