“All The Lines Flow Out” presents a haunting cinematic exploration of Singapore’s drainage system, or longkang – the Malay term for ‘drain’ – an intricate network of waterways designed to expunge unsightly seawater from view and keep the streets pristine. Following the journey of a man walking along the city’s canals, the video captures the flow of water in open channels under different weather conditions and at different times of day. The final scene closes with the man in a life jacket, drifting in a violent sea of waves.

Charles Lim Yi Yong (b. 1973, Singapore) studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London, graduating in 2001. Lim’s artistic practice stems from an intimate engagement with both man-made systems and the natural world, mediated and informed by field research and experimentation, drawing, photography and digital video. His epic SEA STATE project, which begun in 2005, examines the political and biophysical contours of the nation state through the visible and invisible lenses of the sea.

Charles’s work has been exhibited widely across Europe and the Asia-Pacific, at documenta 11 (with the collective tsunamii.net) and Manifesta 7, at biennales in Shanghai, Singapore and Osaka, at the Biennale of Sydney, Australia, the EVA International in Ireland, the Aichi Triennale in Japan, Busan Biennale and most recently at the Asia Pacific Triennial in 2024/2025.

Charles represented Singapore at the 56th Venice Biennale. His short films have also travelled extensively in the film festival circuit, notably “All The Lines Flow Out “ which won a Special Mention at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, making it the first Singapore film to win an award at the prestigious festival.

(Photograph by Toni Cuhadi. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore)