Artist Priyageetha Dia hung golden sheets outside the corridor of every floor of her Housing Board block at Jalan Rajah in Balestier.

Artist Priyageetha Dia hung golden sheets outside the corridor of every floor of her Housing Board block at Jalan Rajah in Balestier.

A year ago, she covered the staircase on the 20th storey of her Housing Board block at Jalan Rajah in Balestier with gold foil.

On Sunday, Miss Priyageetha Dia was back at it again.

The artist hung gold coloured sheets on the outer walls of the same HDB block using flag hooks on the corridor ledge.

The hooks are normally used for hanging the Singapore flag during National Day.

Following complaints by residents, the sheets were taken down late yesterday afternoon.

Dr Lily Neo, the MP for Jalan Besar GRC, told The New Paper yesterday: "We received complaints by residents today that the sheets looked like incense papers and were annoying.

"Even though Jalan Besar Town Council values her artwork, we took down the sheets immediately to ensure fair treatment of residents."

She added that Miss Priyageetha did not seek the town council's permission prior to hanging the sheets .

Miss Priyageetha's golden staircase installation, done when she was a final-year Lasalle fine arts student, had sparked debate on whether it was art or vandalism. She removed it after the town council deemed it "unauthorised" and "not permissible".

TNP was alerted to her latest installation by a reader who called our hotline yesterday.

ORIGINAL

On why she did not first seek permission, Miss Priyageetha told TNP: "I wanted to execute the project without modifying it to the town council's guidelines. I wanted it to be raw and original."

She took five hours to cut and hang the sheets from the corridors of every floor - from the second storey to the top on the 25-storey block.

Made of Mylar, a type of polyester film,each sheet is cut to resemble a flag or a blanket, said Miss Priyageetha.

The installation is her first independent art project since she graduated last September.

Miss Priyageetha said: "The project aims to create an intervention with the HDB space.

"The hooks along the corridor are only for the national flag, I wanted to provoke its functionality by hanging another material."

Most of the residents TNP spoke to were not appreciative of her latest installation.

One second-storey resident who wanted to be known only as Mr Mohamed, 43, said: "The sheets look very messy and are very noisy when they are blown about by the wind."

Miss Priyageetha told TNP last night she expected her installation to be removed.

She said: "This HDB space got the attention I was striving for, even if its for a brief period."

She is planning another project for later this year.