Potential

25 x 16 x 7 cm

Paraffin Wax, Acrylic Paint, Textured Paint, Cotton String

In Singapore, a meritocratic education system is used to engender development. Thus, it is believed that every child has the potential to succeed by hard work. This is presented through the repurposed motif of the candle. However, with increasing inequality in society today, these efforts tend to be futile, leaving students burnt out instead. Hence, despite the work’s outward appearance of a candle, the burnt wick and hollowed out center reflects the tragic inability to ever fulfil this potential. Therefore, the work questions if meritocracy is the means to or inhibitor of development.