Art Is Still Here: A Hypothetical Show for a Closed Museum

2020 FEB 13 – ONGOING

ROOM【0402ZZ】





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Broadcasting from China - WEEK #8 and 47 days into our online exhibition ‘Art Is Still Here: A Hypothetical Show for a Closed Museum’. This week we continue to share contributions by artists around the themes of ecology, nature, extinction, isolation and kinship.



Today we present contributions by artists:



Raqs Media Collective | Guido van der Werve | Lu Pingyuan | Victoria Sin | Zhang Peili | Stephanie Comilang | Chulayarnnon Siriphol



In the work‘Passwords for Time Trave’l Raqs Media Collective proposes a set of terms that anticipates conversations with the near and distant future. Combining the enigma of a spell with the precision of a dictionary entry, these unexpected lexical combinations are presented along with images that elaborate upon the multiple meanings of the texts.

Lu Pingyuan shares his new short story, Divergence, 2020, which looks at ethics of law and science in solving a murder case.

Guido Van der Werve’s work Number 17 (From the deepest ocean to the heights mountain(2015) is a 10-hour performances in which he references two extreme sporting achievements: the climbing of Mount Everest with its peak at 8,848 meters, and the manned descent into the Atlantic Ocean’s Mariana Trench with its deepest point at 11,040 meters. In contrasting these two victories with the domestic setting of both his bathtub and bed, Van der Werve alters these spectacular accomplishments into normalities.

Thai artist Chulayarnnon Siriphol looks into how spirits can find forms unseeable to the human eye thorough a supernatural phenomenon known as Ghost Orb. It is said when a person or animal dies, they become spirits that float in the air, visible through digital photography technology which appears as a white circle, red, blue, purple or green.



In ‘Women Who Weep’, 2019, artistStephanie Comilang looks at ‘The Babaylan’, pre-colonial Filipina shamans hold court and stare deeply into the audience’s eyes. Why are they roaming around this Temple of Athena look-a-like? Is there a re-emergence occurring?

In Victoria Sin’s ‘Someone I will be you won't recognize’, (2019),the artist hints at the constant transformation of things whilst creating an archive of feminine labor. This work is a part of an ongoing series of monoprints (can also be described as drawings or paintings) taken in the same way, memorializing and acting as a death mask to each character, feeling and drag embodiment performed on that evening before being wiped away.



Zhang Peili, presents his pivotal work Document on “Hygiene” No 3, 1991, where he “wanted to produce something that would make people feel bored and perturbed," said Zhang about this video, in which the artist is seen using a bar of soap to wash a chicken. The artist’s action parodies the campaigns being waged by the Chinese government at the time that communicated the importance of hygiene in public health.



This project was originally developed as a response to the forced closure of our museums, institutions, and galleries in China, and to limit the exposure of our staff and communities during the COVID 19 outbreak. This project now takes on new meaning as the COVID 19 disease begins to affect communities and cultural institutions internationally. ⁣

We thank all the artists and galleries who have supported this project over the past seven weeks!⁣








Chulayarnnon Siriphol,

Ghost Orb, 2007, Silent color experimental film, 2min


Courtesy the artist; Bangkok CITYCITY Gallery



Biography:

Chulayarnnon Siriphol was born 1986 in Bangkok, Thailand, and currently lives and works in Bangkok. is interested in exploring new possibilities in creating moving images. He is thus working between the role of a filmmaker and an artist, using video as a medium. His works range from short film, experimental film, documentary to video installation which are in–between personal memory and social memory, documentary and fiction, reality and supernatural.




Work Synopsis:

From the idea of animism, it is said that when a person or animal dies, they become spirits that float in the air. This soul cannot be seen by the human eye. But must rely on digital photography technology today as a tool to visualize this supernatural phenomenon Also known as Ghost Orb, which is a white circle, red, blue, purple or green. The circle has a rough surface. Sometimes there may be many overlapping circles. Ghost Orb often appears in the photos of some people whose souls are still connected, these souls with invisible energy contained within. Full of waiting, memory, loneliness, pain, hope, dream, nostalgia and love waiting for the day to come back to reincarnate to meet with people who have feelings for attachment again. Digital imaging technology is therefore able to reveal and expand human understanding of organisms in other dimensions that humans cannot see with the naked eye, so that humans can live in harmony with nature.










Guido Van der Werve, Number 17 (From the deepest ocean to the heights mountain), 2015,Double channel video installation, 9 hours 41 minutes



Courtesy the artist


Biography:

Guido Van der Werve (1977, Papendrecht, NL) is a Dutch filmmaker and artist. He is best known for his video documented performances in which he pushes his own body to the limits; physically testing his endurance, exhaustion and perseverance. Scenes of the artist standing on the North Pole for 24 hours, completing a 1500-kilometer triathlon, setting himself on fire, or being hit by a car on full speed are examples of his extreme actions, that are accompanied by his own musical compositions.


Work Synopsis:

Guido Van der Werve’s work Number 17 (From the deepest ocean to the heights mountain (2015) is a two-channel video installation showing Van der Werve in 10-hour performances in which he references two extreme sporting achievements: the climbing of Mount Everest with its peak at 8,848 meters, and the manned descent into the Atlantic Ocean’s Mariana Trench with its deepest point at 11,040 meters. In contrasting these two victories with the domestic setting of both his bathtub and bed, Van der Werve alters these spectacular accomplishments into normalities. Taking these ultimate acts of endurance and transposing them into everyday life confronts the viewer with the feeling that a noteworthy task has been accomplished.



 








Lu Pingyuan, Divergence, 2020, Story, Text, Dimensions variable



Courtesy the artist


Biography:

Lu Pingyuan, born in 1984 in Zhejiang province, living and working in Shanghai, is a young, one of a kind artist. He expresses his thoughts and art concepts through “stories” he creates: a practice of his own, rare in the art world. His stories - often extraordinary, enigmatic, wondrous, eventually frightening - are all developed from art-related topics.The stories – partly authentic, partly fictional – are all initiated from the art field.





Raqs Media Collective, Passwords for Time Travel_Chapter 4, 2017, Text + moving images, 2:49min


Courtesy the artist; Gallery Nature Morte, New Delhi



Biography:

Raqs Media Collective was formed in 1992 by Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta. The word “raqs” in several languages denotes an intensification of awareness and presence attained by whirling, turning, being in a state of revolution. Raqs Media Collective take this sense to mean ‘kinetic contemplation’ and a restless and energetic entanglement with the world, and with time. Raqs Media Collective practices across several forms and media; it makes art, produces performances, writes, curates exhibitions and occupies a unique position at the intersection of contemporary art, philosophical speculation and historical enquiry. The members of Raqs Media Collective live and work in New Delhi, India.



Work Synopsis:

Passwords for Time Travel

2017


Text + moving images


Passwords for Time Travel is a video series that proposes a set of terms that anticipates conversations with the near and distant future. Combining the enigma of a spell with the precision of a dictionary entry, these unexpected lexical combinations are presented along with images that elaborate upon the multiple meanings of the texts.



Stephanie Comilang, Women Who Weep, 2019, HD Video (color), 1:05min


Courtesy the artist


Biography:

Stephanie Comilang is an artist living and working between Toronto and Berlin. She received her BFA from Ontario College of Art & Design. Her documentary-based works create narratives that look at how our understandings of mobility, capital and labor on a global scale are shaped through various cultural and social factors. Her work has been shown at Transmediale Berlin, Ghost: 2561 Bangkok Video & Performance Triennale, S.A.L.T.S Basel, Tai Kwun Hong Kong, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Asia Art Archive in America, New York. She was awarded the 2019 Sobey Art Award, Canada’s most prestigious art prize for artists 40 years and younger.



Work Synopsis:

The Babaylan, pre-colonial Filipina shamans hold court and stare deeply into the audience’s eyes. Why are they roaming around this Temple of Athena look-a-like? Is there a re-emergence occurring?


 

Victoria Sin, Someone I will be you won't recognize, 2019, Mixed media (makeup on facial wipe)


Courtesy the artist




Biography:

Victoria Sin (b. 1991) currently lives and works in London, UK. Sin is an artist using speculative fiction within performance, moving image, writing, and print to interrupt normative processes of desire, identification, and objectification. Drawing from close personal encounters of looking and wanting, their work presents heavily constructed fantasy narratives on the often unsettling experience of the physical within the social body.



Victoria Sin’s recent presentations include: Age of You, MOCA, Toronto (CA, 2019); La vie des chose, MOMENTA biennale de l’image, Montreal (CA, 2019); Kiss My Genders, Hayward Gallery, London (UK, 2019); Display, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund (DE, 2019); Meetings on Art,The 58th Venice Biennale, Venice (IT, 2019); Rising up in the infinite sky, Sophia Al-Maria: BCE, Whitechapel Gallery, London (UK, 2019); Do Disturb, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (FR, 2019); PLANTSEX, General Ecology, Serpentine Galleries, London (UK, 2019); If I had the words to tell you we wouldn’t be here now, Chi-Wen Gallery, Taipei (TW, 2019); DRAG, Hayward Gallery, London (UK, 2018); The sky as an image, an image as a net, Serpentine Park Nights, London (UK, 2018); Swinging Out Over the Earth, Whitechapel Gallery, London (UK, 2018); Indifferent Idols, Taipei Contemporary Art Center, Taipei (TW, 2018); Block Universe, Brunel Museum, London (UK, 2018); A View From Elsewhere, Café Oto, London (UK, 2018); We Share the Same Tears, Whitechapel Gallery, London (UK, 2018); Glitch Feminism, ICA, London (UK, 2017); TATE EXCHANGE: GENDER TALKS, Tate Modern, London (UK, 2017).



Work Synopsis:
The title of Someone I will be you won't recognizehints at the constant transformation of things. This wipe was taken after a performance at MOCA Toronto on the 28th of November, 2019. This work is a part of an ongoing series of monoprints (can also be described as drawings or paintings) taken in the same way, memorializing and acting as a death mask to each character, feeling and drag embodiment performed on that evening before being wiped away. They act as an archive of the feminine labor which forms an essential yet ephemeral part of the artist’s practice.






Zhang Peili, Document on “Hygiene” No 3, 1991, single channel video, 24'45"



Courtesy the artist; Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing


Biography:

Zhang Peili was born in Hangzhou, China in November 1957. He graduated from the Department of Oil Painting at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art) in 1984, where he is now a professor. He is also the executive director of OCAT Shanghai. Zhang currently lives and works in Hangzhou.



In 1985 and 1986, he organized and participated in the "'85 New Space" exhibition and artist collective "Pond Society" activities. His major works include Rest, X? series, 30x30, Water: Standard Version from Cihai Dictionary, Document on Hygiene No.3, Last Words, A Gust of Wind and Collision of Harmonies etc. Among them, 30x30 (1988) was the earliest video artworks in China.




Zhang emphasizes the concern and invention for real life through art, and he also emphasizes the judgement of artistic language and self-criticism. Zhang is mainly engaged in works with the media in video, text, sound installation, mechanical installation and photography.




His works have been collected by prominent institutions such as MoMA New York, Tate Modern , Guggenheim Museum New York, Guggenheim Museum Abu Dhabi, Centre Georges Pompidou, Art Institute of Chicago, Asia Society New York, Singapore Art Museum, Queensland Art Gallery Australia, M+ Hong Kong, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Minsheng Art Museum (Shanghai), Daimler Art Collection, DSL Collection, K11 Foundation (Hong Kong) and Sifang Art Museum (Nanjing). Zhang Peili received the ACC annual artist award and CCAA lifetime achievement award.



Work Synopsis:

“I wanted to produce something that would make people feel bored and perturbed," said Zhang about this video, in which the artist is seen using a bar of soap to wash a chicken. The artist’s action parodies the campaigns being waged by the Chinese government at the time that communicated the importance of hygiene in public health. Unlike a typical government-sanctioned message, Zhang’s video is shot in disorienting close-ups and deliberately shown without sound.






To Be Continued...

With Contributions By:

aaajiao

Allora & Calzadilla

Annika Eriksson

Babi Badalov

Basim Magdy

Cerith Wyn Evans

Cheng Ran

Chulayarnnon Siriphol

Colectivo Los Ingrávidos

Daniel Steegmann Mangrané

Éléonore Saintagnan & Grégoire Motte

Fan Xi

Fang Di

Guido van der Werve

Haroon Mirza

Hu Xiaoyuan

Huang Rui

Jonathas de Andrade

Katja Novitskova

Laure Prouvost

Lawrence Abu Hamdan

Lawrence Lek

Li Binyuan

Lin Tianmiao

Li Tingwei

Liu Shiyuan & Kristian Mondrup

Lu Pingyuan

Lu Yang

Miao Ying

Michael Najjar

Nabuqi

Oscar Murillo

Patty Chang

Raqs Media Collective

Reynier Leyva Novo

Richard Tuttle

Robert Zhao Renhui

Rodrigo Braga

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Solange Pessoa

Stephanie Comilang

Sun Xun

Tania Bruguera

Timur Si-Qin

Victoria Sin

Visionist

Xiang Jing

Xie Nanxing

Yang Zhenzhong

Yu Ji

Zadie Xa

Zhang Enli

Zhang Peili

Zhao Zhao





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