East Contemporary

“Fictional Recoveries” at Pearl Lam

Fictional Recoveries 虚构的复得: Li Ming 李明, Ng Joon Kiat, Shang Yixin 尚一心, Wang Zhibo 王之博, Morgan Wong
Curated by David Ho Yeung Chan
Pear Lam Galleries,181 Middle Jiangxi Road,Shanghai
9 September –20 October, 2012

Five young artists from the Greater China region are on display. Each artist has a designated space for his works, and it feels more like five miniature exhibitions than one show, the works do not ‘speak’ or ‘interact’ with each other much. The selection reminds more of a ‘sample’, i.e. random pick based on certain criteria. But maybe that is the aim of the show: The criteria are the geographical region, the age bracket, the difference in expression from the other artists, and a certain lethargy or lack of direction in the works. I believe that the value of the show is in this sampling approach rather than in which artists have been selected. Instead of each present artist, a very similar may have been picked. But still, as it is these, and not others that were picked, they can serve as a starting point for the visitor’s contemplation about what contemporary art in Greater China stands for today.

Li Ming shows installations combined of large size photographic prints, metal sheets and plastic toy soldiers, spelling out the words ‘nothing happened today’: An endless waiting for nothing. While waiting, he shoots sketches with his video camera: trying to replicate ‘natural’ waves on the surface water with an electric fan, ducks bound together with their heads, spraying paint against a turning electric fan… one again, waiting, and acting in futility.

Ng Joon Kiat escapes into an abstract space of dream landscapes. Thick layers of pastel hue paint cover the canvases, sometimes modeled in an almost three dimensional way. A stage light flashes slowly at one of he canvases, trying to bring the dead thing alive. Each painting is a world in itself, and the lack of references to reality allows imagining another world. Herein is the power of these images.

Shang Yixin does abstract paintings too, but in a strictly geometrical manner, resembling computer generated art. Because of that, even though they are abstract, they seem to relate to something outside of our own brain, as our brain is not structured geometrically. Therefore, instead of Ng Joon Kiat’s reference to dreaming, Shang Yixin’s work references conscious thinking. The preoccupation with the edge between real and virtual also becomes present in an installation of Shang Yixin, where a bare tree trunk receives a ‘virtual’ shadow, showing the ‘imagined’ yet missing tree branches.

Wang Zhibo takes pictures from the internet and paints them. It is pictures of empty places, seemingly public spaces, but without any people. Did he remove the people from the pictures, or were the places deserted in the first place? The meditative space opened up here is the space of looking at something, and thinking of something else. One could say that these painting show nothing: Something that is nothing.

Morgan Wong is probably the only artist of the five whose work is rooted in reality and observation thereof. Works investigatingHong Konglandmarks show that he walks around, and thinks about what his eyes see and his ears here. Then he is trying to process his impressions and communicate what he sees. However in most cases, I think technology gets in the way of showing a clear and precise image. A video installation about IFC tower shows a full shot and 4 detailed shots, however it leaves many ‘why’s open: why these details, why four, why are they installed symmetrically in the way they are installed… Another work shows a video of walking through the Ladies Market next to an abstract depiction (photo print) of the statistics of how many people have watched this video. However the connection between the video and the photo print is hard to establish, and brings up more ‘why’s than answers. It is positive for an artwork to generate questions, however in Wong’s case most of these questions are related to the production process only.

On an individual level, it is interesting to imagine what these artists will be doing ten or twenty years later. Li Ming could be doing anything really, and s/he uses whatever materials come to his/her hands, given enough resources, I can imagine s/he will venture into ‘producing’ some large size sculptures from classy materials, employing an army of Chinese laborers. Ng Joon Kiat has decided his/her direction, and I believe s/he will stay in his/her dream world that may evolve over time, wherever his/her mind will wander. Shang Yixin has definitely not lost his touch with reality and his/her explorations of the real/virtual border may take him/her in either direction.  Wang Zhibo may get bored of his/her own emptiness and start exploring other features of contemporary society beyond empty fountains depicted in his current work, but s/he will definitely stick to painting. Morgan Wong may turn to shooting fictional documentaries, or projects involving the local community, as his works definitely speak of an interest in the space and people around him.

In the end we see that even the random sample provided can serve as a good starting point for pondering what the future may bring.

One last point towards the gallery: It is a pity that the installation had a number of glitches: overhead projectors in Shan Yixin’s installation not working, the spotlight in Ng Joon Kiat’s installation slightly unaligned with the canvas it was aiming at, etc. These were small details, but it impacted the overall impression. Personally also think that the gallery space itself is a bit difficult, with many little buttresses and recesses, which – given the style of lighting (spots) – become very plastic and create a feeling of complexity of the space, that ‘competes’ for attention with the displayed artworks. This is partially caused by the faux walls erected between pillars, creating a kind of ‘exhibition booth’ atmosphere. It would be worth to experiment with removing the walls and allowing the artworks to interact with each other. Training the gallery assistant in fixing broken installations and engaging an interior architect to ‘clean up’ the space may be worthwhile.

 

 

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