Pegs

Sculpture, Mixed Media
2022
Hawker! Hawker! at Lau Pa Sat for Singapore Art Week 2022

Objects are often designed with specific functions, yet over time their uses can expand in unexpected ways. In many of Singapore’s hawker centres and food courts, everyday items are repurposed as tools of communication, forming an informal language understood by both patrons and workers. Drawing from the clothes peg, the work reflects on its adaptation as a utensil for organising orders, a small improvisation that has evolved into a widely adopted practice among hawkers. What began as a practical solution has become a quiet cultural habit embedded within the rhythms of daily labour.

Echoing this resourcefulness, the installation is constructed from materials commonly found in the artist’s home—cardboard boxes, styrofoam, and reclaimed wooden planks from past projects. Through this re-functioning of objects, the work draws attention to overlooked forms of ingenuity, inviting a closer appreciation of these modest yet meaningful innovations within everyday life.