What is the effective way to communicate on the destruction and transformation of our natural world and its species? How can we most efficiently cause a shift in thinking and bring to light the sometimes-morose irony of nature conservation and appreciation? A former animal activist, Robert Zhao Renhui has dedicated his artistic career to exploring questions of humanity’s relationship to nature and nostalgic yearning for wildness.
Robert Zhao Renhui grew up in a small apartment in Singapore with “a perimeter of bonsai from wall-to-wall” developing a certain sensitivity to the natural world and its constant captivity from a young age. He took up his father’s camera at thirteen years old and was immediately fascinated by photography’s ability to create imaginary truths and manipulate reality. He went on to study photography in the United Kingdom at Camberwell College of Arts and the London College of Communication. Upon returning to Singapore, Robert founded the international organization called the Institute of Critical Zoologists – where he aims to “develop a critical approach to the zoological gaze or how humans view animals”. Since his first major project at the Institute, “A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the World” (2013), a colourful alternative encyclopaedia of animals and plants often ignored by traditional scientific discourse – such as those who have been or will be affected by aesthetic, genetic, evolutionary or ecologic influences, his work has tried to bring awareness to our relationship with animals in contemporary society. The artist describes his working method as one nourished by close working relationships with scientists and through research residencies, such as at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, National Museum of Wales, and the Article Circle Residency, which have enabled him to identify pertinent subjects within the contemporary debate and spend time understanding the stories they have to tell.
From 2015-2016, Robert Zhao Renhui undertook a research residency on the remote Indian Ocean outcrop, Christmas Island. Once a part of a Crown Colony of the artist’s native Singapore, the island is currently part of the External Territory of Australia, rich in biodiversity and irony for those willing to see it. The resulting project, Christmas Island, Naturally, commissioned for and exhibited at the Sydney Biennale 2016, is currently on view at ShanghART Singapore, is a photographic study focusing on documenting the island’s endangered and extinct species, examining in parallel the inherent consequences of man’s presence.
The exhibition at ShanghART presents a large selection of photographs and two installations from the 120-work series, looking at the island’s more unusual creatures, natural phenomena and landmarks– documenting the ecology, extinctions and conservation efforts on the island. Robert Zhao Renhui juxtaposes reality and fantasy in a series of carefully composed views of animals within their natural landscapes. To tell their story, he employs a sombre colour palette of greens, greys, velvety deep blacks and pale dusty scenes– punctuated by an occasional eye grabbing jolt of colour. Particularly striking are his photographs of the Christmas Island red land crabs during their annual migration from land to the sea, a phenomenon during which millions of bright red crustaceans overtake the island and all vehicular activity and industry comes to a halt.
The photographs are complemented in the exhibition by signature pseudo-scientific, tongue-in-cheek field notes. Christmas Island, Naturally culminates in a speculative solution from the artist to remove all invasive species from the island once and for all, whereby humans, also in this case considered a proverbial “invasive species”, will opt to leave the island in order to preserve its ecology. This imagined scenario unfolds during “Life After Humans – Rewilding Island Ecosystems,” a fictive conference program about conservation and in extracts from scientific papers presented.
The exhibition is accompanied by a limited-edition book, Christmas Island, Naturally, which imagines the result of this thought experiment fifty years into the future. The book contains the complete series of 120 images documenting the extinctions and conservation efforts on the island.
Holly Roussell Perret-Gentil
Holly Roussell Perret-Gentil is an independent curator specialised in contemporary Asian art and photography.
Robert Zhao Renhui: Christmas Island, Naturally
11 March 2017 – 8 May 2017
9 Lock Road, #02-22
Gillman Barracks
Singapore 108937
