Wondering with Jackson Tan
New Art Museum Singapore presents Wonders of Nature — its first immersive art experience for children and families. Featuring playful installations, digital art, and interactive spaces, the exhibition highlights the beauty of biodiversity through creativity. In this interview, multidisciplinary artist Jackson Tan shares the story behind his joyful installation Canyon of Cuddles and how his ART-ZOO universe continues to inspire wonder in all ages.
Jackson Tan in the Canyon of Cuddles
Can you walk us through the process of starting ART-ZOO, and the concept of Canyon of Cuddles?
The idea for ART-ZOO was already brewing in my mind for many years. It was in my drawer of ideas, waiting for an opportunity to make it happen. The chance came when I was invited to create an art installation at the Marina Bay floating platform for the iLight Marina Bay festival in 2017. The concept was to create an art-themed park filled with giant inflatable art sculptures and playgrounds that the audience could not only look at but actually interact and play on. It took us almost a year from the initial concept development to character design, design and production of the inflatable art playgrounds and sculptures till the launch. The hardest challenge was creating something that had never been done before, with a medium that we had limited experience on. We designed all the inflatable art sculptures and playgrounds from scratch. We scaled them differently from the usual inflatable installation in the market. We also had to learn and overcome the physical challenges of the inflatable, such as managing the safety and weather factors.
When we launched the ART-ZOO Inflatable Park back in 2017 at Marina Bay, 70,000 people visited during the 22-day event. We were overwhelmed by the audience response and media coverage it received. We started to receive invitations to tour and present it in other cities. To date, we have presented the ART-ZOO events to almost a million people.
ART-ZOO is an imaginative world on the other side of the rainbow filled with colourful creatures and landscapes. It is inspired by my childhood memories of visiting the animals and winning a prize in an art competition at the Singapore Zoo; playing at the animal-themed neighbourhood playground with my cousins at my maternal grandparents’ HDB estate at Dakota Crescent; and watching Sesame Street on television. Picasso famously said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”. ART-ZOO is also the connection to the five year old boy who still lives inside my fifty-year old self.
The concept of Canyon of Cuddles is to create a “canyon" inside the gallery populated by a series of inflatable art sculptures and playground of cheerful and cuddly cactuses that the people can encounter and interact with. You can play, rest and chat or even cuddle with your loved ones in the canyon. It is inspired by my visits to the Cactus Valley at Gardens by the Bay that houses the largest cacti and collections in Southeast Asia. I love the cactuses there that can survive and thrive in areas that have little access to water. I am amused by the shapes of the prickly plants. Each one has its own unique beauty and story to tell. The main sculpture within the canyon is a big ball fountain with a loving mother and child cactus cuddling in the middle. It is also a personal tribute to my late mum, who passed away a few years ago.
Do you think your fine art background helped you build a unique identity as a multifaceted creator and founder?
Yes, I studied both fine art and design in school and practice. It has greatly influenced and shaped my identity as a creator. ART-ZOO combines my aesthetic sensibilities, curiosity for wonders and attention to craft and storytelling as an artist together with the user-centric and problem solving approach and process as a designer. The installations are created to look sculptural and inspired by the bright, bold colours and forms from pop-art influences. But at the same time, the characters are designed to be simpler and minimalistic in colour palette and form, like a designed “logo” that can communicate a universal message to a diverse audience. So that a five year old child can remember and draw it in a few seconds with a small box of colour crayons. The simpler colour palette and forms also enables it to be scaled, designed and produced in infinite permutations.
What do you hope people experience through your work in this exhibition and in future with ART-ZOO?
ART-ZOO is a personal dream project for me to create my own imaginary world filled with endearing characters and amazing stories expressed through various art forms and mediums. From art-theme parks to storybooks and design products. I hope that it can inspire curiosity, creativity and empathy through art and play. And to create magical moments that can connect everyone back to their five year old selves. Inspired by creators such as George Lucas, Dick Bruna, Yayoi Kusama, Jim Henson, and Walt Disney. I hope to build ART-ZOO into a global creative brand that is timeless, endearing and can bring joy to many.
Through Canyon of Cuddles, Jackson Tan invites visitors to reconnect with nature — and their inner child — through play, colour, and storytelling. Wonders of Nature is more than an exhibition; it’s an imaginative adventure for all ages. Come explore, play and be inspired.