Tropical Lab 19 :
Service
Hosted by the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore at LASALLE
July 17 - September 1, 2025
Tropical Lab is an annual international art camp organised by LASALLE College of the Arts for master’s degree and PhD candidates. Led by Senior Fellow Milenko Prvački over two weeks, students from international arts schools and institutions undertake workshops and seminars in Singapore exploring various aspects of history, geography, culture and aesthetics.
About the theme: Service
Service is an intricate concept that intertwines the values of helping others and being there in meaningful ways. At its core, service is an act that transcends mere economic exchange, embodying a deeper, more humanitarian essence. It reflects the fundamental human desire to connect, support, and provide value to others and this is embodied through a degree of selflessness, sacrifice and care. However, the nature of service is multifaceted, oscillating between its faithful humanitarian ideal (affect) and its instrumentalised role in systems of governance (effect).
Participating institutions
Aalto University, Academy of fine arts and design Ljubljana, Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Bandung Institute of Art, Budapest Metropolitan University, California Institute of the Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Columbia University, Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Goldsmiths, University of London, LASALLE College of the Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Musashino Art University, Nagoya University of Arts and Sciences, National Art School, RMIT University, University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca, University of California Davis, University of Plymouth, University of Washington, Zürich University of the Arts.
Curator
Tamares Goh
A 3D Tour of the exhibition can be accessed here
Above: Exhibition Shots
Below: Towel Studies
This project began with walking—through hawker centers, wet markets, and quiet backstreets in Singapore. I kept noticing older people still working: sweeping, serving, lifting, waiting. It made me wonder—why do we keep going? Out of duty? Dignity? Survival?
In Wish You a Good Morning, I dip these towels in cement, freezing them mid-use—creases, twists, and all. The softness remains inside, but what we see now is hardness, the shell of something overworked. For me, it speaks to burnout: how people—especially aging, working-class bodies—keep going even as they stiffen, crack, or collapse. They smile, they say "Good morning," and they keep serving. But at what cost?
Alongside the sculpture are infrared photographs of Kampong Lorong Buangkok, Singapore’s last remaining kampong (village). The camera sees what the eye cannot—turning living greenery into unfamiliar scene, rendering the place strangely still. I didn’t see people in the frame, but I heard them behind doors. There’s something quiet, almost haunted, about it. A place once full of life now feels suspended in time. Just like the towels: traces of activity without the person.
These two works hold each other in tension. One is heavy, grounded, hardened. The other is quiet, empty, spectral. Both speak of presence and absence. Of labor offered, but not always seen.
What does it mean to serve until our bodies give out?
And when we disappear, what traces remain?
Wish You a Good Morning (a series)
Cement, towel
Hanging Cloth 1, 35cmH x 32cmW x 7cmD
Hanging Cloth 2, 30cmH x 26cmW x 6cmD
Bucket Cloth, 28cmH x 30cmW x 29cmD
Auntie (plate cover towel), 10cmH x 31cmW x 62cmD
Table Cloth Cleaner 1, 5cmH x 15cmW x18cmD
Table Cloth Cleaner 2, 4cmH x 18cmW x 25cm D
Uncle (neck hanging towel), 28mH x 37cmW x 21cmD
Quiet Places (a series)
Digital Photographs, 42 x 29.7 cm each
 Diploma ceremony |  Diploma ceremony |  Presentation |  Pulau Ubin |
|---|---|---|---|
 Milenko's studio visit |