In Conversation with Koh Kai Ting
Courtsey of Artists
Koh Kai Ting and Aw Boon Xin are co-founders of 2point013, an art-tech collective exploring worldbuilding, XR, and marine heritage. Their practice merges ecology, heritage, and immersive media to question dominant knowledge systems. They have exhibited locally and internationally, including at Art Jog and Georgetown Festival. Based between Singapore and Malaysia, they work closely with communities through storytelling, speculative archives, and experimental digital forms that blur the lines between art, technology, and lived experience.
I had the pleasure of asking Koh Kai what software and hardware they use when creating, How they met Boon, What they think is the most essential dynamic of an artistic collaboration, and so much more.
UZOMAH: Why did you choose to pursue art? Why create now?
KOH KAI: Art was never just about making objects for me—it was about finding a language that could hold things I couldn’t quite express in words. It’s less about “choosing” art and more like art became the language I kept returning to.
Whether it’s digital work or a public installation, I’m looking for that quiet but insistent voice in the work. Right now, creating feels urgent. We’re constantly surrounded by noise, and art is the one space that lets me filter through it, pause, and give form to something fragile that might otherwise slip by unnoticed. Making art is really about catching the moment before it dissolves back into the noise.
U: How do you turn an idea/concept into reality?
K: For me, it begins with breaking down something big into smaller fragments. An idea usually starts with a story or even just one small detail. From there, I layer it step by step—research, sketches, then experimenting with software and materials.
With Jiwa LauĒ, the festival’s theme “Island Nights” immediately made me think of crabs. We chose two that felt very local: the Box Crab (Calappa calappa), whose round, coconut-like body from its Malay name “kelapa,” and the Blue Swimmer Crab, or KeĒam Bunga, with its sampan-shaped body that reminded me of fishing boats.
Coconut + Sampan—it just clicked. It spoke not only to the theme but also to Singapore’s position as an island and a meeting point between land and sea.
Jiwa Laut by Aw Boon Xin & Koh Kai Ting (Image courtesy of HeritageSG)
U: Can you describe a project where you were the most satisfied?
K: Jiwa Laut at the Singapore Night Festival was that moment for me. Jiwa Laut is the largest-scale work we’ve ever created — and for us, it’s been a dream to finally see how far (and how big) we could go.
The journey wasn’t easy: we wrestled with every stage, from casting materials, to logistics, wiring, and the mechanics of movement. There were plenty of points where we felt stuck, but what carried us through was the community of friends and collaborators who stepped in to guide, support, and problem-solve with us.
In the end, what I love most is that the work itself carries the marks of that process. We always try to leave space for a piece to surprise us along the way, so the final installation isn’t just an object — it’s a record of the challenges, the experiments, and the people who shaped it. That’s what made Jiwa Laut especially satisfying.
U: Are there any strategies that you employ to stay ahead of new technology and trends, and how do you apply them to your creative process?
K: For me, it’s about staying curious, reading widely, and being in communities where people are experimenting and sharing what they discover. I don’t see technology as something to “keep up with” so much as something to play with. A lot of my work is an exploration of the tension between evolution and augmentation, delving into the possibilities of bodily enhancement while engaging deeply with posthuman thought. I often look at how culture digests technology through humour and myth—like the 2019 “Carcinisation” meme, which playfully suggests that humans might inevitably evolve into crabs. Beneath the joke is a strange inevitability, a kind of collective myth-making about transformation. That’s the space I like to tap into: where memes, myths, and machines collide, and where future bodies can be imagined.
Jiwa Laut by Aw Boon Xin & Koh Kai Ting (Image courtesy of HeritageSG)
U: What specific software and hardware did you choose to use for your digital art? Can you go into what your reasons were for choosing them?
K: I don’t really stick to one fixed set of tools—I actually shift my skillset with every project. The choice is less about the tool itself and more about experimenting enough to know what resonates with my practice. With new tech, I’ll often run small tests first
— asking: does this expand the story we’re telling, or is it just noise? That’s how we decide what’s worth keeping.
U: How did you and Boon meet?
K: We first met back in high school and later went on to study printmaking at different universities. That training gave both of us a sensitivity to detail and process, but also the patience to work alone for long stretches.
U: What unique qualities does Boon bring to your partnership that made you want to become a duo?
K: Boon is very much the technical brain behind our projects. I really admire the way he makes things—his approach is precise, inventive, and hands-on. He’s also incredibly versatile and focused, which balances well with my way of working.
U: What is the most essential dynamic of an artistic collaboration?
K: For me, collaboration works best when the process stays open. I try not to fix an idea too early, because the most interesting things often come from chance — whether in the material, the details, or how a form unexpectedly takes shape. That openness is what keeps the work alive. It’s why Jiwa LauĒ still carries the marks of the journey we went through together, rather than just the finished outcome.
U: What is the selection process of art festivals and other art events that you and Boon decide to do?
K: Honestly, the theme is what pulls us in first. Like this year’s Singapore Night Festival with its island theme—it just clicked with our practice, so of course we had to jump in. We also love any chance to do a bit of placemaking through art, to shift how people experience a space that usually feels busy or rushed. With Jiwa LauĒ, we let crabs of all sizes crawl into the street, so visitors had to slow down, crouch low, and see things from a new angle. It’s our playful way of reminding people that the little details are often the most magical, if you take the time to notice them
Jiwa Laut by Aw Boon Xin & Koh Kai Ting (Image courtesy of HeritageSG)
U: How does the cultural landscape of society influence and shape your creative process?
K: Much of our work draws from marine heritage and intergenerational dialogue. One recurring motif in our practice is the translucent crab. It becomes a way of asking questions like: when a crab sheds its shell, is it haunted by that ghostly trace? Does it fear that inside, nothing remains but emptiness? Such images allow us to reflect on cultural memory, survival, and the fragile balance between presence and absence. This feels especially resonant during the Chinese Ghost Month happening now, when rituals remind us that absence itself can carry presence.
U: How can technology better address issues that have affected humans and continue to do better than traditional mediums of art making?
K: I don’t think technology should be seen as “better” than traditional mediums—it’s more about what each can do differently. Technology can create encounters that weren’t possible before. For instance, in our VR project Crab Chronicle, players slip into the perspective of a crab and witness how socioeconomic pressures reshape coastal ecologies. That shift in viewpoint makes the issue visceral in a way painting or sculpture might not. At the same time, we still hold onto traditional artmaking as our grounding—it’s where we come from, and it keeps us connected to tactile, human gestures that technology can’t replace.
For more information about present and future projects by Koh Kai Ting and Aw Boon Xin and their organzaitons f 2point013 please find them here on Instagram for updates.
