Hong Kong, March 12 – May 22, 2016, http://www.springworkshop.org/
A long time has passed since my last visit to Spring workshop. Even after a few years of existence, I am still always slightly confused whether this is a gallery, a designer loft showroom or just a private home of someone who likes contemporary art. But in any case, the visits are pleasant.
On show was one video-installation: One large projection screen showing the single channel video, and some objects with spot lights in a dark room: A sword (featured in the film), some kind of ready-made sculpture and a box with mirrors and a neon sign inside. The movie was allegedly inspired by the biography of “revolutionary poet Qiu Jin” and it was a mixture of sword fighting scenes, homoerotic dialogues and landscape shots from the sea around a contemporary Hong Kong. It was all done quite precisely and it looked well, just the story did not speak to me that much: A queer re-interpretation of a Chinese proto-feminist myth.
Previously Ming Wong (also queer art-ist) had had an exhibition/residency at Spring workshop, so it seems that the Spring directorate has some liking in this kind of stuff. I like that they have this visible “personality” and direction. Even though I wasn’t that much touched by the work, it was good to see it.
