SINGAPORE — In a city where land is a zero sum game, spatial loss is akin to memory loss.

But a promising sign amid the march towards gentrification and pleas to preserve neighbourhoods such as Dakota Crescent are groundswell movements seeking to document what would soon be gone. Take, for example, An Eminent Takeover, an art event that quite literally invaded Eminent Plaza, a place better known for its KTVs and massage parlours. When the developers gave the green light, organisers Tact Space and RSC turned it into a playground for artists, musicians, photographers and students from art schools to “react with the space”.

Last month, the corridors and KTV lounges of Eminent Plaza became de facto galleries and concert venues, where street artists spray painted colourful, arresting murals and bands such as The Observatory and The Obedient Wives Club held court. Special works by designers and artists also sprang up or took on new meaning during this rare opportunity — whether it’s indie design collective Kult’s poster titled Jalan Bizarre or artist Liana Yang’s Turn Back The Clock LED installation.

Mind you, these works weren’t just visual. The Diarists’ Jeremy Lee even held a recording session here with Hanging Up The Moon’s Sean Lam and Hell Low, to capture a “musical archive of the space”.

Such an enthusiastic response and the creative output over the past month have been extremely gratifying for the team behind An Eminent Takeover. “The response from these artists was awesome — we kept getting people saying they want to do more stuff. At last count, we had over 80 to 100 art works. I keep losing count!” said Elisa Lam of Tact Space, adding that the public’s response has also been good. “The publicity for An Eminent Takeover has been mostly through word of mouth and we also get people randomly walking in, uncles living across the street coming by to ask what’s happening, people seeing the art works from buses.”

What underscored all the works here was a certain “urban anxiety to lay their claim”, explained the event’s co-curator Naomi Wang.

“It’s not just a claim to the place, it’s also a claim to a moment,” she elaborated. “We all know that this building is going away and the works are putting a pause to what’s ultimately inevitable.”

Wang saw this as the closest Singapore has come to having a street gallery — without the additional barrier of seeing works in a museum or having a target audience. “That makes it more relatable; we’re bringing art back to where it’s inspired from.”

While some might think a project of this scale would be somewhat difficult to coordinate, co-curator Razi Razak said it was actually smooth going. “There was a kampung spirit to this. It was truly a collaboration where everyone came together without any bureaucracy, politics — everyone was happy and excited to be part of it.”

And it’s evident that the participants had fun. More than just an outlet for their creative energies, for some — like Singaporean street artist Antz — working on Eminent Plaza has led to interesting discussions with the public. “People see me spray painting and they want to interact. They sit around with their packets of food and ask about the difference between street art and vandalism, we talk about old buildings in Singapore, it’s been very nice,” he said.

Don’t rue the end of Eminent Plaza and the destruction of these works. There may be something else up the sleeves of the organisers, who coyly hinted at a Part Two for Eminent Plaza. Besides the works exhibited, other productions such as documentaries and music videos were done during the event. The trio will be busy archiving the material as they regroup and decide what to do next.

In the meantime, the building still stands. And it’s open for anyone to walk through — before it’s too late.