Notes to the documentation

Background
Undressing Room was initially programmed as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2017 (M1SFF). The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the authority that regulates all performances in Singapore, denied Undressing Room a classification on the grounds that it contained ‘excessive nudity’, thereby disqualifying it from getting the required license to be performed publicly in its original form. So M1SFF subsequently decided to withdraw the work from its program.

Undressing Room was eventually performed as an only-by-invitation event. As an act of resistance, I re-invited the same audience to take part in it, at the same venue (Centre 42) on the same dates and times (12th-15th January 2017), as originally programmed by M1SFF. The content of the performance remained intact and unchanged. This documentation compiles the written accounts of and responses to Undressing Room. 

How it can be read
This documentation is divided into three separate but complimentary parts. They can be read separately or together, depending on one’s area of interest.

• The first part of the documentation focuses on the artist and participants’ personal experiences of Undressing Room.
• The second part of the documentation looks at the response to IMDA’s non-classification on Undressing Room through the perspectives of the various parties involved. 
• The third part consists of academic writings, media reports and public responses, regarding Undressing Room and IMDA’s denial of classification.

I feel it is essential to separate the documentation into different parts because Undressing Room is, first and foremost, an artwork and should be read as such, with minimal influence from IMDA’s intervention, so that it can be appreciated and critiqued by the merits of its own design. I am aware that it is almost impossible to isolate completely IMDA’s intervention in the work but I try to contain it as much as possible.

Participants in this documentation

• 16 participants who took part in the actual Undressing Room
• 2 participants who took part in the general rehearsals of Undressing Room
• The artist
• Executive Producer of M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
• Arts Entertainment Licensing Officer of Infocomm Media Development Authority

Method

• Documentation was done through email in a written interview/questionaire format.
• Consent was sought from participants before being documented and for it to be published.
• Participants have the choice to remain anonymous or reveal their identity in the documentation. 
• Unanswered questions are left blank in the documentation.