Shrineshare: A photo album
Brighton, Leicester, Georgetown, Port Dickson, Section 17
Some news about news: I renovated the News page of Smoke Signals. Now it's an easy-to-read list of the lastest announcements.
Studio update: my rolls of Kitakata paper arrived, along with a blessed measure of time and stability. That means I can finally finish printing the Creatures of Near Kingdoms linocuts, a series that began in 2016.
Durian update/inspo:
Shrinesharing, filesharing
It's been a year since Zedeck and I, with our friend David in the UK, started contacting artists to contribute drawings for Shrineshare.
Shrineshare is a product of the internet. None of us had met face-to-face, at that point. Artworks came in via email, and we sent PDFs of them to our stamp maker over Whatsapp. Zedeck did all the rubber stamping - 1,120 prints inked and pressed by hand. We bound the digital with our life force into 70 folders, which were mailed, or otherwise put directly into the hands of artists, friends and strangers.
Isn't that what the internet was made for? Sending files to each other via networked computers?
So much of artistic production has become about crafting and maintaining the appearance of work and a network on social media. When we got the British Council Connections Through Culture grant, we chose to budget most of it on paying artists for making their art, and ourselves for making the folders. We could only hope that peer-to-peer network effects would arise organically to distribute the project. This energy seems to have vanished everywhere, but deep seams exist like clear water - in the earth, in cyberspace, in between us. Tapping into it is an act of faith.
The folder was never meant to replace being with each other in real life. Instead, we designed it as an excuse for people to hold impromptu exhibitions, gatherings or parties - like the ones documented below!
Watching Shrineshare unfold like a trail of confetti across time and space has been a dream come true. You can now build AI agents that, with the right prompts and an immense energy footprint, will perform complex tasks on your behalf. But there are other forms of emergent agencies, prompting us into encounters we may have prayed for, but never expected. Maybe this file is one of them.
The Shrineshare Folder
Shrineshare is a collection of 16 rubber stamped prints of original drawings by artists from Malaysia, Thailand, the UK and the US. The stamped art is on brightly colored A4 paper, and one or two sheets of gilded certificate paper. Each artwork is framed by digitally printed ASCII art depicting various kinds of roofs, walls and floors. These colorful and gilded sheets, printed both digitally and by hand, are the 'shrines' of Shrineshare.
Each shrine is topped with another A4 sheet, which has the artist's name and two short texts printed on semi-transparent tracing paper. 'About My Shrine' is written by the artist, and the 'Shrine Prompt' is a set of simple interactive instructions written by Zedeck Siew.
These shrines and their texts are bound in a cardboard folder, which is printed with essential information about the project. There's also an 'About Us' poster with biographies of the artists and curators.
A digital version of Shrineshare lives in this public Google Drive folder on the internet. You can add your own shrines.
Phoenix Open Studios, Brighton - UK
10 - 12 May 2024, and 16 - 18 May 2025
Now this is cool to see. Two presentations of Shrineshare by our UK project partner David Blandy, at his open studio event in Brighton, exactly one year apart.
Last year, there were only the drawings, because we hadn't put the folder together yet. This year Shrineshare was shown in full-spectrum glory! Our collaboration has been fed by gentle persistence and mutual trust.
Three pics, clockwise from top left: Phoenix Open Studios, May 2024. Bottom left: Phoenix Open Studios, May 2025.
Leiceister Gallery, De Monfort University - UK
22 May - 8 June 2024
Shortly after the open studio last year, David showed Shineshare again - at Leiceister Gallery, as part of a two-person exhibition alongside RangKnit by Dr Pooja Shah.
Narrow Marrow Cafe, Georgetown - Malaysia
November 2024
One of our Shrineshare artists, Jamie Oon Muxian, is also co-owner of the fabulous Narrow Marrow in Georgetown, Penang. We were thrilled when she organized a casual showing of Shrineshare at the cafe, and sold a few folders in the process.
I've been following Jamie as she develops her own practice. The work is fire - puckish, unpredictable and true.
Portal Party, Port Dickson - Malaysia
7 - 8 March 2025
This was a big weekend. Zedeck and I rented a bungalow next to our favorite beach. We had rooms full of beloved guests, Shrineshare in the house, a semi-permanent photo installation and nighttime ceremony on the beach, and a documentary crew from National Gallery Singapore's Education department. Zedeck wrote a little scene report here.
Beyond the activities, this event was important because it happened in our place - the land that nutures us with meaning, material and a specific way of understanding the world. We were there to cycle back what we'd been given. This is the principle of mutual flourishing. But it's not an IOU, it's a party... a celebration of life!
Pics by NGS Education team, Jin Tee, Zedeck Siew, Sharon Chin.
Shrineshare: Section 17, PJ - Malaysia
24 - 25 May 2025
Finally, with the help of our friends at RogueArt and 293, Shrineshare reached the city. This one felt like a different kind of homecoming. We had new shrines from Jun Kit, Umar Sharif and Beverly Yong. Jesse Joy, our Shrineshare artist, opened up his table of Borneo beads.
We lit a fire in the garden, and people burned pieces of paper written with things they needed to let go of. Transformation is hard. Sometimes a knife can make you feel stronger, so I sharpened my parang and asked people to carry it as they walked around the fire. Then we toasted marshmallows! It's kind of essential that these things are not so serious.
It was a joy to be with so many old friends and new faces. Thanks to Beverly, Rachel, Umar, Izat, Fairuz, Jun Kit, Jesse, and everyone who came.
Pics by Umar Sharif, Rachel Ng, Beverly Yong, Jesse Joy, Izat Arif
Next up? David just sent the email invite for Shrineshare at Exeter Art Week 2025. And with luck, we'll bring Shrineshare to Pasar Besar Ipoh in July for a festival organized by our friends Kinta Zine Club.
The folder keeps unfolding...
This has been Signal 011. Until the next send, may you be nudged gently by the prompts of the universe!
Scanner
I had a ton of AI links, but you know what, enough of that for now. Instead, let's a take a sensual swerve into the wild world of Malaysian fragrance:
- Bahfamsn perfumes make me screammmm. Check out My Village: 'buffalo poop on the road, dog, goat, muddy soil, and fruits (dusun kampung)'. AH MOI, The Enchanted Trails evokes a hot Malaysian chick on a waterfall hike; you're following behind like a lovesick dog, spellbound by whiffs of sweat, sunscreen and a hint of shampoo...
- You may have heard of White Rice by Vietnamese brand d'Annam. But did you know Malaya Perfumery made a scent called Mineral Water?
- Fragtology has a fragrance called Eternal Grounds. Smells like? 'Tanah kubur, bunga sundal malam, air bunga mawar, asap kemenyan, kain kafan yang putih bersih'. (!!!!) The heavy metal logo is *chefs kiss.
- You can also smell like Georgetown (the city), Bukit Bauk in Terengganu after the rain, and all the major roads in downtown Kuala Lumpur.
I need make a perfume called Refinery Blues. Someone work with me!
