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AT THE EASEL
08.03.2011

10 Gloriously Cheesy Merlion Artworks (Part 1)

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Ng Yi-Sheng
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The Singapore Biennale opens this weekend, and already the key installation for the event – Tatzu Nishi’s Merlion Hotel, has been fully booked up!  

 
 
(We’re late on this news, actually. All the rooms were sold within 72 minutes when phone lines opened on 28 Feb. Kiasuism is well and alive in Singapore.)
 
In honour of Tatzu-san’s achievement, I’d like to educate readers on the glorious history of the Merlion in visual culture! And we’re not just talking about any old poster design, chocolate mold or poetry book cover here – we’re talking about the Top Ten Most Gloriously Cheesy Merlion Artworks in Singapore History.
 
 
1. The Merlion Statue by Lim Nang Seng (1972)
 
 
Don’t be cynical. The Merlion statue is too a work of art. It’s sculpted on location by our nation’s foremost animal sculptor of the era, known for his exhibiting a “typically Malayan” character in his art – sometimes even called a sculptor among the Nanyang artists. He also created the monkey clock at Bukit Timah Plaza and our original one-cent coins. 
 
He also has a hell of a biography – born in Sarawak, migrated to Singapore via Swatow, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Guilin and Phnom Penh (where he joined the anti-Japanese resistance); had eight children, all of whom helped him in the construction of this magnum opus: building the body from ciment fondu, the scales from porcelain plates, the eyes from small red teacups.
 
(Yeah, the story behind the actual creation is more politically complicated.  Read it up yourself.)
 
2. Mocmoc & Mermer by COM&COM (2006)
 
 
Remember the first Singapore Biennale? One key commission went to Swiss conceptual art collective COM&COM, composed of the bad-boy duo Johannes M. Hedinger and Marcus Gossolt. They’d created a fake founding myth-mascot for the little town of Romanshorn in the form of the cuddly sea serpent Mocmoc. 
 
Now, Mr Low Kee Hong said, why not have one myth-mascot meet another and become best friends?  Thus, the two artists eagerly dressed up in foam suits and created a series of silly videos of them romping through Switzerland and Singapore, exploring ancient libraries and taking drugs at gay pride parades (no, seriously). They also made appearances at every Biennale event (people loved pulling on Mermer’s phallus/tail) and had schoolkids draw crayon pictures of the two of them – possibly instigating the inaugural Kids’ Biennale of 2008.
 
(A postscript: the Singapore video was never shown here, as both artists underwent violent food poisoning during the post-production period. But the documentation’s still up at their site.)
 
3. Merlion dress by Muhammad Hafiz Tahir, 2008
 
 
You'll remember this if you were living in Singapore three years ago: how this shocker of a Miss Universe national costume design (and its successors, Zhang Xiaoqing's Vanda Miss Joaquim dress and John Lim and Alan Huang's other merlion dress) provoked a debate about our lack of a national identity.  Here, you'll see the dress in question being modelled by former flight stewardess Shenise Wong, who went on to wear the costume at the global competition in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
 
In the words of the Straits Times, “the white and silver gown has textured ‘scales’ made of PVC leather and dangling plastic crystals. And to complete the ensemble – an organza fishtail train and a matching shimmery collar piece that is supposed to spread out behind Shenise’s head like a large fin. To top up the look, several scallop shells adorn her mohawk-styled hair.”
 
Interesting to note that the fashion designer was just an 18 year-old NAFA student when the ruckus kicked up (Singapore's too cheapskate to get professionals to do these dresses), and he'd also won the bid for the Miss Universe dress in 2007, when he presented a boring combined Chinese-Malay-Indian elements dress.  He defended his design, saying it was "nostalgic" and "lovingly crafted".  He's a young creative and he took a chance on what he believed in.  Cut him some slack.
 
4. Myth of the Stone by Gwee Li Sui (1993)
 
 
I'm afraid you'll have to check into the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library to access this one.  Since the publication of his comic (arguably Singapore's first graphic novel!), Gwee's become a fairly credible academic and commentator on current events.  So he's probably gonna kill me for bringing up his juvenilia.
 
It's a bit of a stretch to call this a merlion artwork, given that the story boasts a full cast of imps, garudas, ogres, nagas, kappas, sphinxes, manticores, centaurs, dwarves, behemoths, unicorns, wyverns, gryphons, goblins and dodos in a warring wonderland called the Architrave.  It's sweet, though, that the merlions are depicted as good, kindly, brave denizens of the sea who fight against evil and can even take down a kraken if they choose.

And it is cheesy.  You see, the whole thing's a Christian allegory, even more blatant than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which at least had the grace to cast its Christ-figure in non-humanoid form.  Still, it's a thrilling black-and-white read.

(UPDATE: Gwee tells me the book was not, in fact, self-published: he actually received money for writing it!)

5. Singa Merlionus by David Chan (2006)
 
 
 
Yeah, we're moving from "cheesy" towards "freaky" now.  David Chan's one of Singapore's more successful commercial artists, perhaps because he's unafraid to actually show the world he knows how to do figurative painting and (more recently) sculpture.  He riffs off our success as a biotech hub to create hybrid animal images that border the line between kawaii and grotesque – in a word, uncanny.
 
Singa Merlionus was created as an installation for the reopening of the National Museum: it postulates that scientists may be able to crossbreed a lion, a shark, a pangolin and a sealion to create this monstrosity, to be found lolling on the sands of Sentosa as well as in the homes of the rich and conspicuously consumerist.  Sculptures were made featuring the entire life cycle of this creature, from egg to fry to adult.  Ugh.
 
**
 
This isn't a comprehensive list of merlion images… yet.  More cheese awaits you in our second installment!  (Feel free to drop suggestions in the comments section.)

COMMENTS

Elaine Lim 19.10.2011 Hi Rosemarie, part 2 can be found here!
Rosemarie Somaiah 19.10.2011 Hi Yi Sheng, Thanks for this. Is Part 2 available anywhere? Am very interested in all contemporary depictions.
Ng Yi-Sheng 15.03.2011 Merly's coming. :)
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Elizabeth 12.03.2011 Thanks for the list of merlion images. I look forward to the rest of the list. I do not think these artworks are "cheesy" because basically the original merlion is already a fictional character. It's actually interesting to see how the merlion has been depicted by various artists. A foreign friend was telling me that foreigners tend to associate the merlion with Singapore as somewhat representative of this country, but Singaporeans themselves do not seem that proud to identify with this cultural icon. I somewhat agree maybe because the merlion is a mythical creature and does stand for any kind of value (not that I know of personally). Compare with the American bald eagle which can be seen as representing strength and freedom. Anyway, here's another way the merlion has been captured in art, a recent exhibition called Diverse Harmony. http://www.flickr.com/photos/inju/4883819958/in/photostream/ Rgs, Elizabeth
Wai Xiao Wen 10.03.2011 This is hilarious! Thanks for crediting Fash-Eccentric :D What about Merly, one of the YOG mascots?
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