EDUCATION KIT | ARTIST FOLIOS
MARTHA ATIENZA
PHILIPPINES / NETHERLANDS
Endless Hours at Sea,
2014, 2016
SBTV
ARTIST
WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/SAMTELLY
MARTHA ATIENZA
Endless Hours at Sea, 2014, 2016
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
THE ARTIST
THE IDEA
The work of Martha Atienza (b. 1981, Manila, the
The genesis of this artwork can be traced back to
Philippines) is sociological in nature, reflecting a
2010, when the artist Atienza started documenting her
keen observation of her immediate environment. She
experience of being at sea. Responding to a captain who
understands her surroundings as a landscape of people,
told her that “Being on a ship is killing time”, Atienza
first and foremost, and is currently exploring art as a
killed time by documenting movements of the ship and
vehicle for effecting social change and development.
water in video and in sound, but realised that there is
Atienza received her BFA from the AKI Academy
no such thing as killing time – it is always with us and it
of Art and Design in Enschede, the Netherlands
is omnipotent. The work that came out from these trips
and has participated in the art programme at the
won her the Ateneo Arts Award in 2012, enabling her to
Kuvataideakatemia of the University of the Arts Helsinki,
receive all of Ateneo Art Gallery’s four residency grants.
Finland. In 2015, she received the Thirteen Artists
Endless Hours at Sea is a culmination of her travels
Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines,
between the port cities of these residencies (Singapore,
and in 2012, she received the Ateneo Arts Award, with
New York, Melbourne, Liverpool). With a family history
residency grants in Liverpool, Melbourne, New York
of seafaring, this artwork is Atienza’s exploration of
and Singapore. In 2016, she was the recipient of the
both her physical and emotional relationship with water.
first Mercedes Zobel/Outset residency at the gallery
Gasworks in London. She lives and works in Bantayan
Island, the Philippines and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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MARTHA ATIENZA
Endless Hours at Sea, 2014, 2016
THE ARTWORK
Video, sound and light installation, water,
stainless steel, aluminium, mechanics, LED light
and air compression
Dimensions variable
Collection of the Artist
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ARTIST FOLIOS
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
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OBSERVE AND DISCOVER
GUIDING QUESTIONS
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
1. Take a walk around the gallery. What do you think the
A. Read up more about the artist Atienza’s connection
artwork is about? What do you see/hear that makes
to the sea and her family history of seafaring (from
you say that?
the internet, artwork caption or Biennale catalogue).
With this knowledge, how do you now feel about
2. Watch the video projection on the large screen for
the artwork?
as long as 5 minutes if possible. Write down as many
MARTHA ATIENZA
Endless Hours at Sea,
2014, 2016
words that come to mind whilst you are watching
B. Experiment with using a projector as a tool for
the video projection. After 5 minutes compare your
art making. Collaborate with two or three fellow
words with those of a classmate. How do your words
students to develop an installation using a projector.
differ from your classmate’s?
How does this tool differ from others you might use
when creating other types of art?
3. Pay attention to the sounds around you as you move
around the space. What do you hear? How does it
make you feel? What does it remind you of?
C. Have you ever taken some form of water transport
before, e.g. ferry or sailing boat etc.? If so, describe
the similarities and differences between the journey
4. Was the artist successful in portraying the constant
state of flux that characterises life on board large
freighter ships? What makes you say that?
5. What do you think is worth remembering about the
artwork? What makes you say so?
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on water from your usual form of transport, e.g. bus,
car, MRT etc.
FIND OUT MORE
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
BIOGRAPHY
Martha Atienza. Selected works.
Martha Atienza. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
http://www.marthaatienza.com/www.marthaatienza.com/
http://www.marthaatienza.com/
bio.html
Martha Atienza. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
https://vimeo.com/marthaatienza
ARTWORK
SBTV
Martha Atienza is featured in our SBTV series, created
especially for Singapore Biennale 2016:
An Atlas of Mirrors. Visit SAM’s Facebook and YouTube
MARTHA ATIENZA
Endless Hours at Sea,
2014, 2016
Ateneo Art Gallery. (2014). Endless Hours at Sea |
Martha Atienza. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
http://ateneoartgallery.org/endless-hours-at-seamartha-atienza
Estrada, O. (2015, September 18).
Artist Martha Atienza takes us to the Heart of the Sea.
Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
http://preen.inquirer.net/14029/artist-martha-atienzatakes-us-to-the-heart-of-the-sea
Silverlens. (n.d.). Martha Atienza.
Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
http://www.silverlensgalleries.com/artist.php?marthaatienza=139
My navel is buried in the sea. (2012).
My navel is buried in the sea.
Retrieved September 26, 2016, from
http://www.marthaatienza.com/www.marthaatienza.
com/gilubong_pdf_files/my%20navel%20is%20
buried%20in%20the%20sea_martha%20atienza.pdf
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pages to view the series. www.youtube.com/samtelly
ABOUT SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2016
AN ATLAS OF MIRRORS
AT ONCE, MANY WORLDS
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
FROM WHERE WE ARE,
HOW DO WE PICTURE THE WORLD ­—
AND OURSELVES?
Humankind has always devised ways of seeing
beyond sight. Two such instruments are the map
and the mirror, which make visible more than
just physical terrains. While the atlas – a book of
maps – locates where we are and charts where
we want to go, the mirror shows us to ourselves,
sometimes unreliably, and in curious ways.
Through an exploration of the literal and
metaphorical characteristics of atlas and mirror,
An Atlas of Mirrors reveals artistic perspectives
that arise from our migratory, intertwining
histories and cultures, particularly in Southeast,
East and South Asia.
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ABOUT THE ZONES
NINE
CONCEPTUAL
ZONES
The main title of the Biennale is woven through nine
•MYTHS
‘conceptual zones’, or subthemes, which locate each
• CYCLICAL TIME
artwork in particular curatorial contexts. These zones
• AHISTORICAL REALITIES
shape the flow of the Biennale experience, like chapters
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ARTIST FOLIOS
in a book or sections in a poem. Like the title – ‘An Atlas
Time remains a mystery; thoughts about the end of
of Mirrors’ – which is built on the relationship between
the world pervade our histories and beliefs, and we
a collective noun (“an atlas” as the collective noun) and
still dream. At moments, the art museum takes on the
what is being thought of ‘collectively’ (“mirrors”), these
semblance of a natural history museum: a mythical
zones are conceptually themed along specific collective
monster is resurrected as fossilised reality and
nouns and what they hold together for contemplation
chimerical blown-glass creatures roam ‘scholar rocks’
and experience. Artworks located within each zone
at the base of large ink-brushed ahistorical maps. As
resonate on many levels, and at the same time, all nine
if from another time, human eyes, handpainted on
zones coincide, intertwine and reflect each other along
opalescent mother-of-pearl, gaze out from the horizon
the conceptual continuum of ‘An Atlas of Mirrors’ as
of their real lives, eked out generation after generation
a whole.
by the ocean’s edge.
Each zone represents concepts, ideas and ways of seeing
Contemplating cyclical time brings insight into how
as explored in the 58 artworks and projects.
myths influence human conditioning; when, and why,
story tells more than history; and our lives amidst
timespans of elemental substances that transcend
human measure.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
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All works are © the artists unless otherwise stated. Information correct at the time of publication. All rights reserved.
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