THE WORLD IS FLAT
ARTIST STATEMENT

Stamps are symbols of a fading era. Almost everyone my age and above used to collect stamps when they were children, so there's a collective memory shared between us through stamps. Stamps used to evoke our curiosity and wonder about other countries. Locked within these cancelled stamps are mysterious correspondents from all over the world.

But the images and information on stamps are all state-sanctioned. Before the internet, a lot of information we get were "official" information and because of the internet people don't send much letters anymore, consequently, stamps are not widely used anymore. Stamps represents to me an end of the era of "official" world-view.

1.
The artworks in this exhibition are collages made entirely of used postage and revenue stamps as well as research materials from internet sources like Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that allows anyone to contribute to its contents. I’m exploring the rapidly blurred meaning of what is history, personal memory, propaganda and the dying values associated with stamps.

2.
I'm also interested in the labourous process in making these stamps collages. They test my physical and mental endurance. Collecting thousands of stamps, removing them from envelopes, sorting them out, cutting them out fragments by fragments, and gluing them to make new images. It's a very slow process. The process is a personal defiance against the high speed and wasteful industrialised society we live in.

CHANG YOONG CHIA
6 July 2011