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BACKYARD

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BACKYARD is a subscription-based publication housing artists reports of happenings around Singapore.

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“MOP Specialist”
gideon-jamie
Neighbourhood: Punggol

We have been receiving a highly unusual amount of promotional materials from property agents the past year because the flats we live in are eligible for sale in the open market after its minimum occupation period (MOP) later this year. Many of these unsolicited flyers, cards, brochures, or even magnets and handwritten letters find their way directly to our door, several accompanied by visits from property agents themselves.

For this contribution, we decided to simply report about these visits and promotional efforts as directly and objectively as possible, without any interpretation from us. Every folder contains two original promotional pieces from a selection of around 100 pieces we’ve received so far (some salvaged from our neighbours). As graphic designers, this is also a way for us to report on the kind of graphic design we receive in our ‘backyard’ on an almost weekly basis. by @backyard.reports

𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
Goh Chun Aik
Neighbourhood: Tampines

In April, I got acquainted with a man who appeared to be in his late 50s while taking walks around Tampines, as part of my research for BACKYARD. He was lanky and pale, always dressed in a loose polo tee, and spoke with a slightly hoarse voice.

During our first conversation, he asked about the photographs I had been taking, and shared his own stories of the neighbourhood. The second time, our conversation lasted almost an entire day, as he brought me to various parts of Tampines.

On the third meeting, he asked me to accompany him on a walk and help take some photographs. I agreed, thinking it could be a useful way to look for interesting subjects for myself as well. He directed me for what to photograph, only making sure that I could capture the intended object or environment, with little interest in composition. He checked his watch regularly while on the move, and also scribbled on his notebook at each stop, some of which lasted for extended periods.

During our break at a coffeeshop around midnight, I asked him what these photos were for and how long more we were going for. He paused for a bit, and told me he needed to go to the toilet and would share more later.

He did not return.

Aside from the notebook that he left on the table, I had no further way of identifying or contacting him. I have not seen him since.

I decided to submit a selection of the photographs taken, alongside scans of the notebook, as my contribution to BACKYARD, distributed across 50 copies of its final volume. by @backyard.reports

𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦
Marvin Tang
Neighbourhood: Bukit Batok

I have faint memories of climbing steep, rocky steps on this hill as a child. Years later, around the bend of the road, I saw a boar emerge from the receding forest. Not long after, the trees disappeared, and a new road was carved into the hill.

It’s reported that in 2028, a new park will be completed here. Connecting residents to a broader nature corridor in the area. by @backyard.reports

In Bukit Batok, a disappearing forest challenges our relationship between urban development and nature. Over in Tampines, an encounter with a stranger unfolds through photographs and a notebook is left behind after an unexplained disappearance. Meanwhile in Punggol, an unusually high volume of promotional material from property agents circulates through the neighbourhood as its flats approach their Minimum Occupation Period.

BACKYARD: Volume 7 features Marvin Tang, Goh Chun Aik and gideon-jamie.

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BACKYARD: Volume 7 has been shipped out. Thank you to Marvin, Chun Aik, Gideon, Jamie, Jin Tian, and every subscriber for your contribution and support.

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@marvin.tang
@crashingmoments
@gideon_jamie_ by @backyard.reports

It’s the final week to subscribe to BACKYARD: Volume 7, featuring reports by Marvin Tang, Goh Chun Aik and gideon-jamie

Subscriptions will close on 22 June 2026. After this date, Volume 7 will not be publicly available.  
Reserve your copy soon, only 50 copies available. Orders will be shipped out by end-July (Overseas shipping is not available).

Link in bio to subscribe. by @backyard.reports

Subscriptions to reserve a copy of BACKYARD: Volume 7 will close on 22 June.

The seventh volume explores Bukit Batok, Tampines and Punggol featuring reports by Marvin Tang, Goh Chun Aik and gideon-jamie.

@marvin.tang
@crashingmoments
@gideon_jamie_

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BACKYARD is a physical folder of reports by artists stepping into the role of reporters of their neighbourhoods.

Designed by @gideon_jamie_

Link to the subscription form in bio. by @backyard.reports

BACKYARD: Volume 7 featuring Marvin Tang, Goh Chun Aik and gideon-jamie—Subscriptions are now open.

BACKYARD will come in the form of a physical folder housing the 3 featured artist reports as a stack of A4 prints.

Each copy will be priced at SGD$20, and due to limited availability, only 50 copies are available per volume.

Link to subscription form to BACKYARD: Volume 7 in bio.

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Volume 7 will ship out to subscribers by end-July only to local addresses based in Singapore. International shipping not available. by @backyard.reports

This is it. We’ve reached the final phase of BACKYARD. It has been the greatest privilege to share and experience the neighbourhoods reported through the works of our artists over the past year.

From the discovery of creatures among plants and trees, to the tales of longkangs and seas, to observations made from corridors and windows, we would like to close this chapter of BACKYARD with the words of Jernej Čuček Gerbec:

“A neighbourhood on a clear day with a clear mind can suddenly pop out. Not because something changed in the landscape, but because re-living the same space with the right awareness brings the aesthetic out of the mundane.”

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With that, BACKYARD is thrilled to announce the line up for Volume 7, featuring reports by Marvin Tang, Goh Chun Aik and gideon-jamie.

If you would like to subscribe to a copy, the subscription form will open this Sunday (31 May), 7:00PM SGT. Volume 7 will shipped to subscribers by the end of July 2026.

@marvin.tang
@crashingmoments
@gideon_jamie_ by @backyard.reports

𝘋𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘺
Faiz Bin Zohri
Neighbourhood: Khatib Central

I reside in a public housing block built almost 40 years ago. The backyard, in this context, are the common corridors we use daily. After 40 years, can built space and domesticated nature flourish equally?

This report is an observation of these relationships through a series of technical drawings. by @backyard.reports

𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘩
Wu Yanrong
Neighbourhood: Lavender

Neighbours gathered in a loose circle at the void deck, talking about pigeons ruining their laundry. Nets were installed after complaints, but ended up keeping the birds in. On the community board, “Do not feed pigeons / do not throw food out the window.”

The situation holds — unchanged, ongoing — part of the familiar texture of everyday HDB life. by @backyard.reports

𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
Daniel Chong
Neighbourhood: Hong Lim Park

I’ve often wondered how we lost a culture of resistance. Even the act of protest becomes confined and permitted. ‘Learning resistance’ reimagines a colouring book for Singaporeans, inviting them to consider what might still be worth standing up for.

Comprising 5 printed pages, the work draws upon manipulated archival images of past protests and present-day police notice posters from Hong Lim Park. Texts, figures, and contextual details have been erased, mirroring the state’s censorship. In their wake leaving ghostly forms abstracted. These blank surfaces carry resistance and control. In their reduction, the distinction between authority and dissent collapses, two sides of the same coin, they are rendered into the same blank medium.

Viewers are given a blue crayon and prompted to approach the pages like a colouring book, imagining what they might protest or fight for, while reflecting on the conditions that shape such desires. by @backyard.reports

At Hong Lim Park, text, figures and contextual details from archival images of past protests and present-day police notice posters have been erased, inviting viewers to imagine considering what might still be worth standing up for. Over in Lavender, nets are installed after residents’ complaints about pigeons ruining their laundry. Meanwhile at Khatib Central, questions about the relationship between built spaces and domesticated nature are raised.

BACKYARD: Volume 6 features Daniel Chong, Wu Yanrong, Faiz Bin Zohri. BACKYARD is designed by gideon-jamie.

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BACKYARD: Volume 6 has been shipped out. Thank you to Daniel, Yanrong, Faiz, Gideon, Jamie, Jin Tian and every subscriber for your contribution and support.

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@iisdannychong
@wu.yanrong
@stable.unstable
@gideon_jamie_ by @backyard.reports