From the architectural superstructure to the economic infrastructures at its base, Singapore can be considered the “Capital of the twenty-first century.” But what is the place of people in this phantasmagorical world? The photographs of Ng Shi Wen, a 35-year-old artist born in Singapore, show us here that other faces are to be found behind the steel and glass. 

This book presents images by Ng Shi Wen in dialogue with other artworks that have also looked beyond the phantasmagoria of the (post-) modern world. Step by step, a map of the sky created with constellations of correspondences at different aesthetic and political levels appears. The result is to chart visually and intellectually the efforts by artists like our photographer to uncover the real behind the artifice, and to cherish the human that persists despite all odds. In the light of this art history landscape, we can situate Ng Shi Wen’s work in its broader context, and at the same time we can measure the fundamental role engagement plays in the creation of art across time and space, or even in a present future.