More than 5 Minutes with MOJOKO
Born in Iran, raised in Hong kong and educated in Europe. Mojoko (aka Steve Lawler) attended the prestigious FABRICA art residency in Treviso, Northern Italy in 2001. Launching his interactive design career at Diesel HQ, he quickly climbed through the creative industry as an artist, designer, art director and Creative Director.Creator of the Kult Magazine, Gallery & Studio. His work has expanded into curation, installation, interactive design and fine art. Having worked some of the most exciting artists, designers and animators around the world, he now operates within a network of over 600 artists under the label Kult. His artistic work is an exploration of Trash Pop culture colliding with the Old & historical, mixing media such as computer programming, digital sculpture, painting and printmaking. His works have regularly been showcased around the world at International Institutions and independent galleries.
For Mojoko’s immersive exhibit, SPRMRKT was transmogrified into a vessel of blue & white — taking us where palm oil plantations abound and curious customs are set beside the onslaught of modern culture. We talk shop with the man who conceptualised Mystery Island and a little more…
1) You share the same name as a British house music DJ — how has that been?
We know each other for many years as I own www.stevelawler.com. It was an old flash website and if you go there, it uses a pack of Marlboro Lights as an interface. And when you rollover, it becomes an Asthma Puffer. He is asthmatic and smoked Marlboro lights, so he thought I was some freaky stalker. But no, it’s just a small world.
2) To be inspired by B-movies and trash TV, you had to start somewhere. Which show was it that got you hooked and when did it begin?
Alternative culture has always appealed to me, it was not one specific film, but the whole aesthetic of trash cinema. The stuff my mum wouldn’t let me rent out from the VHS store. They had an air of mystery about them and such incredible graphics that were hard to shake out of your head.
3) At Mystery Island, why is everything blue and white?
Its inspired by the Asian Antiquities – a series of Fake Antiques. Good quality, precious pieces hand-printed onto ceramic and framed in 18th Century frames I have picked up along my travels.
4) Is Singapore Mystery Island?
Partly. It is an amalgamation of Traditional South East Asia and current affairs.
5) Could you draw out your plight if you were a character on Mystery Island?
Not really but it would involve Palm Oil and Slash and Burn.
6) You mentioned wishing more artists would do art for a social cause and you’ve led the way with an installation for the Yellow Ribbon Project. How did this opportunity arise and what advice would you give artists planning on doing the same?
Funny I don’t remember saying this. But Yellow Ribbon was a very bizarre project, I would do it again any day. Really enjoyed the experience. It was arranged by Singapore Art Museum as a kind of Mentor programme where I worked with inmates of Prison to create an installation for the front lawn of SAM. working with the police and the prisoners at the same time was very eye-opening.
7) You’ve been in Singapore for 13 years now and since we enjoy our food — where are your go-to places when you eat out?
Wah Lok for Dimsum, P.S. Café at Palais Renaissance for Ang Moh food then for hawker fair I often eat around Balestier / Thompson / Lavender.
8) Tell us about your favourite heritage snack.
I like Ice Kachang and white rabbit sweets. Not really sure if they count as heritage snacks. I love Satays.
9) Coming back to your work, you’ve had exhibitions in the most unconventional places such as private houses, neighbourhoods like Chinatown and now at SPRMRKT; collaborations with retailers, artists and private commissions — which do you really enjoy doing the most and would like to pursue in the years ahead?
I like large-scale installations, being granted a large space would be ideal right now. I think people enjoy a new venue as much as they do the art. The excitement of discovering a new place heightens the overall experience. I have always been a fan of unconventional spaces, and will pursue this and experiment with different ways of showcasing art.
10) Any exhibitions or collaborations you’ve recently been to that made you stop and go “WOW”?
teamLAB is always on the cusp of technology and Art, they are opening a new show at Art Science this weekend. I will sure to visit that.
(The landmark permanent exhibition titled Future World features 15 interactive digital art installations by Tokyo-based art collective, teamLAB, and will be open to the public at the ArtScience Museum. Credits: The Straits Times)
11) What are you working on next?
I’m preparing a nsolo show in Taipei and I’m curating a group show in Big Tokyo in the summer at Diesel Art Gallery. Singapore can expect to see a large format Colour Print show at some point this year.
