Nabilah Nordin has been announced as one of the exhibitors in the 2019 Singapore Biennial titled Every Step In The Right Direction.
Nordin will be creating a work titled An Obstacle in Every Direction, where she will invite visitors to enter into an obstacle course made up of assemblages of found objects that appear to be precariously placed, as though about to fall. Through it, she encourages visitors to spend time exploring the different routes presented within, to enjoy the textures of the ‘obstacles’ placed in their way and to embrace and work through the anxiety one might experience when navigating the seemingly hazardously arranged obstacles.
An Obstacle in Every Direction is an obstacle course with no set rules, both conceptually and formally. Conceptually, it does not subscribe to conventional demands of timed outcomes – there is no start or finish line in this course, nor is there a goal to measure. Formally, Nabilah works with chance and improvisation to fashion out of whatever objects she can locate, articles playfully constructed to highlight the whimsical that comes from breaking with convention.
Nabilah’s obstacle course breaks away from norms (of obstacle courses, of society) and asks visitors to lay themselves open to experiencing the many routes that might go somewhere, nowhere or everywhere. Inspired by the notion of failure, An Obstacle in Every Direction affirms that failure is necessary for imagining possible futures.
For further information on the Biennale, the official website can be accessed here.
