Ripples.

The "Ripples"(1987) by Neil Dawson was commissioned in  for the opening of the Waikato Museum building in Grantham Street. It is a suspended sculpture, comprised of a 6 metre span of carbon fibre reinforced polyester resin, which represents the ripple effects of a falling stone hitting the water. It hangs between the canopy of trees, approximately 20 metres in the air, above the Waikato Museum riverbank. It is built in the terms of an public art.

His work can be talked about in the context of “tromp l’oeil”, which was recognized from the Baroque period, from the French words it means "deceive the eye", which is an art technique using realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. Forced perspective is a comparable illusion in architecture. In this case, Dawson tries to do the opposite that is to make a three-dimensional sculpture look as a two dimensions image.

This connects to the issue of flatness, typically associated with teleological readings of modernist painting. Some of the accounts of postmodernism, such as Frederic Jameson (1987) identified flatness –the modernist trope par excellence – as postmodernism’s distinguishing feature. In an effort to untangle this contradiction, a new genealogy of flatness is proposed.

The work can also be related to Clement Greenbergian’s (1955) modernism between optical flatness and psychological depth. The psychological depth tied to optical flatness in modern art is itself deflated, producing a marriage of optical and psychological flatness. These transformations in the meaning surface and superficiality are traced through the art of Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, David Hammons and Kara Walker.

While the texture of the sculpture are similar to the old-fashioned comic strip as subject matter, just like it was drawn by magna paint, which can be associated as Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art (1963-1966), which produces a hard-edged, precise composition that documents while it parodies in a soft manner. 

Song Dong's 36 Calendars.

On 2 Feb, 2013 we went to the ArtisTree in Quarry Bay to visit the first solo exhibition of Beijing-based artist Song Dong. It’s co-presented by Asia Art Archive and the West Kowloon Cultural District’s Mobile M+. 
It’s called “Song Dong: 36 Calendars”.

Song Dong has created the 36 Calendars in the form of hand-drawn, wire-bound annual household wall calendars. He has reviewed his version of history from 1978, when he was 12, until this year. 

The Mayan apocalypse sparks his idea to create “Song Dong: 36 Calendars” as he doesn't believe in the apocalyptic prediction. Instead he takes the meaning of time and history into his own hands by literally rewriting the years. The calendar records Song's personal perspective, as well as social issues, political, and art history.

I myself fancy such a tactile texture of pencil strokes. Sketching is good-natured that make people feel familiar.  The tone of the entire work is very sincere, which builds a comfortable atmosphere for the audiences to look into the history, and also the story of Song's life.Looking through the calenders is just like reading his autobiography. The audiences could easily be sympathetic when seeing his note and sketching towards some significant issues, for instance, the  June Fourth Incident and the death of Steven Jobs. 

I am particularly impressed by some the calenders. One is about Song's father's death on Aug 2002. The video tape represents his last touch with his father. the whole picture is simple, but very heart-stirring. I immediately associated the video tape with the cassette tapes from my father, because it is my father to share his favorite music to me via playing cassette tapes. In our life there maybe some objects means nothing to others but only means a lot to certain individuals. 

Some other sheets of calenders his about the progress of his project: writing diary on stones with water. I write diary so as to recorder my life experience, it makes me wonder the idea of using  water to do this deed, just like he mentioned his father challenged him about the usefulness of writing with water. Although the words disappear seemingly, Song thinks that thee ought to be something remain, perhaps is the clear memories on the experiences, or the feeling after writhing...anyway, it maybe a good way to write daily, as you don't need to worry the your intimate records will be seen by others. 

To be frank, i have never heard about Song Dong before this exhibition, but I have learnt a lot about him just after one exhibition. I think it is an amazing part of art, that you can really step into the artist's world to experience what he/she has experienced. The exhibition started by an collective event on 21 Jan, inviting 432 people to write history together. Each will be given a month of the 432 months of the calendars sketched by Song Dong, and together the participants will add their own memories to the month with images or words. Surprisingly, I found their works very interesting.

This is a good example of participle art, that welcome audience to add their own elements on the artist's work, so that everyone can also become an artist. it definitely can achieve further engagement from the audience. Which is also an important feature of contemporary art: relational aesthetic, that is not onlt create a piece of work,but to create impact on people through interaction.

I enjoy this exhibition a lot that I spent the whole morning in it, probably I am the classmate who leave at last.

Around sound.

On 26 Jan, our class went to the Around sound art festival at Kwun Tong Ferry Pier.

 Actually I think it is my first time to go Kwun Tong Ferry Pier. The venue is a good choice for the performance, although it is desolate that not many people access, the space is sample ad close to nature, so that audience would pay more attention to all the sound and not be distracted.

Matt Cook's works are very interesting , that he makes use of the daily objects, combined them to installations and create special sound, like the little experiments done by kids . His artworks are still in progress, but I think this  concept is already completed and it inspire us to observe more in our daily lives, and think about how the ordinary material can be use in other different ways. 

Other then that, there was performances "Stream" , done by Akio Suzuki (鈐木昭男) and the other female dancers. Akio Suzuki  kept  hammering nails on the wood, to form the sound and the pattern of varying lengths arranged.

Look at the body movements of the dancers, the relationship nail. do not understand. then he used plastic chopsticks to "travel" on them,  produce a special kind of sound in different rhythms and speeds music. The female dancer followed the rhythm of the sound body and made body movements, sometimes dance as a bird,  sometimes dance as the stream...

To be frank, I don't understand what they want to show, but, the performance produce the sound of void, and together withe the echo in the pier, I have a new experience in sound. Nails and woods maybe two kinds of "vulgar" materials, however when we feel them via a new aspect -the sound, I find them mysterious. And it provoke me to start thinking about the possibility of sound.

Another piece of performance of the work related to water and glass bottles. Green glass bottle filled with water on the floor row straight line. The dancers picked up the glass bottles, turning the body, the water laid on the ground and became a piece of "water painting" on the floor. 

I think The whole picture is very elegant and the beam of sunlight  pass thought the water and the bottle made an peaceful and comfortable atmosphere. when Akio Suzuki blowing the mouth of the bottle, I suddenly felt a sense of friendliness: that's what I used to play when I was a kid.

The overall experience reminds me the childhood games I play: making small installation with home materials, taping bowls with chopsticks, blowing the mouth of a bottle like blowing a whistle... those little stuff in life was once my favorite element of sounds. However as we keep growing, world become dull and harsh...in fact I think we somehow are quite skin-deep. When seeing a daily matters, we lose the creativity and just rely on our pair of eyes. Although I don't  know what the original messages were, I think I have found such a sample happiness again, just like a piece of music to my ears.

After that day, when I hear the annoying escalator music in the Festival walk, I miss those sound i heard in the pier, simple but sincere.