SINGAPORE — Icebergs and dead skin triumphed at this year’s President’s Young Talents (PYT) exhibition as multimedia artist Ong Kian Peng and performance artist Ezzam Rahman were announced joint grand prize winners tonight (Oct 21).

The former’s installation comprised a video of melting icebergs, a vibrating floor approximating the sound of cracking ice and mechanical seesaw contraptions. Meanwhile, the latter presented two works, one comprising flower objects made of his dead skin and another comprising mounds of talcum powder, which he used in ‘live’ performances.

The works are currently still up at the Singapore Art Museum’s SAM@8Q space, together with those of other participating artists in this year’s PYT edition: Ang Song Ming, Bani Haykal and Loo Zihan, who was also conferred the Young Artist Award last week. The exhibition will be up until March 27, 2016.

The grand prize was given to the joint winners by President Tony Tan Keng Yam. Ong and Ezzam will share the S$20,000 prize, which will be used to create a new work or attend an artist residency. Ezzam also bagged the People’s Choice Award, which comes with a cash prize of S$5,000, after garnering 32 per cent of the 2,666 votes cast on-site by members of the public.

“I thought I would’ve blacked out,” said Ezzam upon the announcement of his double win, adding: “I think I managed to seduce the audience (with my works).”

As a performance artist, he added that the win was “an acknowledgement of me using my body as a medium. Performance is just another medium.”

Forming an interesting counterpoint to Ezzam’s art practice was Ong’s use of technology. For the latter, the win was “a door for me to be able to focus on visual art and contemporary art”.

“I had wanted to do more (previously) but as a media artist, there are limited avenues,” he said.

The winners were chosen by a committee comprising artists and curators who had also served as mentors for all the PYT artists: Ian Woo, Noor Effendy Ibrahim, Twardzik Ching Chor Leng, Vincent Leow and SAM curator Louis Ho.

Said museum director Dr Susie Lingham: “We are impressed with the quality of works produced by all the finalists. In selecting joint winners for this year’s prize, we are encouraged to embrace the plurality of voices that make up the world of contemporary art, and acknowledge the diversity of visions which enable artistic processes to continue to dynamically evolve.”

The biennial PYT, which recognises promising young artists below the age of 35, was initiated by SAM in 2001. In 2013, film-makers Boo Junfeng and Liao Jiekai also jointly bagged the top award.