'Releasing Sisyphus' Performance Art piece

Luckily the day chosen for the performance (2nd July 2016) was overcast (taking some of the sting out of the sun) although it was still incredibly humid.  

On the artificially created beach at Repulse Bay (on the south side of Hong Kong Island) I stood with my back to the hills and faced the sea. In my hands I carried two different materials: water and sand. Slowly I allowed the sand to filter through my fingers down onto the beach after which I slowly poured the water into the sea. Both the sand and water I had dispensed immediately merged with the rest and became imperceptible. Dropping sand back to the beach, pouring water back to the sea, both of these ritualistic actions attempted to restore order and sought some kind of equilibrium.

​After a few moments I turned and began my walk towards the hills behind me. South Bay Road runs up towards the hills and then at a junction it curls away to the left, I turned right and made my way up South Bay Close, past the International School on the right until the road ended in a cul-de-sac. Steps on the left led to the trail that winds up through the trees. This trail has not been manicured and destroyed (or 'improved' as the local authorities term it) making the journey a very pleasant one, winding between boulders and roots under a thick canopy of leaves and branches.

​Once I reached the catch-water at Tsz Kong Au I crossed Tsz Kong Bridge and began the climb up the first of the twins, the two peaks that rise above Repulse Bay. My goal was to reach the top of the first twin. The initial part of the climb alternates between trail and concrete steps but after a short while the path becomes pure concrete steps leading up as far as one can see. Every so often I stopped to take a sip of water and adjust my back-pack, which contained the stones that I would use to build a cairn on the summit. 

​As I climbed the steps I thought of Sisyphus and his endless toil, pushing the boulder to the top of the hill only to have it immediately roll back to the bottom. Sisyphus would calmly make his way back down the steps to begin his labour once more. He seemingly had no escape from this god-given punishment and yet he managed to find solace in the regularity of his work. Everything was laid out for him, he had no need to plan, to calculate anything or to wonder at the outcome. Everything was pre-planned and predictable. As he descended the hill he knew what was expected and how he would re-accomplish the feat. In some ways he had found his own way to escape the torture, but I wished to free him from this torment. 

​At the summit I built a small cairn by the side of the trail, modest so as not to attract attention and I also planted two small shrubs that would hopefully thrive and help to keep the stones firmly fixed in their position. This would keep them in place and prevent them rolling down the hill. The shrubs had grown from seeds left by wild birds in a disused plant pot on my balcony and they therefore seemed to already possess a certain poetry and were regarded as extremely appropriate for this performance. Sisyphus would be free at last. He would be able to apply his physical strength and his strength of character in other pursuits of his own choosing. After thousands of years I may finally have released Sisyphus.

 

BA (Hons) Fine Art 2016

At the end of June 2016 my 10 Fine Art students graduated with BA (Hons) Fine Art from the Hong Kong Design Institute. It was the culmination of an exciting year for the students, most of whom I had previously taught at Higher Diploma level. The Fine Art programme was run as a collaboration between SHAPE/VTC in Hong Kong, and Birmingham City University in the UK. The structure comprised 2 years working at Higher Diploma level followed by a third year on the collaborative programme.
I had spent two years on the preparation of the programme including validation with Birmingham City University and accreditation with the Hong Kong Education Department and a third year working with the students in the studio attempting to guide the 10 students towards a successful graduation.
It is my sincere hope that at least some of them will go on to make some waves in the art field.

As a group, their work was quite diverse and I would like to illustrate it here with a few images, created in their studios at Morrison Hill in Wanchai, Hong Kong. I would like to wish them every success in the future!

Ada, Leung Nga Ting

 

Sharon, Choi Shu Long

 

 

Karen, Ng Hei Tung

 

Marlena, Yik Ka Yan

 

 

Alan, Lau Cheuk Lun

 

 

Leo, Choi Lai Yin

 

 

Ruby, Pang Hiu Man

 

Maggie, Cheung Lok Yi

Wesley, Kwan Tsz Him

 

Roni, Cheng Weng I

Alexander Calder at Pace Gallery, Hong Kong

After being assigned to teach a module called ‘Workshop Practice II: Metal’ I learned that the Pace Gallery in Hong Kong were presenting an exhibition of work by Alexander Calder allowing my students a wonderful opportunity to see up-close how a major artist has handled metal.

The module introduced the idea of collecting discarded material such as drinks, food cans, biscuit tins and other metal ‘rubbish’, and transforming them into artworks. Although I had to teach basic skills on how to turn the metal objects into raw material, this did not take too long and once the students understood that they could manipulate the metal without harming themselves, they began to experiment during exercises I lead on cutting, rolling, folding and joining metal.

Eventually, later in the module, they then used this raw material to create artworks. I tried to guide the students to see possibilities, some serious and some fun and mischievous and also to see the metal in terms of texture and colour and I also demonstrated how to create formers to bend the metal and also wooden frames on which to pin the metal in sheets to create larger forms.

The Calder exhibition was a perfect case study as the work on show was quite small with many maquettes for larger sculptures. The students were able to examine how Calder had joined sections of metal together with rivets and how he had sometimes used metal wire to thread the pieces together.

The exhibition displayed hanging mobiles, standing mobiles and stabiles. In the centre of the gallery stood the wonderful standing mobile The Tree (1960), perfectly balanced with its large branch forming the mobile section of the work.

I really hope that I demonstrated to the students that metal can be manipulated as easily as most other materials and how it can also be found all around us without the need for a trip to the art materials supplier.

Black: Two Dots and Eleven (1958)

The Tree (1960)

7 Legged Beast (maquette) (1956)

Conical Gussets (1956)

Bleu, jaune, rouge sur base courbe (1969)

 

Ex-Octopus (maquette) (1936)

 

Black Areas (1938) - Shadow of the work on the wall

Birmingham, UK

Part of my duties as Course Leader of the BA (Hons) Fine Art programme run in collaboration with Birmingham City University was to attend ‘School Academic Board’ meetings in Birmingham during April. Although this meant that I had to take a week out in the middle of the semester creating disruption to the several modules I was teaching, it did give me the opportunity to re-visit Birmingham School of Art, located in the beautiful Margaret Street building in the heart of Birmingham. This Venetian Gothic building was opened in 1885 and was wonderfully cleaned and refurbished in 1992 (exterior) and 1996 (interior). The interior is a wonderful labyrinth of rooms and staircases and no doubt provides tremendous inspiration for the students. My own art college at Leeds (then called Jacob Kramer College of Art) also had a certain amount of this charm and atmosphere.

 

Interior views of Birmingham School of Art

The week actually passed quickly, the meetings were fruitful and important planning was made for next year’s schedule. During the week I even managed to hold one-to-one tutorials with several final year Fine Art students. This was a real pleasure and for me sitting down with students in front of their work to discuss practical and conceptual approaches is what teaching is all about. The students were confident, ambitious and had a clear direction. One student had already secured a place at the Ruskin School of Art and despite having produced several strong pieces of work, he was still prepared to experiment with new materials and processes.

Before it was time for me to leave Birmingham, I visited the lovely local Ikon Gallery.

Birmingham Ikon Gallery

The gallery was featuring a solo show by American Dan Flavin, giving me the chance to see a major show of his work for the first time. I had previously seen individual examples of his work in various galleries as well as being familiar with his work via books, magazines and the internet but this solo show, entitled ‘It is what it is and it ain’t nothing else’ (sic) was a revelation for me. Each room in which his work was installed was transformed by the light emanating from the neon tubes in a variety of colour combinations. The light sometimes rendered the corners of the room invisible and sometimes it exaggerated the corners as if they had become acute gaps receding away from the viewer. The light also radiated away from the tubes, affecting and transforming the architectural details of the room itself. I thoroughly enjoyed this show and it made me completely reassess his work.

The week passed far too quickly and as I traveled back to Heathrow by train I hoped it would not be too long before I could return.

Art Central / Art Basel Hong Kong 2016

March madness returned to Hong Kong reportedly in the coldest March weather since 1978 and there was a steady downpour as  made my way from the IFC towards the large Art Central marquee on Hong Kong's harbour front. Work commitments meant that I had to tackle both Art Central and Art Basel Hong Kong in the same day!

As I arrived at Art Central, the rain had obviously made a dent in the audience figures but also made viewing the artwork a little more convenient. The outdoor food court area was a wash-out but in the exhibition hall there were some notable pieces of work to see. As I toured around the gallery booths, I had talk to artist Claire Lee at the Mur Nomade booth and later I met Professor Chan Yuk Keung of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who was also visiting.

A bite to eat replenished my energy before walking across to the Convention and Exhibition Centre to  take in this year's Art Basel HK. Approaching the escalators from the vehicle drop-off level, I passed a huge queue of people lining up in the hope of purchasing a day ticket.
This year the 'hot' material was cardboard. It was everywhere, stacked up on trollies, squashed into bails, made into artificial rocks, whatever you could think off.
I managed to keep moving forward despite flagging spirits and I was rewarded by a few treasures that appeared before me as though to rescue me from exhaustion.

After 5 hours I reached the end and before leaving the Centre I collected a bright green Frieze bag full of magazines and journals from the various stands in the lobby area. I also bumped into Art writer John Batten, on his way in for one of the panel sessions set aside for conversations / discussions.

Below is a sample of the gems I discovered during my day, artist name listed:

Ian McKeever

Jannis Kounellis

Max Ernst

Constantin Brancusi

David Nash

Alberto Burri

Isaac Julien

Issac Julien

Richard Long