Lee Kit’s “You”: Angry Sausage, Anyone?

Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, To Kwa Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 6 March – 13 April 2014

I already did not intent to write about this exhibition, but given the amount of publicity and importance attributed to this show, I want to record my impressions and add to the pile of texts produced.

The show was a remake of Lee Kit’s Venice Biennale project from last year. Without going into much detail, the setup was the typical Lee Kit setup, with small interventions in space, some on the edge of visibility: A post-it on the wall, a water bucket in the corner, a t-shirt on a hanger, mixed with some pastel color paintings and videos depicting situations as mundane as his objects – a finger playing with bits of sticky tape, a sausage on a barbecue, etc.

All of this was not so surprising, but it was pleasant. It was the Lee Kit I knew from my previous encounters with the artist’s exhibits. Referencing a private space and feelings of subtle emotional bonds with every-day objects in our personal environment. His work is slowly changing, and not trying to reinvent himself all the time for the sake of reinventing.

The ex-slaughterhouse where the show was taking place has a certain feel to it and given the subtlety of Lee Kit’s work, this was something to take into account. One “solution” to the site specificity was the involvement of Sara Wong, who inserted large platform-shaped wooden objects into the exhibition space. This objects helped a bit to disperse some of the cowshed-like feel to the building, but they also introduced a design-shop-like feel, so it was a zero sum game in my opinion.

The biggest problem I had with the show was the layer of conceptual ballast which was added to Lee Kit’s work in the last few years, especially the reading of political meaning into his works. I remember how a few years ago Lee Kit explicitly stated in an interview (I wish I could find it) that he is interested in politics, but he does not think that this should be expressed in his art. Now, in the “You” show I see him reciting in accord with the show’s curators Lars Nittve and Mr Yung Ma, how the show expresses a feeling of ‘anger’ and political discontent. Allegedly, this is most directly expressed by the video of sausages on the grill which slowly burst. I understand that referring to sociopolitical issues is subtle ways that don’t offend anyone yet create a feeling of involvement between the artist and the audience is very much fashionable, but I found it just so constructed and artificial. An angry sausage? A sad blue water bucket? I thought the curators have conspired to make a joke at the funder’s and audience’s expense. Sadly, Lee Kit played along.

Maybe I am all wrong, and Lee Kit changed his mind to become more socially engaged. That would open a whole new range of issues. In my interpretation, Lee Kit’s artistic practice is a slightly ‘autistic’ one, not in a bad sense. It is an inward-looking practice. It is melancholic, but also joyful in the sense of everyday joy we can perceive when a towel touches our skin, or we observe a glass of water on a table as a still-life created by coincidence. This is Lee Kit, pure.

Lee Kit is doing great work, and this show was as good as it could be in the space given, sadly, I can feel that with his rising fame, he is being pushed and pulled into different contexts which have little to do with his artistic practice. I hope he can endure and stand straight in this whirlwind.