Priyageetha Dia
Spectre System
Priyageetha Dia
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Spectre System, 2024
Single-channel video, (colour and sound)
15:00 min
Edition of 3+1 AP
Commissioned by Han Nefkens Foundation, Barcelona
Mesh: Prelude to Spectre System, 2024
Vinyl print
300cm x 1800 cm
Situated in a gaming environment, Spectre System delves into the historical erasure of plantation labour in Southeast Asia by reconstructing marginalised histories through imaginative narratives. The work acknowledges the lingering traces of colonial and capitalist exploitation on the Malay Peninsula, where Malaya, once a prized possession of the British Empire, thrived on the coerced labour of indentured workers from South India.
As the computer-generated protagonist navigates the haunting plantation landscape, the sound of heavy breathing underscores the weight of memory and racialized dispossession. Ethereal orbs, like spectral spirits, hover in the air, evoking the unseen.
Mesh: Prelude to Spectre System, a vinyl print depicting elongated, contorted arms and hands, mirrors the qualities of rubber in its fluidity and stretch, symbolising both the malleability and the tension inherent in the histories it represents. These hands, enveloping the viewer, blur the boundaries between body and space, serving as a reminder that our surroundings are imbued with histories and carry the unseen imprint of labour.
Priyageetha Dia
—
Spectre System, 2024
Single-channel video, (colour and sound)
15:00 min
Edition of 3+1 AP
Commissioned by Han Nefkens Foundation, Barcelona
Mesh: Prelude to Spectre System, 2024
Vinyl print
300cm x 1800 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Born 1992, Singapore
Works in Singapore