Blades as grass

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2025

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Site-specific installation with lightbox film, artificial grass, 3D-printed transparent grass, micro-controlled LED array, microscopic videos and soundscape comprising field recordings

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​Blades as grass references the British Army's use of grass and other flora as means to camouflage Fort Canning's Battlebox from aerial raids by enemy forces during World War II. Throughout history, humans have sought refuge in nature, but also strategically employed it for military defence and incursions.

In a similar vein, the work explores parallels and contradictions in the ways humans and flora apply military and plant intelligence to defend themselves from perceived threats.

Using digital microscopes, audio recorders and sensors that include light dependent resistors, sound and wind sensors, the artist investigates the green lawn directly above the bunker, examining the magnified webs and structures captured from foliage and carpet grass. The data is visually interpreted into an installation with lightboxes, videos and structures with kinetic elements. By bringing fragments from the lawn into the bunker, Blades as grass also demonstrates how humans and plants adapt to, encroach upon or (re)claim space; embedding themselves in natural or human-made environments.

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Shown as part of Portals at Battlebox, Singapore from 28 Mar to 29 Jun 2025.

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Photographer: Finbarr Fallon