MANIFESTO NO. 1
Hong Kong, 24 Feb 2008
1. Mess is perfect.
Using order to curb chaos is the commonest, i.e., boring, method of dealing with the modern space. Disorder is part and parcel of growth. Order and disorder can interact fluidly.
2. Work with not for architects.
The Herzog - De Meuron - Ai work on Beijing's National Stadium (dubbed 'Bird's Nest') and the Vietnam War Memorial by Maya Lin should not be exceptions in art-architecture collaborations. No more providing decorations for buildings, or filling art pieces in spaces already set in place. Artists and architects can wrestle on the stage without any prior advantage to one side.
3. Tragedy is a joke.
Terrible things awaken, so welcome tragedy openly, readily, daily. Every problem is an opportunity for growth.
4. Do not exhibit without a fee.
Far too many people see artists as magicians, equally able to create from flashes of inspirations and to make money appear with the flick of a wand. Too many invitations to artists to exhibit in a free venue are framed as charity. People forget that artists need to eat and pay rent. Respect your needs and talents. Demand a fee. Unpaid work is slavery. Unless, of course, the project is charitable or without budget.
5. Transform.
An object that is primarily beautiful is decoration. Another that mainly symbolises meanings or carries messages is illustration. A building that is only functional is mere furniture. Great architecture, like great art, is transformative. It changes the ways we see, think and feel. It regulates the energies in the air. Great architecture does not necessarily come in the form of towering skyscraper in the developed cities or the new museum designed by brand-name architects. It can exist elsewhere, such as: in the ruins, where abandoned and damaged architecture evoke emotions like melancholy downplayed in the modern city and provoke thoughts about human civilisation; in architectural fictions, imaginary stories created or extended from existing architecture whose meanings have been deeply ingrained, and in buildings or structures invested with community spirit even if considered disposable (demolishable) by the officials or corporate sectors.
6. Mix things up.
The most repressive lines are invisible. Remove or smudge them.
7. Make or find a rule, play with it.
Invention does not come from unbriddled freedom. It is based in problems. The finest and freshest aesthetics is based in a single invariable rigorously adhered to and about which variables can be maximally explored.
8. To the homeless, home is everywhere.
When appropriated by developers in their sales pitch, the truism "Architecture is art" helps to sustain the economy by keeping people at work, in order to upgrade their living conditions, to fulfill their home-dreams. The less one owns, the less money one needs, the less one needs to work. The more time one has.
9. Pay respect.
Saying kind things to or about your influences is mere courtesy. Doing things similar in idea or form to their work will only tickle them. The only way to pay proper respect is to outdo them, in order to continue their spirit of innovation.
10. Daydream.
No more guilt about being in a daze. The daydream connects your inner child with your destiny, your inner spaces with your environment.
- Michael Lee Hong-hwee
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Appetites for Litter
EXHIBITION REPORT
Singapore, 9 Nov 2006
Four emerging artists from Singapore proved that trash can be transformed into art. Their works were showcased in the exhibition, Appetites for Litter: 8th Emerging Artists Show 2006, curated by artist Michael Lee Hong-hwee and held in Plastique Kinetic Worms, Singapore, during 9-25 Nov 2006.
In a city famous for its order, cleanliness and beauty, Singapore has a lesser known "garbage city," a landfill of increasing heaps of trash growing beyond proportions (Straits Times, 20 Aug 2006). How does a city strike a balance between development and sustainability? What can artists enlighten us in this regard?
(Jane Porter, A Linty Find, Found objects, 2005-2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Jane Porter, Anxious shorts, Video & found objects, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
Jane Porter seems to suggest we leave the mess alone. The installation A Linty Find appears at first as a half-ransacked room with someone's belongings strewn all over the floor. Upon closer inspection, the work reveals countless small drawings made on books and scrap paper. The artist is interested in marks and notes made in a hurry and conveniently forgotten, including being thrown into the washer. Out of sight, but should little gestures like these be out of mind? Her other work, Anxious Shorts features lo-fi stop-motion animation projected into a space filled with junks: This time, objects like paper, plasticine and leaves start coming to life, crawling and jumping about, suggesting that humans are not the only beings with consciousness and agency.
(Alexis Hy, ITADAKIMASU!! SPACE TOFU VROOM VROOM (gallery view), Mixed media, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Alexis Hy, ITADAKIMASU!! SPACE TOFU VROOM VROOM (detail), Mixed media, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
For Alexis Hy, chaos is the necessary condition for creativity. Her Manga-inspired installation ITADAKIMASU!! SPACE TOFU VROOM VROOM, comprising wall mural and objects, is aimed at relieving us of the shame against society's moral tastes and norms.
(Shubigi Rao, Pseudoscience on table (installation view), Found objects, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Shubigi Rao, Pseudoscience on Shelves (installation view), Found objects, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
Ikea furniture hardly sits in a gallery without distracting the viewer from the art. In Shubigi Rao's pseudo-archeological installation, The Study of Leftovers, the familiarity of the furniture brand receeds into the background, foregrounding the trash she collected, cleaned, labelled and displayed. Her other work comprises a heap of personal belongings of a fictional 'male' archeologist. Going through 'his' diary and notes, one is reminded that often what legitimates a professional's existence is nothing more than signs such as particular structures of thought and communication.
(Yeoh Wee Hwee, Beetle in a Box (installation view), Cellulose tape, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Yeoh Wee Hwee, Beetle in a Box (detail), Cellulose tape, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
Perhaps the most horrifying yet beautiful return of garbage is suggested in Yeoh Wee Hwee's Beetle in a Box, a storeroom filled with organic beads and tendrils kneaded from cellulose tape. No matter how hard we may try to remove chaos from civilisation, it can still find ways to return variously in abject forms.
(Clara Chow, "Don't rubbish this, it's art," Straits Times, 21 Nov 2006)
This exhibition was reviewed in Straits Times and Wordpress. It is the 8th installment in the annual Emerging Artists Show organised by Plastique Kinetic Worms.
Related links:
Press Release by Plastique Kinetic Worms
Curator's introduction by Michael Lee Hong-hwee
Catalogue contribution by Shubigi Rao
Review in Straits Times by Clara Chow
Review in Wordpress by Lim Kok Boon
Singapore, 9 Nov 2006
Art of Trash
Appetites for Litter: 8th Emerging Artists Show 2006
Plastique Kinetic Worms, Singapore
9-25 Nov 2006
Four emerging artists from Singapore proved that trash can be transformed into art. Their works were showcased in the exhibition, Appetites for Litter: 8th Emerging Artists Show 2006, curated by artist Michael Lee Hong-hwee and held in Plastique Kinetic Worms, Singapore, during 9-25 Nov 2006.
In a city famous for its order, cleanliness and beauty, Singapore has a lesser known "garbage city," a landfill of increasing heaps of trash growing beyond proportions (Straits Times, 20 Aug 2006). How does a city strike a balance between development and sustainability? What can artists enlighten us in this regard?
(Jane Porter, A Linty Find, Found objects, 2005-2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Jane Porter, Anxious shorts, Video & found objects, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
Jane Porter seems to suggest we leave the mess alone. The installation A Linty Find appears at first as a half-ransacked room with someone's belongings strewn all over the floor. Upon closer inspection, the work reveals countless small drawings made on books and scrap paper. The artist is interested in marks and notes made in a hurry and conveniently forgotten, including being thrown into the washer. Out of sight, but should little gestures like these be out of mind? Her other work, Anxious Shorts features lo-fi stop-motion animation projected into a space filled with junks: This time, objects like paper, plasticine and leaves start coming to life, crawling and jumping about, suggesting that humans are not the only beings with consciousness and agency.
(Alexis Hy, ITADAKIMASU!! SPACE TOFU VROOM VROOM (gallery view), Mixed media, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Alexis Hy, ITADAKIMASU!! SPACE TOFU VROOM VROOM (detail), Mixed media, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
For Alexis Hy, chaos is the necessary condition for creativity. Her Manga-inspired installation ITADAKIMASU!! SPACE TOFU VROOM VROOM, comprising wall mural and objects, is aimed at relieving us of the shame against society's moral tastes and norms.
(Shubigi Rao, Pseudoscience on table (installation view), Found objects, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Shubigi Rao, Pseudoscience on Shelves (installation view), Found objects, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
Ikea furniture hardly sits in a gallery without distracting the viewer from the art. In Shubigi Rao's pseudo-archeological installation, The Study of Leftovers, the familiarity of the furniture brand receeds into the background, foregrounding the trash she collected, cleaned, labelled and displayed. Her other work comprises a heap of personal belongings of a fictional 'male' archeologist. Going through 'his' diary and notes, one is reminded that often what legitimates a professional's existence is nothing more than signs such as particular structures of thought and communication.
(Yeoh Wee Hwee, Beetle in a Box (installation view), Cellulose tape, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
(Yeoh Wee Hwee, Beetle in a Box (detail), Cellulose tape, 2006, photo: Michael Lee)
Perhaps the most horrifying yet beautiful return of garbage is suggested in Yeoh Wee Hwee's Beetle in a Box, a storeroom filled with organic beads and tendrils kneaded from cellulose tape. No matter how hard we may try to remove chaos from civilisation, it can still find ways to return variously in abject forms.
(Clara Chow, "Don't rubbish this, it's art," Straits Times, 21 Nov 2006)
This exhibition was reviewed in Straits Times and Wordpress. It is the 8th installment in the annual Emerging Artists Show organised by Plastique Kinetic Worms.
Related links:
Press Release by Plastique Kinetic Worms
Curator's introduction by Michael Lee Hong-hwee
Catalogue contribution by Shubigi Rao
Review in Straits Times by Clara Chow
Review in Wordpress by Lim Kok Boon
Hijacking Space
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Hong Kong, 24 Feb 2008
Hong Kong, 24 Feb 2008
Hijacking Space
Mara Show
in-conjunction with Hong Kong-Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture
Central Police Station, Hong Kong
Sun, 24 Feb 2008
1-8pm
in-conjunction with Hong Kong-Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture
Central Police Station, Hong Kong
Sun, 24 Feb 2008
1-8pm
In the marathon symposium, Mara Show, held on Sun, 24 Feb 2008, 1-8pm, in-conjunction with Hong Kong-Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, at Central Police Station, Hong Kong, artists Lee Chun-fung and Michael Lee Hong-hwee will speak about the inspirations and aims of their curated exhibition Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space, to be held at Artist Commune, Hong Kong, 29 Mar - 17 Apr 2008. Their presentation, titled "Hijacking Space", is scheduled at 5.45pm.
Following that, Michael Lee will give his presentation, "Small is big," at 6pm on Eniminiminimos: Artists who make things small, an exhibition he recently curated at Studio Bibliothèque, Hong Kong, during 12-13 & 19-20 Jan 2008.
The full schedule is as follows:
1300-1315 Joshua Lau/ Philip Fung/ Selina Mak
1315-1330 Winnie Davies
1330-1345 Wallace Chang
1345-1400 Elisa Pang
1400-1415 Gloria Yeung
1415-1430 Lam Tung Pang
1430-1445 Kal Ng & Hong Kong Chingying of Visual Arts
1445-1500 Aaron Robin
1500-1515 Laura Belevica
1515-1530 Shelley Woo
1530-1545 Break
1545-1630 Forum
1630-1645 John McArthur
1645-1700 Feng guochuan
1700-1715 Amy Tai
1715-1730 Ephes Lau
1730-1745 Hin
1745-1800 HK Anarchitecture Bananas
1800-1815 Mic Lee
1815-1830 Hong Kong Design Community
1830-1845 Sam Sham
1845-1900 Vincent Young
1900-1915 Kevin Lim
1915-1930 Manfield Yueng, Stephan Suen
1930-2000 Sharing and Thanks
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008
Time: 1-8pm
Venue: Main Courtyard, Central Police Station, 10 Hollywood Rd, Hong Kong
Contact: Mr Joshua (+852) 9198 2376, or Ms Selina Mak on (+852) 9881 5882
Url: http://www.hkszbiennale.asia/
About Lee Chun-fung
Lee Chun Fung is the Programme Officer of Artist Commune, Hong Kong. He recently graduated from Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Fine Arts Department. In his art, he offers humourous takes on social issues through diverse media including painting, sculpture, video, installation and performance.
<lee_fung2002@yahoo.com.hk>
About Michael Lee Hong-hwee
Michael Lee is a Singapore-born artist based in Hong Kong. He explores his concern about the relation between desire and space through model-making, book-making, photography, video, installation, writing and curating. He was a recipient of Young Artist Award (Visual Arts) 2005, conferred by National Arts Council, Singapore.
<http://www.michael.farm.sg/>
About Mara Show
The event is inspired by Pecha Kucha which was started in Tokyo, Japan in Febryary 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham as a designers' show and tell event.The Biennale Festival will bring this global event to Hong Kong for the very first time, inviting designers from all creative fields to exchange and interact at this very unique and fun event.The concept behind Pecha Kucha is to keep presentations concise, the interest level up and to have many presenters sharing their ideas within the course of one night. Therefore the 20x20 Pecha Kucha format was created: each presenter is allowed a slideshow of images, each shown for 20 seconds each. Mara-show in Hong Kong targets to include 100 presentations from all design related disciplines over an 8-hour long event.
<http://www.hkszbiennale.asia/>
Friday, February 22, 2008
Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Hong Kong, 10 Mar 2008
For Immediate Release
Hong Kong, 10 Mar 2008
Buildings gone crazy!
Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space
Artist Commune, Hong Kong
29 Mar – 17 Apr 2008
Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space is a group exhibition exploring artists' humorous interpretations of urban planning, architecture and design. It will be held at Artist Commune, Hong Kong, during 29 Mar – 17 Apr 2008.
Curated by artists Lee Chun-fung and Michael Lee Hong-hwee, this exhibition aims to provide a platform for Hong Kong artists to explore their personal interpretations of space. Adding the prefix ‘An’ to the word ‘architecture’ yields the exhibition's keyword ‘Anarchitecture’, suggesting an ‘anarchic’ slant in the definition and use of public space. Amidst city living, such as in Hong Kong, where space is limited and also strictly defined, these artists offer alternative views of how one can think, feel and do with space in refreshing ways.
On show are works by over 30 established and emerging artists dealing with different subthemes including personal and collective memory, private and public space, studio space, voyeurism, destruction, discipline and disorder, graffiti, town planning, and familial relationship. These are explored through a diversity of approaches: drawing, collage, photography, sculpture, architectural model, installation, video, miniature, and paper art. The works include: Michael Wolf’s photographs of laundry stuck on different parts of buildings in Hong Kong; Chihoi’s drawings in which Central’s IFC (International Financial Centre) comes alive; Yeung Hok Tak’s comics of graffiti texts behind bus seats; Li Loi-yau’s super-realistic miniature of a wood workshop; Toser Pak’s group performance of crossing the street in a horizontal straight line; Andrew Guthrie’s multi-video installation peeping into people’s homes at night, and Frog King’s graffiti expressions.
This exhibition is co-organised by Artist Commune and Studio Bibliothèque, Hong Kong. It is the third installment in the Things Artists Do series.
Artists: Adrain Wong Ho-yin, Almond Chu, Andrew S Guthrie, Annie Wan, Au Wah Yan, Au Yeung Ping-chi, C&G, Chihoi, Dicky Tse, Doris Wong Wai-yin, Erdmann Cornelia, Frog King, Galen Tse Kin-wah, Ger (WAS), Homan Ho Man-chong, Jeff Leung Chin-fung, Justin Wong, Kacey Wong, Kady Fung Ka-yee, Kwan Sheung-chi, Lau Chi-chung, Lee Chun-fung, Li Loi-yau, Max Tsoi, Michael Lee Hong-hwee, Michael Wolf, Roy Ng Tin-ho, Suki Chan, Tozer Pak, Warren Leung Chi-wo, Yentl Tong Ying-tung, Yeung Hok-tak, Yeung yang, Yuen Kin-leung
Curators: Lee Chun-fung and Michael Lee Hong-hwee
Opening: 4pm, Sat, 29 Mar 2008
Curators’ & Artists’ Talk: 5-6pm, Sat, 29 Mar 2008
Exhibition continues till: Thu, 17 Apr 2008
Opening hours: 12pm – 8pm, Tue – Sun (closed on Mon)
Venue: Artist Commune, 12 Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Rd, Kowloon, HK
Contact: Mr. Lee Chun-fung at (+852) 9558 9394
Email: m63@artist-commune.com
Url: http://anarchibananas.blogspot.com/
About the curators
Lee Chun-fungLee Chun Fung is the Programme Officer of Artist Commune, Hong Kong. He recently graduated from Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Fine Arts Department. In his art, he offers humourous takes on social issues through diverse media including painting, sculpture, video, installation and performance.
<lee_fung2002@yahoo.com.hk>
<lee_fung2002@yahoo.com.hk>
Michael Lee is a Singapore-born artist based in Hong Kong. He explores his concern about the relation between desire and space through model-making, book-making, photography, video, installation, writing and curating. He was a recipient of Young Artist Award (Visual Arts) 2005, awarded by National Arts Council, Singapore.
<http://www.michael.farm.sg/>
About Artist Commune
Taking on the perspective of Hong Kong artists, Artist Commune was established by the core members of Hong Kong Young Artists Association in July 1997. It became a non-profit organization funded by Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) in the following November. As one of the yearly beneficiaries of ADC, Artist Commune registered as a non-profit limited company in December 1999. The establishment of Artist Commune strongly reflects the desire of some artists for a space of art making and exhibition. Since the beginning with artists workshops at Cheung Fat Industrial Building in Shek Tong Tsui, Artist Commune has attracted many local and foreign artists for gatherings and seminars in sharing of their different artistic experiences. Thereafter, in spite of many times of moving, Artist Commune remained to be the base for artists to create and exhibit artworks, and to exchange ideas and experiences. To date, Artist Commune has fledged to be a diversified civic art organization, providing not only exhibition venues for local visual artists but also opportunities for the development of various art forms and artistic collaborations.
About Studio Bibliothèque
Studio Bibliothèque facilitates experiments in making, writing, curating and learning. It is the Hong Kong-based working and living space of Singapore-born artist Michael Lee Hong Hwee. The studio has been featured in the media including in the regional lifestyle and design magazine iSh, Sunday Morning Post, Ming Pao Daily, Ming Pao Weekly, Weekend Weekly, and Take Me Home.
<http://www.studiobibliotheque.blogspot.com/>
About Things Artists Do series
Things Artists Do is an exhibition/publication series of Studio Bibliothèque. It aims to address the gap amidst the onslaught of survey, thematic art shows and books by focusing on the being, consumption and activities of artists. So far, two exhibitions in the series have been completed, respectively Autobibliophiles: Artists who make or use books, May/Jun 2007; and Eniminiminimos: Artists who make things small, Jan 2008, both held in Studio Bibliothèque. Two projects of the series are currently in progress: Hong Kong Anarchitecture Bananas: Artists who reclaim space, 29 Mar - 17 Apr 2008, Artist Commune; and Preoccupations: Things artists do anyway, a bookwork to be launched in Jul 2008.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)