UNITY - Wall Drawing Installation
Jan 14, 2006 - Feb 12, 2006
@1a space
1a space is delighted to present an exhibition “UNITY- Wall Drawing Installation” by a local artist Jolans Fung. This exhibition features Jolans Fung’s wall drawings, which is a unique style and conceptual form which combine “drawing” and “installation”. It is the artist’s reconsideration of drawing and response to the rapid city-life. The exhibition will be opened on 14 January at 7pm. The artist would be at the gallery at 6pm to share the development of his art work.
Using 1a space gallery as his canvas, Jolans Fung experiences drawing in a sensational gesture. The traces and marks are the poetics he “writes” onto the space. He begins with wall, charcoal and water, with the elements we are familiar with in everyday life and those memories and imagination interlaced in the subconscious world during the development process; and put the fragments to the gallery space, Jolans Fung hopes to unite drawing, space and audience, and to reach the state of enlightenment.
The exhibition welcomes audience to participate by drawing their own experience on the given paper and paste it onto the specific areas on the wall. A two-way interactive and creative experience allows the audience to fuse into the art-piece, with the space and also the installation.
Outside the MC6
Feb 18, 2006 - Mar 05, 2006
@1a space
Participating Artist: Icarus Wong
Curator: Edwin Lai @pH5 Photo Group
What’s outside the MC6
I have taken a lot of portraits of the protestors in the anti-WTO demonstrations, hoping to present their emotions to the viewers and to show a different aspect of the demonstrations. For me, the events were far more than exciting collisions of body parts. To be frank, I have always been pessimistic about the MC6, and don’t believe that there will be any positive outcomes. The terms would not be good if agreements were reached. And if there were no agreements, the big powers can still bypass the WTO and make bilateral negotiations with the weaker countries. Ultimately, if what they want is to exploit you and squeeze you, they surely will find some methods to do so. Only then the responsibilities will not be borne by the WTO.
Consequently, at that time I was only hoping that the activities by the civic associations could arouse certain public awareness of the issues surrounding the WTO, and in relations thereto develop a general desire for universal fairness and justice.
Before the MC6, I had great grudges against the mainstream media for their scanty discussions: their only concern was whether there would be violence. In addition, the government’s propaganda was highly superficial, and the influences of the concerned groups were very limited. The general public did not have much understanding about the WTO, some were even at a level of believing that it would bring down the prices of oranges, and the protesters were mob groups. Under such circumstances, I was worried that any drastic actions of the protesters would be unproportionally magnified, which would make the people to ignore their demands and sufferings. Fortunately, perhaps because the campaigners had studied Hong Kong’s demonstration culture beforehand, there were not many hostilities during the period when the MC6 conferences were being held. Instead, they just sang and danced to attract the attention of the local citizens. The most moving gesture was surely the South Korean farmers’ performance of the “three steps and one kneeling” ritual, which surely had deeply impressed Hong Kong people and aroused their curiosities about the WTO’s policies on world agriculture. However, the escalation of the confrontation between the demonstrators and the police on December 17 brought the people’s attention back to the issue of violence. Everything concerning the demonstration activities has become nothing but a degree of violence, and the protestors’ grief, demands and hopes are no longer heard. Very few people have paid attention to the agreements made at the MC6, not to mention a continuation of the concerns they had just developed. Under such circumstances, what is the point of reporting and recording the actual scenes? The actual scenes of the anti-WTO demonstrations have not been able to publicize a general concern about the WTO, for we are speaking in very different languages.
turf: Garden in To Kwa Wan
Apr 07, 2006 - Apr 23, 2006
@1a space
Participating Artists: Emma Rushton 及 Derek Tyman
‘turf: Garden in To Kwa Wan’ is the first artist-in-residence programme of 1a space in 2006. Two UK artists, namely Emma Rushton and Derek Tyman, are invited to present this community art project from late March to April. The project will be the third in a series of related projects presented by the artists to feature gardens constructed in exhibitions spaces through the collaboration with communities.
For ‘turf: Garden in To Kwa Wan’, the artists will live in To Kwa Wan and interact with its neighborhood. They will invite the people who are living or working around the area to donate a plant or flower to be displayed in a “garden” they will realize in 1a space gallery. People could simply bring their plant or flower to 1a space at Cattle Depot Artists Village from 24 March to 5 April. In return, the artists will give them a free book which was produced by them specifically for this project. In particular, they have invited Kwong Lee, an artist based in Manchester, England and who has links with Hong Kong, to make a project to be included in this book.
Emma and Derek’s interest in gardens began in 2003 when they took a series of photographs in their neighborhood in Manchester. Many gardens conform to social propriety; they however, were interested in recording gardens that did not follow established patterns or rules but revealed a micro-history of everyday practices and social activities of people on their ‘turf’.
Artists’ Biography:
Joint projects/exhibitions have included: From Elsewhere, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (2005); Yourland, Leeds City Art Gallery (2005); Unoccupied Territory, Konstakuten, Stockholm, Sweden (2004); You Are At Home Here, Lokaal 01, Breda, Netherlands (2003); In This Place, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh, (2003); Food From Elsewhere - a series of events in Manchester and St Petersburg, Russia (2001-2003); CAMPAIGN, Milch, London (2000); In From The Edge, museumsakademie, Berlin, Germany (1999).
In 1997 they co-produced The Mule, with artist Roman Vasseur, which combined the publication of a mimic newspaper for just one day (edition 150,000), along with an internet site to provide a context for artists to focus on the way information is manufactured and presented in the press. They have contributed to a number of lecture series in the UK including: INDENT organised by Virginia Nimarkoh, Camberwell College of Art, London (1999), and SYMPOSIA:imagetext, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, England (2003).nd (2003).
Nature. Culture. Wanchai
Apr 08, 2006 - May 13, 2006
@1a space
Participating Artist: Emma Rushton and Derek Tyman
The renovation of Tai Wong Street East Amenity Park in Wanchai has been completed, with new design embedded with historical and cultural meanings. In coincide with the opening of the Park, and to encourage community participation, a project entitled Nature‧Culture‧Wanchai will be presented by Cultural and Leisure Services Committee, Wanchai District Council and St. James’ Settlement, co-presented by 1a space and British Council, and curated by UMA G gallery.
The project aims to enhance the quality of life through the greening of the park, to integrate art into community environment, to cultivate commitment to community and promote local art activities in Wanchai. A wide range of programmes will be launched including garden project, visual art workshop, wall painting, performance workshop, and an opening week to stage installation, exhibition and performance. The details are as follows:
1. Hong Kong Garden (in Wanchai)
Dates: 8 –9 April (Sat & Sun) (2-6pm)
Activities: Two British artists, Emma Rushton and Derek Tyman will collaborate with residents to create a garden at the park.
*Free shuttle bus will run between the Park and Hong Kong Garden (in To Kwa Wan) at Cattle Depot Artists Village
2. Visual Art Workshop: Mapping identities
Dates: 15, 16, 22, 23 April (Sat & Sun) (2-4pm)
Activities: Conducted by two visual artists, Chris Chan and Ivy Ma, the workshop is about articulating the participants’ memories and expression of the place. At the end of the workshop, participants will paint a mural on the wall of the Park.
3. Performance Workshop: Live, Community & Memory
Dates: 12 April (Wed) (2:30-5:00pm)
19, 26 April, 3 May (Wed) (7:00-9:30pm)
Activities: Conducted by artists, Yuenjie and Wenyau, the workshop is about expressing yourself by performance in search of objects, body, community and memory. At the end of the workshop, participants will perform with artists in the opening week of the Park.
4. Opening Week (7-13 May)
Live Performance
Dates: 7 May (Sun)(8-10pm) 13 May (Sat)(3-5pm)
Garden Display, Installation Exhibition, Wall Painting Dates: 7-13 May
Barcode + Sound
May 06, 2006 - May 18, 2006
@1a space
Barcode + Sound, presented by 1a space, features the new installation works of Mae LEONG, a Hong Kong born, Canada based artist. The exhibition opens on 5 May at 7pm and stages from 6 May to 18 May 2006. An artist sharing session will be held on 6 May at 3pm, we welcome students and public to attend.
Barcode is a “symbol” that we encounter everyday. LEONG incorporated barcode as a metaphor to reveal the global culture of international trade and market in relation to universal digitalization. Barcode + Sound displays the barcode collected by LEONG obsessively from everyday consumer products all over the world. According to LEONG, barcode is not just a functional symbol; it also connects our everyday consuming practices to a large digitalized database under cross-cultural and social notions.
Barcode + Sound connects consumerism and digitalization which are both multi-cultural and non-geographical. Through the display of barcode collected from different cities and countries, the phenomenon of technological, economical and cultural exchange is exposed. The scanning of barcode associate with the act of consumption becomes an essential part in everyday life across international boundaries or territories. The exhibition is a reflection of this phenomenon, and also the artist’s criticism to the intensification of international trade.
Artist’s Statement
This installation , Barcode + Sound, displays thousands of barcodes that I collected which were obtained from everyday consumer products from all over the world, for instance, China, Korea, Argentina, U.S.A., etc. This work also incorporates sound that is edited particularly for this work. It mimics the sound produced when the barcode is being laser-scanned
Barcode + Sound is the continuation of one of my previous works, Eternal Identity, in which barcodes served as a departure for an exploration of the boundary between digitalization and human identity. In this work, I furthered my direction and used barcodes to reveal the culture of consumerism and globalization in relation to international trade. All the barcodes were obtained from the packages of consumer products I encounter every day, but only a few of them originated locally because most products are imported from overseas. Globalization plays a main role in our economy.
A barcode is a special and functional symbol of our time and it is so common that everyone would see this symbol everyday on almost every object. Just because it is so widely used, people tend not to be aware of seeing it. A barcode is different from other kinds of symbols due to a digital function that links it to a computerized database.
Artist’s Biography
Mae Leong is a Hong Kong born, Canada based visual artist who has been developing her works focusing on social and cross-cultural notions. She studied fine art, psychology, and education in Hong Kong and Canada and has exhibited internationally at galleries in Canada, the U.S., and Hong Kong.
She is an installation artist as well as a mixed media painter. In her paintings, the exploration of herself and her identity is the main inspiration in her creative process. However, in her installation works, rather than deliver her “egotistic” perceptions, she expands her thoughts and research towards some controversial social and environmental issues. Leong uses art as a voice to draw people’s concern and awareness about those issues. Her recent works were featured in The Hamilton Spectator, among other local newspapers. As well, she was interviewed on a TV show produced by the University of Buffalo’s Center for the Arts.
Leong is one of the recipients of the emerging artist grant awarded by the Ontario Arts Council in 2004. Her current installation project will be presented at 1a Space (Hong Kong), ARC Gallery (Chicago), and A Space Gallery (Toronto)
aWay
Jun 09, 2006 - Jun 29, 2006
@1a space
Curator: Jeff Leung Chin-fung
aWay, presented by 1a space, is the first local group exhibition of contemporary visual artists. The participating artists include 14 young and emerging artists, to move beyond the dual centres of “east” and “west”, these artists roam free in the space of marginality, traveling to and from, in and out of art and cultural history.
The curator, Jeff Leung divided the artists into 3 categories:
1. The individual in the City
Kwan Sheung-chi, Project 226, Chun Hao-jing, Tozar Pak, Tamshui
2. Outside the Cente
Joey Leung, Mabel Cheung, Jaspar Lau, Lee Kit, Yuenjie
3. Art Bloggers
Hanson Lau, Law Yuk-mui, Doris Wong, Florian Ma
The artists were born in the 70s, and actively participate in local art scene in the 90s. Benefited from the economic boom and social stability of the 80s, the artists grew up in an information age where TV and computers dominate their senses. The consume culture and a rapid pace of life helped shift their attention from social issues to personal choice and orientation.
Their works are geared towards personal issues and experiences, and tend to focus on fragmented sensations and memories. The art form or theme, are motivated by concerns of hybrid living experiences and everyday culture, rather than looking into the mix or clash of East and West. Their works, though, are diverse and unique in choice of media and topic; speak powerfully of the person behind the work—more oriented towards personal experiences of life than their predecessors. More importantly, they have different takes and understandings of the great expectations (to respond to the society through art) of their predecessors.
The reportoire of works and artists is rooted in personal history, and also addresses the present-day society. They cannot be grouped into any one category, nor do they have any specific methods or patterns. The artist may be unable, or helpless, to intervene and change the course of history.
About the Curator
Leung Chin-fung, Jeff was graduated with Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts), the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2001 and obtained Professional Certificate in Arts Management, The Art School, the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 2003. He has curated numerous shows, including C – An Alternative Readings (2005) and Mirror Me – Recent works of Lam Wai-kit & Vivian Leung (2005). Jeff is also an art critic and has publication on preliminary art issues. Selected art writings include ‘What’s this print, by Gaylord Chan’ (in Chinese) and ‘Notes on the Phenomenon of Visual Art Exhibition in Hong Kong’ (in Chinese). (For details, please refer to ?)
Re-re-presentation
Jul 01, 2006 - Jul 12, 2006
@1a space
Participating Artist: Clara and Gum (C & G)
Curator: Project 226
’Re-re-presentation’ C & G’s Self Portraits Exhibition
With a strong belief to uphold the close relationship between art and the society, the key members of 226 Project Clara and Gum (C&G) participated in the July 1st parades dressed in traditional Chinese wedding costumes, to inject a “does of happiness” (Chong xi) in (the society). On 1st July in 2005, they distributed postcards to the passers-by and asked them to express opinions by writing or drawing on the cards. Through performance art and mailing, it formed a collective force to appeal to the new chief executive.
On 1st July this year, Clara and Gum will review their parades in the past few years, by employing the media sources to re-re-present their actions. The exhibition will display Gum and Clara’s paintings which are the reflective documentation of their self -impressions. They re-capture the reportage of their performance at 1st July parades in 2004 and 2005, and by drawing the self-portraits to review the presence of their past performance art. In the process, they reflect on the use of media and see how it portrays their images. It stimulates us to see how the media(other) seeourselves and it involves a re-interpretation of the concept of self-portrait. Besides, the exhibition will also display the postcards collected by Clara and Gum after the 1st July parade in 2005, and the interactive installation and video works related to 1st July parades.
Serendipity
Jul 28, 2006 - Aug 20, 2006
@1a space
Participating Artists: Joonas Kota, Liisa Lounila, Sami Lukkarinen, Erkka Nissinen and Riiko Sakkinen
Curator: Leevi Haapala
Serendipity - Finnish Contemporary Art Exhibition
1a space will launch its second artist-in-residence programme this year. As the curator, Leevi Haapala, will work with other five Finnish contemporary artists, Joonas Kota, Liisa Lounila, Sami Lukkarinen, Erkka Nissinen and Riiko Sakkinen to present an exhibition entitled “Serendipity” from 29 July 2006 to 20 August 2006 at 1a space gallery.Opening reception will be held on 28 July 2006 at 6:30pm and the participating artists will deliver talk at 7:30pm.
Serendipity means an ability to discover something by accident while investigating something quite different. In contemporary art serendipity could be seen as the daily source of inspiration for a visual artist. While looking for a certain thing, artist will find something even more interesting. Those are usually visual stimuli.
In this exhibition, participating Finnish artists find the sources of inspiration from
surprising situations and places like contemporary global technological industry, internet sites, hated junk mails, SMS-messages. The sources of contents vary from the growing Asia industry to Western painting tradition and the human rights.
Serendipity as an attitude towards life and a turning point towards cultural production of meanings, it is connected to that peaceful and on the other hand to an expecting state of mind that could take a viewer under its influence in the exhibition. Viewer might find something precious that brings sudden feeling of joy. In contemporary life those
happy feelings are often related to consumption culture. The works of art in the exhibition give new perspectives to consumerism and technological
innovations.
Leevi Haapala said, "They were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of."
“Our wish is to continue to make these sudden discoveries in Hong Kong!”
A Realm with No Coordinates
Aug 26, 2006 - Sep 10, 2006
@1a space
Participating Artists:
Taiwan: Chen Kai Huang, Chen Wei Fung, Fang Wei Wen, Gong Yih Jau, Lai Chih Sheng, Lin Huang Ti, Yu Wei
Hong Kong: Cheung Lik Kwan, Amy Cheung, Jeff Leung, Leung Chi Wo, Leung Mee Ping, Tozer Pak, Deng Siu Wah
Curators: Chen Zuei Wen (Taiwan), Ray Poon (Taiwan), Lau Kin Wah(Hong Kong)
A Realm with No Coordinates, is an artistic project in between artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan. It includes a website for curators, artists and writers to communicate and together explore on the theme of the project. The coming exhibition in 1a Space is just the first actual exhibition, out of a series of three.
Creative identification in a realm with no coordinates
By bringing together artists and writers from Hong Kong and Taiwan across the strait, we like to reflect upon the common identity question raised in the two land, and explore different ways to attend a kind of creative expression of subjectivity, which the identification charted into a territory beyond existing coordinates. Via generating dialogues and exchanges in between artists and works, artworks and texts, and scenario shiftings as the venues changes, the project try to foster an encounter of the different realities of space/time, so works of the artists and writers could response to the situation at hand, but bring us further insights that chart beyond the present limiting parameters. Since the exhibition at 1A will just be the first actual exhibition venue of our project, after the exhibition has toured Taipei and Tainan, the project will organize a further documentary exhibition accompanied by a conference in Hong Kong, so audiences in Hong Kong could keep track and see how the project continues to evolve.
The Subjectivity of Contemporary Art in Hong Kong and Taiwan
Both Hong Kong and Taiwan are highly modernized Chinese society. However, they have quite different historical path of development, and their relation is becoming more politically delicate and sensitive after 1997. But as Mainland China is gaining its momentum in its economical development as well as importance in different world platforms, the previous comparative paradigm of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan is getting more imbalance. The economical, cultural and political aspects have produced much tensions and deadlocks. Even in the contemporary art scene, as the Chinese art is getting the international limelights, Hong Kong and Taiwan artists are being marginalized. By attending to the common and division character of the contemporary art practice in face of such situation, the project hopes to evocate a new discoursive paradigm that could restore a platform for our own subjectivity to participate in the global world.
Jerry Kwan – A Retrospective Exhibition
Sep 23, 2006 - Oct 21, 2006
@1a space
This exhibition will showcase the works of Jerry Kwan since the 70’s, including unexhibited printmaking and drawing at his early stage, the oil paintings during his time in New York, and the mixed media works after his return to Hong Kong.
Heavy and textual oil pigments (Plate 1), exquisite refinement of color and tones(Plate 2), and depiction of the New York underground scenes(Plate 3) have become the signification of Kwan’s thirty-year artistic development. Stepping into the 20th Century, dead bodies of insects appeared on his oil paintings abruptly (Plate 4). Life and death, death and life, emerged again from the image reference of the gigantic skull and the tiny baby (Plate 5); then the head portray of Pope and the covered private part of body (Plate 6). Representation and the low chroma marked the artistic transition of Kwan in this period. Recently, being interested in social issues, Kwan has developed a series of works based on the imitation of folk art. Its vividness and the use of diverse materials demonstrated traditional art in modernized style (Plate 7).
In the 60’s and 70’s, Kwan practiced art independently before he entered the extra-mural Department of Hong Kong University to learn painting. In the 80’s, he furthered his learning in New York, a city which was full of threats at that time. The perilous political, social and economic conditions however became the sources of inspiration to Kwan.
Kwan returned to Hong Kong in 1997, marking an end to his 25-year self-exile. Instead of making work about himself, Kwan chooses to explore the world, looks back upon traditions, and develops new artistic directions. He is now living in his studio in Fotan, and enjoying his work every day. Currently, he is working as a part-time lecturer at the Department of Fine Arts, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
In coincide with the exhibition opening, a book on the retrospective of Jerry Kwan will be published. The book includes the reproductions of Kwan’s unique and wondrous artworks. The design of the book cover and its first page are developed from a painting of Kwan in 1999, named “The Spirit of Zen Buddhism” (Plate 8). The color strips on the cover are also generated from the same painting as to echo Kwan’s profundity in mastering colors.
Apart form the exhibitions at Cattle Depot Artists’ Village, we have specially opened Kwan’s studio in Fotan during weekends. Such that people can have the chance to see more works, and get a closer touch with the artistic life of Jerry Kwan.
[Re-]Vision
Nov 01, 2006 - Nov 29, 2006
@1a space
Participating Artist: Choi Yan-chi
The retrospective on Choi Yan-chi comes in two parts, [Re-]Vision at 1a space, opening on November 1 (Wednesday) and [Re-]Fabrication at Para/Site on November 10 (Friday), 2006.
[Re-]Vision will highlight Choi’s works from the 70s, her paintings mainly, together with her experimental Polaroid works and the documentation of some of her performance works. A dialogue with Linda Lai will also be featured in the form of a creative piece.
[Re-]Fabrication, researched and curated by Linda Lai, will present Choi’s reconstruction and adaptation of her former installation series – mainly “Drowned” (1989-97) and “Past & Future” (1997-2000). One of the key performances in which Choi had participated, Object-activity (1989), will be re-interpreted in video form by a group of students from City University’s School of Creative Media.
Two forums will be held in the course of both exhibitions. “The paths of inter-disciplinarity: being a local artist of Hong Kong,” to take place at 1a Space (Nov 18), is targeted at current art students and young artists. Choi will deliver the narrative of her struggle as an artist growing up in Hong Kong and educated overseas. She will be joined by other artists and art critics to explore the many questions that confront a local artist. “The Practice of Art and the Practice of Criticism: a projective dialogue for art education in Hong Kong,” to take place at Para/Site Art Space (Nov 25), invites experienced practitioners in art criticism, art education and curatorship to dialogue with Choi on her “re-fabrication” at the PS gallery. The creative process will be tied to broader questions of the dynamic relation between art-making, criticism and education, and the polemic role of curatorial practice.
To coincide with the exhibition opening at Para/Site, [Re-]Fabrication, a book on the research and retrospective of Choi yan-chi will be launched.
“The book forms an active dialogue with Para/Site Art Space’s research-based retrospective of Hong Kong visual artist Choi Yan-chi’s artistic creation. It surveys the meandering paths she has walked through: from painting to the deconstruction of the genre, from the play with material to installation, from photography to performance, from the quest for and burden of “Chinese-ness” to the struggle to move into conceptual art… The many trajectories mapped out in Choi’s works and pursuits speak of not only the artist’s soul-searching journey for integration and contextualization in her own art practices, but also, reflexively, the many crises and opportunities emerging in the history of thevisual arts in Hong Kong. Other than pure documentation of Choi’s works and writings by and about her, the artist will re-create some of her past works to build a dialogue between the past and the present. [Re-]fabrication, therefore, replaces conclusive retrospection, to open up the many questions integral to the practice of an artist. Perhaps, ultimately and rather implicitly, the research process, the making of the catalogue, and the negotiation for [re-]fabrication lead to the more basic questions on the status quo of art education in the territory.” - Linda C.H. LAI
Cattle Depot Book Fair 2006 --- A Book is Book
Dec 1, 2006 - Dec 4, 2006
@1a space
With a strong mission on organizing a REAL book fair for Hong Kong public, Cattle Depot Book Fair 2006 has chosen the theme as “A Book is book”. A list of fascinating activities includes:
-
1st Cattle Depot Book Award which will be selected and voted by Cattle Book Award Committee and public
-
Bookaholic Local Tour which shows the route for exploring extraordinary books in Hong Kong
-
Bookaholic Bazaar with prestigious selected book publishers promoting books in a cozy atmosphere
-
Bookaholic Night provides a platform for all the book lovers from P.R.C., Taiwan and Hong Kong to share the happiness of collecting scarce books.
-
Scarce Book Exhibition demonstrated books with high historical value, such as the first print version of famous authors in 1920’s.
-
In spite of the mentioned activities, we can also find local artists’ installation and performance, Marathon Book Reading Club, concert and poem recital, Cattle Flea Market, “HK Locals VS World Citizen” Seminars and “HK Community Preservation and Humanities” Seminars during the book fair.
Strangers
Dec 15, 2006 - Jan 06, 2007
@1a space
Participating Artists: Yoshiaki Kaihatasu, Takahiro Suzuki, Atsuko Arai, Shiro Masuyama
Curator: Shiro Masuyama
Our exchange program between Hong Kong and Japan is based, not only as exhibitions in both countries, but also as an artist in residence program. Each artist will stay for a fixed period to pursue their art activities, but for this limited period they will only be able to stay not as inhabitants but will remain "STRANGERS" . For them, their stay might be just like sightseeing, they will get some unexpected experiences more or less.
Their experiences will be changeable depending on the artists and also the circumstances of where they will stay. My selected Japanese artists are especially good at taking advantage of these kinds of circumstances. I think up to now each of the artists involved has also experienced the feeling of being a "STRANGER" through their work and their life.
Each artist has traveled a lot for their art activities. According to the circumstances their work it has changed into various styles due to these displacements. I hope that, during this program, even though their stay is short, they will get some good influence to create interesting works which inhabitants and viewers from each country will feel "STRANGE" to.
Shiro MASUYAMA
New Mode, project of Yoshiaki Kaihatsu
We are looking for models for an art project.
I want to take picture of a person in a “questioned”room which could be
an office/studio/home. There are new clothes and fashion in the world every year. We cannot put on beautiful clothes the fashion show announces and portrays as everyday wears. The purpose of wearing clothes is not to put something on, but to show it.
In my project, I shall make clothes with things that cannot be simply put on. I shall make “similar clothes in clothes” and meaning that a famous Fashion designer makes. In a word, it is clothes only for showing. It exists as beauty and is not as wonderful as the same thing in meaning. (By Kaihatasu)