Safe Entry V2.0
Heman Chong
Acrylic on canvas - 2020
200 cm x 130 cm x 3.8cm
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing was mandated by the Singapore government through a national check-in system called Safe Entry. Central to this system is the QR (quick response) code, a type of digital barcode made from pixels and grids that can store large amounts of data and can be read easily by digital devices. In his Safe Entry series, Heman Chong created several paintings of a specific QR code which, when scanned by a digital device, leads the viewer to a video walkthrough of a deserted Changi Airport, the first point of entry for most travelers into Singapore.
The repeated imagery of the painted pixels in Safe Entry V2.0, (2020) creates an abstract design like wallpaper, underscoring the inescapable presence of these codes throughout this period. In this work, Chong explores the intersection between art and technology, where the full experience of the artwork is activated only through a smartphone camera or QR reader. In contemplating the two images of “safe entry,” we realize just how much the pandemic impacted entire countries and their citizens.
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