Moses Sia is the main person behind Pauseability, a group of creative souls who meet up once a month in ATC (Artist Trading Card; see below) sessions. Catherine went out to find out more about him and the whole crew behind Pauseability.

Catherine : Tell us more about your work?

Moses : These are pen and ink work on disposable plates and I am placing these on a canvas to represent a table. The initial idea is to make us ponder the concept of a replaceable culture, one of instant gratification. I have wanted it to look like porcelain plate design where these are usually kept as heirloom pieces. the disposable cutlery will juxtapose against the concept of longevity. Hopefully this will make people question the value of family time in this fast-food generation.

C: What prompts you to be part of this exhibition?

M: When I was an educator, my school was involved with Eat With Family Day campaign at its early stage. I guessed my early involvement with this campaign sparked my interest in this project. Besides, I like to have my personal thoughts on this topic as well. My take is this, family meal times are important but is it an event that is quickly wrapped up as in all other activities in this disposable culture.

(Went on…) There was an interesting incident that I observed that triggered this act piece.  During our Chinese New Year celebration this year, my brother decided to use disposable cutleries for the reunion dinner in view of sheer number of people coming for this event and he wanted to get rid of these excess disposables.  A couple of the relatives actually voiced their concern as they reckoned this to be an un-environmentally conscious. I thought their first reaction would be to complain using disposables to be inappropriate for such an important occasion (laughed).

Pauseability

C: This is an interesting name! Tell us more about this group.

M: Pauseability is actually a collective term for this group where we used to meet every once a month in a shop where I used to own- Pauseability. This was a handicraft shop where people were encouraged to create their handiworks with the raw materials available in the shop. I like to think that our motto was, and still is,  “The ability to pause”.  We do what we call, Artist Trading Card (ATC), where the members make their 2.5” x 3.5” trading cards and exchange with their fellow members.

C: How long has this group been meeting up and how big is this group now?

M: Come August this year, it would be 3! (Grinned). We have about 11-12 members during each meeting. It’s a well-mix between the regulars and newcomers, and between the genders. The youngest is the child of one of our members, the oldest is a 65-year-old gentleman. Besides trading cards, we have a member to demonstrate and teach a new art technique to the group, this takes up most of the time during the session. It keeps the session interesting and open-minded, attracting new members each time.  We hope this can stimulate our minds and constantly challenge each member.

C: Were there ever arguments or disagreement resulted from the exchange of the trading cards, such as refusing to trade with the other party or criticizing the standard of work presented?

M: Well… there isn’t any such incidents and in fact, I don’t foresee that happening. The members know how to pitch their standards of work against one another. This is also another learning process that the group members will go through. If there is a reason someone is not able to pick the trading card from another, we will encourage that person to share the story behind the work and through the sharing process, the work can resonate with the listener.

C: What’s the greatest achievement of this group?

M: The greatest achievement is not so much of the fact that we can put up our own annual exhibitions or participate in others but rather we see the members grow through their experimentation and art experience. Over the last few years, we have seen the progression of the members and their art pieces. this is the greatest pride I have of our group.