Expanding the Limits in Secrecy

There is much more to art once integrated with today’s societal topics. We uncover more on Renee Ting and how she spreads her love for art to both artists and audiences.

Story by Siti Hajar

Images courtesy of Renee Ting

A stall at Cut Copy Paste, a zine fair organised in January 2023.

Cut Copy Paste is a three-day zine fair that was organized in January 2023. Showcasing designs made by artists, the event attracted many Generation Zs in Singapore. Not only that, the fair included other exciting lineup of activities such as workshops and film screenings. Many visitors and influencers have shared their purchases on the social media platform, TikTok, which has amounted to more than 26 thousand views.

Renee Ting, 31, director and founder of Singapore Art Book Fair and online bookstore, Thing Books aims to spread love, appreciation as well as understanding towards art books along with artists.

Cut Copy Paste is a smaller replica of the original event and was collaborated with Temasek Polytechnic to showcase the designs created by students. These ambitious projects allow individuals to lose themselves in the swathe of artistic creations while discovering something new.

Beginning almost a decade ago with the Singapore Art Book Fair, Renee eventually left her job in 2017 to focus on running the event independently. After realising the overwhelming participation from artists and creators, Renee then started Thing Books in 2021 to provide a platform to celebrate their work. The bookstore was able to establish a title for herself as an independent and self-funded organisation, gaining reputation both online as well as offline.

A customer viewing designs at the Cut Copy Paste fair.

Both the event and book store showcase a variety of artist books such as periodicals, zines, monographs as well as catalogues. Renee does her research in terms of finding artists who produce books that reflect their art practices. Personally, she has also created her own pieces to share to our fellow Singaporeans.

“It is more than just pictures and texts on print. You are actually experiencing their work,”  Renee emphasises.

Through her projects, Renee also challenges Singapore’s reputation as a conservative society. The artistic mediums seen at the fair and in store discuss topics such as culture, activism, politics, as well as queer culture, creating a safe space for Generation Zs to explore and learn freely.

“If  they happen to buy it and don’t understand it now, who’s to say it won’t affect them in the future?” Renee elaborates.

Renee perceives the event and book store as an open space that values the disuse of censorship. Despite the concern of someday being obstructed by IMDA regulations, she still believes it is still necessary to bring such awareness, especially in print where such topics are rarely emphasised on. As an art space, she wants to provide opportunities to learn more about our society and beliefs.

Renee has seen the importance in art to create an outlet for voices to be heard. With more Generation Zs being involved, artistic mediums are able to express opinions during desperate times in order to strengthen communities.

For example, Generation Zs has opened up on topics such as mental health, making it a priority in today’s standards. By providing a more relatable outlet to her consumers on such topics, it serves as an entry point to shape their identities.

“We’ve been so quiet and accepting for so many years. But if we think about it; is it even the right way?” Renee said.

Crowds perusing books at the Singapore Art Book Fair 2023.

Overall, she aims to create a safe and international community where both consumers and artists are able to represent themselves. Renee reveals that with more individuals from overseas attending the art fair, new relationships blossom into new beginnings.

“As we are in the same niche medium, we are all able to relate to each other as we face the same struggles.”

Moving forward, Renee hopes for a physical store for Thing Books to welcome more people into the art space as well as hold small events. With more individuals starting to cherish art, Singapore Art Book Fair and Things Books are bound to grow. Singapore Art Book Fair along with other Southeast Asian book fairs will be showcased in Seoul, Korea where they will be hosting talks in August 2023. Be sure to mark your calendars for Singapore Art Book Fair 2024!