It's not every day that an artist gets to take a sword and kill a live pig in the name of art. But, as British-born, Hong Kong-based artist Simon Birch points out, having carte blanche to fill a 50-metre-long exhibition space any way you like also isn't an everyday happening. So when the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore gave him the opportunity to do just that - and to push well beyond his comfort zone - he seized the offer. The fact that some of the content of the installation led to an outcry was, he says, unintentional. 'I've seen people do a lot of disgusting things in the name of art, and I'm not interested in controversy,' he says emphatically. Birch's imposing installation is entitled Azhanti High Lightning - the name of a spaceship in a popular sci-fi war game - and it is, without doubt, quirky and audacious. Despite - or perhaps because of - the controversy, it's likely to become another milestone in the Lion City's quest to position itself as a culturally sophisticated arts hub. Birch - who built his reputation doing portrait paintings - says Azhanti High Lightning is his first attempt at 'a proper museum-type non-commercial installation' - and already feels his efforts have been vindicated by the high traffic of visitors it has attracted. Bridget Tracy Tan, Nanyang's director of art and corporate knowledge, says Azhanti High Lightning is 'a multimedia installation that assimilates art objects from paintings and sculpture to photography, film and video, and in so doing reinforces the compound nature of our aesthetic sensibility.' Using a series of darkened rooms, the set-up ignites the senses through its creative use of visual and audio installations including sculpture, live performance, a 360-degree film theatre and paintings. Hong Kong-based photographer Wing Shya has made a significant contribution. Birch says his basic inspiration was the famous speech by Jacques in Shakespeare's As You Like It, which refers to the seven ages of man: birth, childhood, the lover, the soldier, the mature adult, the wise man and the decrepit old man facing death. In a cleverly orchestrated move, Birch mirrors the evolution of art with that of Jacques' typical man - but in this case he shows art evolving through sculpture and painting to photography and film. 'I love to paint, it's my passion,' he says. 'But I'm also a huge fan of installation and film. I love the theatre, and the spectacle of it. So for me the opportunity to do this is like putting a kid in a candy store.' The project, which Birch originally hoped might represent Hong Kong in this year's Venice Biennale, was not without challenges. For a start, there's been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the installation because of the killing of a pig on film. In terms of the symbolism, Birch says: 'Death is inevitable while murder is illegal, but as a race we still go to war.' He then goes on to explain that the killing 'resonated personally', because he'd spent 10 years learning a branch of Japanese martial arts. 'I'd theoretically take someone's life in that training,' he says. 'However, killing the pig wasn't exciting at all. It was a detached experience and as an executioner I realised you just have to do it. I wouldn't want to do it again; actually I couldn't do it again.' According to the artist, people in Singapore were 'freaking out' over the film, and the SPCA wrote to the newspapers about it. But he adds: 'I never thought I'd overstepped any boundary.' Another challenge was to create a five-metre-tall sculpture of a head which appears submerged with only the nose visible. He based it on a character from a Marvel comic called Galactus, who was born with the creation of the universe. No one in Singapore was able to make the mask, so it had to be made on the mainland; shipping it was also a problem - not to mention it being too large to fit through the gallery door. The solution was to cut it into pieces. When it arrived in Singapore - on the day the installation was to open - a team of 20 had to rebuild it. For Birch, the most thrilling part of the exhibition has been the scale of the project. 'It really is like being on a spaceship,' he says. 'It feels alien, as the space reverberates with sound, and it's very eerie.' Such is his dedication to the project, Birch contributed about half of the HK$1 million cost of the installation, and even had to cut corners to keep to that figure. Fortunately, he's now had offers to stage Azhanti elsewhere and, further funds permitting, he intends to make the installation more streamlined and less literal. 'I only see the mistakes,' he says with a laugh, 'though others probably wouldn't. It's been very intense, but it was a case of do or don't. Life's a challenge and a risk, isn't it? And I really did want to have a big adventure.' The show's run has been extended to this Thursday and is set to open in Beijing in six months. The exhibition is supported by 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, which represents Birch, and is part of this year's Singapore Arts Festival. Azhanti High Lightning, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, NAFA Campus 1, Level 1, Galleries 1 & 2, 80 Bencoolen St, Singapore, Mon-Sat, 11am-9pm, tel: (65) 6512 4043. Ends Thursday
