Dhavinder at one of his abandoned factory 'haunts' in the Jalan Chan Sow Lin area in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Kenny Loh
Contemporary artist Dhavinder Singh’s idea of a productive work day is coming back to his work studio with a haul of curious rescues, including a large wooden pigeon house, old tools, saws, rusted mailboxes and window frames.
In order to find his subject or inspiration, Dhavinder spends days scavenging about abandoned factories and derelict warehouses in his childhood neighbourhood of Jalan Chan Sow Lin in Kuala Lumpur looking for machine scraps or discarded objects which serve as reminders of a long forgotten way of life.
Dhavinder Singh's Tagistan
Dhavinder at one of his abandoned factory 'haunts' in the Jalan Chan Sow Lin area in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Kenny Loh
'I picked up some video skills from YouTube, ' says Dhavinder on the DIY stop-motion video he made while finishing the 'Tagistan' exhibition during the lockdown period in Malaysia. Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
Dhavinder's installation 'An Alter in Mind, Who Should You Worship? Not Implicating That You Should, But Would You?" (2020). Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
Dhavinder's installation called 'Smelting Thoughts' (2020), which features an old wok that his grandfather brought to Malaya from Jalandhar, Punjab, India in the 1950s. Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
A wooden pigeon house salvaged from a factory in Jalan Chan Sow Lin is seen at the Tagistan exhibition by Dhavinder Singh. Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
Dhavinder explaining a work called 'Disciple Visits The One Who Floats' (2020), a tribute to his late grandmother. It features her old charpoy bed, tin cup and rug blanket. Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
A close-up of Dhavinder’s installation 'An Alter In Mind, Who Should You Worship? Not Implicating That You Should, But Would You?' (2020). Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
Two players trying out Dhavinder Singh's interactive piece called the Tagistani Floating Chess at the exhibition. Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
‘My grandfather loved to dress up and take the family out to the photo studio, ’ says Dhavinder about this work titled 'Mohan Singh s/o Karam Singh' (1960s suit). Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
An artwork titled 'Work Site. Heavy Construction. Do Not Enter. Uninvited' (2020). Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
A close-up of Dhavinder's installation called 'Smelting Thoughts' (2020), which features an old wok that his grandfather brought to Malaya from Jalandhar, Punjab, India in the 1950s. Photo: The Star/Norafifi Ehsan
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