In March, a LASALLE College of the Arts student, Priyageetha Dia, gilded a grey cement staircase on the 20th floor of her HDB block. The golden staircase divided the internet (of course). Some saw an inconsiderate act of vandalism, others, an insightful and resonant artwork. The Town Council declared the work not permissable, but were interested in engaging with Dia for future projects. In response to the furore, Dia published a Facebook post explaining her work, some days after which she removed all of the artwork save for one square of gold foil. In a similar vein, School Of The Arts student Calleen Koh’s guerilla tribute to her former teachers, an installation of folded paper planes scrawled with their names, was removed by the school for “not complying with guidelines.”
