Umbrella Revolution

Following the invitation of a photographer friend, Kent Foran, I opted to work on some of his images to create an artwork in response to the protests in Hong Kong. 

From 26th September to 15th December 2014, spontaneous protests broke out after the announcement by the Government in Beijing that, although they would allow each eligible Hong Kong citizen to vote, they would restrict the candidates on offer to 3 hand-picked Pro-Beijing cronies. This was a huge step-away from the 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong' promised by Beijing at the handover. 

To see more of Kent's wonderful photography, visit his website: http://www.kentforan.com

Kent Foran took some amazing, creative photographs at the three protest sites in Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mongkok and he shared them with several of the occupying protesters who modified them into personal art statements that depicted their feelings and experiences. Many of these images can be found on the 'Occupy Art' group page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Art/307874486086324?fref=ts 

I took two of Kent's images, a b/w shot of the Causeway Bay protest site featuring powerful reflections and a large luxury brand advert juxtaposed with the protest site, and a second image showing a protestor in heavy disguise at the site in Mongkok, chopped them up and re-combined them into a single image.

The advert has been replaced by the large protestor who stares defiantly and directly back at the audience. Between him and the audience there are bars, originally the bars of the window but now they are acting like bars of a cage keeping the protestor constrained in one location, confining him. Alternatively, are the bars there for his protection...or for our? Or, are the bars part of the defences that he has erected himself as a barricade? As the rest of the scene recedes from us, reducing in scale, regressing to monochrome, the protestor glares outwards in full colour, vivid and full of energy.

First showing of work in Portugal

I was so happy to be able to show some of my work in Portugal for the first time this August.

The event was the '7th International Printmaking Biennial Douro 2014' - http://douro-gravura.org/, and I had two etchings on display - 'Cultivation' of 2010 and 'Enclosure' of 2011, both hybrid prints combining intaglio and relief techniques.

'Enclosure' was created during my residency at the Guanlan Print Base in Shenzhen, China.

 

'Cultivation' - 2010

'Enclosure' - 2011

'Going Round in Circles', performance - Part 2

On Wednesday 30^th July 2014 I travelled to Tai Tam Country Park in Hong Kong, specifically to a small hill that had a footpath all the way around, pretty much level for the whole circuit. I set up a base near to a small dam as my starting and finishing point. Nearby was a wooden shelter that would be very conveniently located for my breaks and lunchtime.

I walked around the hill clockwise from 9 to 5, the typical working day, stopping for tea breaks in the mid-morning (roughly 10:30am) and mid-afternoon (roughly 3:00pm) plus a one-hour break for lunch (at around 12:30). I treated the whole day seriously as work.

There was no script for the performance beyond the start, break times and finish.

As I walked (worked) I carried a bag containing essential worker’s tools as well as my packed lunch and something to drink. I also carried a small note-pad to record the circuits i.e. the passing of time.

I notated the circuits of the hill in simple form with one short, straight line for each circuit and a cross bar to complete each group of 5 circuits. The working day is often measured by the worker’s output and this is often compared day by day in order to take stock of productivity. I adopted a strict work ethic and my production was the expiration of energy into circuits of the hill and these had to be measured in order to take stock of the sum of my labour at 5pm when my working day ended.

During the performance I became tired, a little distracted. This mirrored the real experience of work, especially work that is menial in nature. I reacted to these feelings instinctively and my reaction become part of the performance. I found myself clock-watching, calculating how long I needed to walk before I could allow myself a break and my mind was cast back to the days when I have had to hold down jobs I didn't enjoy and which robbed me of invaluable amounts of my life. My consolation during these times was the salary that allowed me to pay my rent and therefore survive.

When the 5pm ‘clocking-off' time came, I felt a sense of relief as I walked back up the steep hill to Park View and a bus back to Central.

'Going Round in Circles', performance - Part 1

On Wednesday 30th July 2014 I plan to conduct a solo performance in Tai Tam Country Park, Hong Kong.
I will walk around a circular path, which leads around a small hill, from 9 to 5 - the archetypal working day, stopping for 15 minute breaks in the morning and afternoon and a 1 hour lunch break. I will carry tools that I will not use.
If I am part-way around a circuit when it is time for a break or lunch, I will continue to complete the circuit before beginning the break. The performance will go ahead whatever the weather, unless a typhoon No.8 signal is hoisted and I am unable to catch the ferry to get to the location.

At the end of the day, I will have spent the day traveling without getting anywhere and I will have carried tools without producing anything.

On Kawara - 29,771 days

Conceptual artist On Kawara died on July 10^th 2014 at the age of 81 after having lived for 29,771 days.

Among the different works and series he produced, probably the most well known are the ‘Today’ series of paintings. Beginning on January 4^th 1966, he made a long series of paintings that each recorded the day it was created.

The paintings were made according to eight standard sizes, all horizontal in orientation. The date on which each painting was made was rendered in white Liquitex on canvas. The background colours varied somewhat through the years.

The dates were carefully painted by hand in the language of the country in which the panting was made. If the country happened not to use the Roman alphabet, Kawara would instead use Esperanto.

The whole series was recorded in a journal along with a swatch of the colour used and also marked on a calendar.

I find this series intriguing. When viewing the paintings they generally appear clinically objective except if you were to see one that coincided with a particularly relevant date in the viewers’ life. Suddenly that painting would take on added significance.

The series appears to document Kawara’s life on earth, except that he didn’t paint one every day. On those days he did paint, if he was unable to finish the day’s work, he would destroy the painting as each one needed to be finished on the day stated in the painting. So, the paintings that do exist are a testament to his existence on those days…but what about the missing dates? Did he exist? This harks back to philosophical questions about perception and reality. If we no longer remember an event in our lives, we doubt it ever happened. Does the world behind us exist if we do not perceive it? Or does it only appear when we look in that direction…if a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

In one sense Kawara has not left, the Twitter bot that he set up before his death has successfully tweeted on more than one occasion to proclaim that he is still alive, his work lives on, he lives on.

(Images courtesy of entropymag.org)

First Student Graduation Show - June 2014

After two pioneering and very enjoyable years the first cohort of students graduated from the Higher Diploma in Visual Arts and Culture at the Hong Kong Design Institute.

A plain office type room on the ground floor was converted into a gallery for an exhibition of sample work chosen jointly by members of staff and invited visiting adjudicators. As the final student presentations and the following discussions among the selection committee were held in Cantonese, I was unable to take a positive role in the proceedings. There was not enough room available to exhibit all the work and so the visiting adjudicators and other members of staff discussed whose work to include and whose work to leave out. I would agree with most of their choices, though not all.

At the opening night of the graduation exhibition, the excitement of the students was palpable and I believe many of them felt that this was the first stepping-stone of their career. It is always a shock to see the work for the first time in an exhibition setting and I could see the look of surprise and pride on their faces.

For the teaching staff also this was a special moment. I can remember helping to prepare the validation documents and writing some of the modules that had been taught during the previous two years. Of course this moment, though touching, is short lived. We have the second cohort now halfway through their journey and a new admission exercise looming on the horizon.

However for now there is time for a drink, a piece of cake and a wonderful moment to share with the students. I had the special honour of reading out a letter of congratulations sent by the first Programme Leader Yoji Matsumura, who was now back in Japan. It was he who had provided the initial spark to the programme and who had given it direction.

Student project: 'Sit-able object'

In June, after a lot of work, my students were finally able to see their work installed in a chair-themed exhibition at the Heritage Museum in Shatin.

The work had begun way back in October 2013 within the module ‘History of Visual Arts’ when the students formed groups and began formulating the creation of a ‘sit-able object’ that would fulfill the project requirements and also, later, perhaps become part of the planned exhibition.

After the project came to an end and was assessed, we had 10 ‘sit-able objects’ that could potentially go forward to be included in the show. However, as the next phase of the work needed to be completed in everyone’s spare time, there was a ‘natural selection’ and within a short period of time we were left with 3 groups of students still keen on refining their work.

The exhibition staff of the museum were in constant contact and came to our campus to help critique the work.

Eventually the time came for the work to be transported to the museum and installed in preparation for the opening of the exhibition and on the opening night many invited guests arrived for the speeches and the ceremony to begin the show.

This had been a learning experience for my students. Working in their spare time and trying to assimilate their ideas, my advice and the advice from the museum staff had been difficult for them but now they could see their work fully resolved and presented so well in the museum I could see they were very proud of their work, I was very proud of them.