The biennale's a blast Wild art in historic places makes for ajarring experience in Singapore

Under the artistic direction of Fumio Nanjo, the second Singapore Biennale is filling visitors with "wonder" - just as this year's theme promises.

The Biennale makes great use of the historic City Hall and South Beach Development, a onetime army base. I found the contrast created between such solemn locales and the modern, off-the-wall installation art more intriguing than anything seen in malls or convention centres.

With around 200 works on display in various places, I recommend beginning at City Hall, temporary home to most of the pieces - and many bizarre ones, featuring, for example, chewing gum and gourds.

Zadok Ben-David's "Blackfield" is a full-room botanical garden consisting of thousands of plants ornately hand-cut from paper.

On the same floor, Ki-Bong Rhee's "Bachelor: The Dual Body" has Wittgenstein's book floating in a small aquarium.

Thai art is well represented. In "Singapore 2008", Wit Pimkanchanapong invites spectators to pinpoint places on a map of the city that are meaningful for them, using a Post-it note that explains why.

And Apichatpong Weerasethakul presents his touching short film "Morakot" ("Emerald"), which was shot in a run-down hotel.

A 10-minute walk down the road is South Beach, where lots of super-size interactive artworks are on view.

In one memorable architectural experiment, Felice Varini's "Drill Hall" occupies the entire high-ceiling concourse, skewing the way we look at art.

The stunning, airy "Noontide" series by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya is made of artificial fog. Walk through the "sculpture" sprawling across the Esplanade Bridge and you might sense your very existence fading into the mist.

The writer thanks the National Arts Council's Sharon Cheong for her assistance.

XTRA

Weeks of wonder

The Singapore Biennale continues until November 16, daily except Mondays from

11 to 8. Tickets are Bt240, with 50 per cent off for seniors and students. See www.SingaporeBiennale.org and download audio tours of selected artworks.