Photographers on their works

I just stumbled upon some videos of contemporary photographers. Enjoy.

Privacy of the artist

Just viewed the photo diary of a photographer, Patrick Tsai, reminding me of Nan Goldin, also thoughts about artists and their private lives. Allow me to post earlier (rather informal) entries concerning the topic. I will also email you a draft exhibition idea concerning that.

#1_Artists (painters, writers, musicians, etc) often expose the most personal part of their lives, the innermost of their minds, in their works. In fact, the works are part of their lives. The most personal, possibly. Then they become the most public. When the piece is inspired by and made for self and/or close ones, where does recognition lie? Who has the authority to judge or even view?

But they expose themselves.

Ourselves.

I wonder why we do that, slicing the body just to reveal the flesh, and let people suck your blood – people who you don’t know. And the intended audience? You will never know if they would take a sip.

#2_Paparazzi annoy some. But come to think about it, where do biographies come from? They are tabloids done professionally (and usually when the person is dead). Personal lives do help us understand, be it the works or aspects in life. And surely we often seek for curiosity. One listens to Beethoven and wonders why he could be deaf. One reads Oscar Wilde and wants to know if he’s gay. One looks at Dalí’s paintings and would like to know who Gala is. One wants to know every detail of Einstein’s affairs without bothering about relativity (he’s not an “artist”, but speaking of biographies…).

And our reason/excuse? They are so great we must be able to learn something from crisis to trivia of their lives.

Considerations for what kind of exhibition we will hold.

My considerations, thoughts and wishes of what the exhibition for the CTP final project.

• Present a contemporary art exhibition that is engaging to varying degrees, an exhibition that doesn’t only cater to the ‘art circle’ or the art intelligentsia but one that is also accessible by members of the general public, regardless of education level.
• Strive to present previously not shown works provide the opportunity for an artists to present new work or work in progress stimulate artists to create new work specific to our chosen curatorial premise.
• Consider inviting local artists (Hong Kong based) in order to (a) help stimulate and develop local talent  (b) give local talent an opportunity to exhibit (c) local artists most appropriate to respond to an exhibition that deals with concerns or issues about Hong Kong (d) budget considerations, it can be expensive to bring artists from abroad.
• we should be clear from the outset about what kind of exhibition and art works we wish to present, why and the scope e.g.: (a) politically correct, rock the boat, challenge the norms or  make the headlines by provoking a major incident? (b) commercial value (potentially a sale for the artist) or the other extreme (totally experimental work with no commercial value none-so-ever) or something in between?  (What is the Para/Site guideline on selling artworks if someone is interested to buy/collect?)
• Try to avoid deciding the exhibition theme and curatorial premise based on exhisting artists’ work, would it not be better to start from a curatorial concept and then find artists that are willing to respond by making new work specifically for our exhibition?

Comments?  Let’s discuss on Thursday.

Oh Terence…KOH!

Sorry for my ignorance, but it was after the ArtMART auction that I knew about Terence Koh. If I was not reassured by the name, I could hardly relate the above auction piece with asianpunkboy. While this piece reminded me of Chinese ink painting of serene type, the website is simply a series of visual shock. This perhaps, illustrates again that we cannot define an artist by a single piece of work, especially when the audience lacks knowledge of the artist. The perception of the work will then be shaped by further understanding, if any. At first I was not amazed by this particular work, but after I saw more of his works and became very attracted to them, I started to realize the rhythm and possible mentalities in it. I may still hold no preference to it, but my view of it changes. Beneath the punk surface there is a certain grace in his works, most easily seen from his poetic diaries. The chemistry of violent freedom and elegance becomes more visible then, in this piece.

That was the experience with that single work. About Koh’s website “ASIANPUNKBOY W O R L D”, the navigation itself says what he is. Kohbunny links to a random entry instead of the next entry. While hyperlinks in most Internet articles may distract the viewer by leading him elsewhere thus disrupting linear reading, the non-linear experience in the website provides excitement and a sort of mental disorder that matches his works very well.

Koh’s presence in his photographic works and snapshots, together with his fashion and behaviour, contributes to the artist’s star image. It remains a question whether he becomes one of his artworks, but the visible (and active) involvement of the artist in producing works or presenting himself makes it impossible to separate the artist from his works. This happens to many of the famous such as Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol. Surely, the media often play a big role in generating the art brand, whether the artist intentionally exploits them or not. I don’t know exactly how I am influenced by him, but I totally enjoy both Koh’s works and the person, because they are one.

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Introduction

This blog is going to be co-edited by Nana Seo, Iris Lo, Evangelo Costadimas and Lam Hoi Sin, four participants of CTP (2008-09), Curatorial Training Programme organized by Para/Site Art Space in Hong Kong. It is mainly a vehicle to enhance the learning process, meaning anything from formal writings, casual discussions to note jotting or material posting may occur. We still don’t know yet, but we will be posting soon.