Singapore Art Museum (SAM) presents two digital initiatives that probe the intersections between contemporary art, technology, and digital culture. Operation Kata-tropical (Aural) Bloom [ÖK(^)B] and Open Systems 2_Operating Systems (OS2) challenge perceptions of virtual spaces and hidden frameworks governing our daily lives. These projects expand SAM’s digital presence, reinforcing its commitment to supporting innovation and artistic experimentation. By exploring the fundamental aspects of digital art and environments, they question the limitations of traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. Together, ÖK(^)B and OS2 invite audiences to reconsider the relationship between art and technology, highlighting the possibilities of contemporary art in the digital age.
Operation Kata-tropical (Aural) Bloom [ÖK(^)B]
ÖK(^)B is an immersive and multi-layered digital experience developed in collaboration with trans-media research lab formAxioms. Set in the year 26777, it presents a spectral vision of the former St. Joseph Institution (SJI) building in Singapore’s civic district, where players navigate a virtual space shaped by real-time environmental conditions and the lingering traces of past explorers.
At once a game, archive, exhibition, and artwork, ÖK(^)B engages post-colonial and post-Anthropocene perspectives to confront facts, traumas, and the persistence of colonial logics in virtual environments while reimagining alternative futures for human and non-human entities. The project also features Speculating the Fragmented Copy by Juan Covelli, a digital archive of Mesoamerican artifacts challenging ownership and commodification, and Hings Lim’s Homo Lanterns, a real-time simulation reflecting on the lingering presence of colonial ideologies in Southeast Asia.
Open Systems 2_Operating Systems (OS2)
Curated by artist collective TO NEW ENTITIES, OS2_Operating Systems (OS2) is the second edition of SAM’s Open Systems initiative, a platform dedicated to examining how digital and networked environments transform artistic production, access, and experience. Continuing Open Systems’ inquiry into digital art and culture, OS2 frames contemporary lived experience (online and off) as inextricably linked to vast networks of invisible systems—technological, ideological, economic, and cultural—that govern the ways we interact with one another, with institutions, and with the environment. OS2 invites us to question the systems that govern our lives and to imagine new ways of operating within them. The project showcases 12 artist projects across four thematic chapters:
1. OS2.1_Knowledge Systems
Dana Dawud, Stephanie Comilang & Simon Spieser, Sharmini Aphrodite, fyerool darma, Shif, POFMAMAXX & Manni Wang
Knowledge Systems features artists and thinkers who navigate, recontextualise, and problematise known historical and traditional knowledge systems that shape culture and society. It investigates modes of transmission, such as poetry, myths, and fables, exploring their connection to indigenous and spiritual knowledge systems across generations and how these narratives and symbols are constantly reinvented.
2. OS2.2_Archival Systems
Sara Bezovšek, Nawin Nuthong, Christina Lu, Connor Cook & Dalena Tran
Archival Systems examines the vital role of archives in shaping collective memory. It explores how archival sources can be reinterpreted and subverted to invent new ways of understanding the past, present, and future. Featured artworks challenge traditional archival structures, offering new ways to map historical and contemporary knowledge.
3. OS2.3_Eco-Systems
Invernomuto, Brandon Tay, Most Dismal Swamp
In Eco-Systems, artists delve into real and imagined ecological networks, highlighting the intricate relationships between interdependent entities. The works challenge rigid, overly uniform environments and advocate for diversity and complexity. They offer viewers a lens through which to reflect on the dynamics of change and continuity within these interconnected systems.
4. OS2.4_New Systems
dmstfctn, Moving Castles, POSTPOSTPOST
New Systems envisions novel ways of navigating reality, exploring the evolving relationship between technology, culture, and collaboration. Together, the works envision a new sensibility of knowledge and cultural production.
ÖK(^)B and OS2 can be accessed on opensystems.sg, a central depository for SAM’s digital projects. The hosting site is live, and artworks in OS2 can be accessed for free from now till May 31, 2025. Alternatively, ÖK(^)B can be accessed directly at okab.sg and will run from now until September 30, 2025. More information can be found at opensystems.sg.
