Category: Uncategorized

  • The Eyes of Truth Don’t Look at the Broken Mirror

    Seoung Won Sun, Art Critic

    2021

    There should be nothing more reckless than an attempt to read the context of a creator through a work. The value of art is not born from the material but is generated when the material is transferred to a substitute. For example, the value of art is beyond the realistic interpretation of the shape and the color that the paint produces on the canvas. Instead, it means perceiving an esthetic value of the harmony made from the difference of the shape and the color, and creating its reflection on new things in each period of the history.

    There is no principle or method of putting the object of art and the value judgment in one line, but the act, intention and interpretative context that a piece of art can have through the process of its creation and circulation let us discover new value again. That is the ‘endless spiral structure of value’ and the virtuous circulation of the art, which is circulated beyond the material value of the art.1)

    The linguistic elements that Fong proposes as context are revealed through the visual form. The series work (SAD hereinafter) of Silas Fong started from his exhibition 《SAD Info Days》 presented at Art Space Geumcheon in 2019. The poster of SAD with the blue sky in the background takes a similar form as the ones to promote the university where he works as professor. This poster, which catches our eyes with the blue sky and the cloud mark of the airplane up in the sky, attributes to the university a role of a ‘railroad switchman’ 2) who suggests a bright future to students.

    Fong asks.
    What does it mean to learn art at a university? How concretely does the future we imagine show us our reality?

    The form of the SAD works aims at the conceptual art based on specific factual information. Through the works, he clearly states his social status, which is a university professor, and manipulates the interpretative judgmental awareness of viewers by inverting the social image of artist and professor. He presents the schema to execute the ‘way to become a successful artist’ covering the entire wall, and asks back to the viewer/participant the essence and the critical judgment hidden behind the work. Through question and answer process about the value that building one’s career as an artist should obtain, the participants in this project got to connect the social relationships into an ar-bitrary structure, not by learning. In addition, in the success schema of the art world that Fong analyzes, the Korean society is presented as a competitive ranking structure with a satire on its pervading rankism. Through the project of “Info Day” of SAD subtitled as “For a Better Success”, he questions if art and artist can ever develop by education and learning, and reveals the gap between the essence of art and its intended goal in the reality.

    In 2020 at Cheongju Art Studio, he expanded the steps of the way to success as an artist in SAD project into the stages of sales and dis-tribution of artworks. He attempted to structuralize the way of becoming a successful artist through the method of marketing and to interpret the artistic value.

    Fong found the boom of TV home shopping a unique social and cultural phenomenon of Korea, unlike Hong Kong. In the Korean society where the on-line commerce is much activated through mobile platforms and social media, the majority of customers using TV home shop-ping in Korea are middle-aged or older female consumers. Many of middle-aged or older consumers prefer TV home shopping because of its simple access with just one remote controller. Therefore, the advertising copy for them should be phrased simple and clear; Fong’s exhibition also adopted the expressions like ‘Only one on earth!’, ‘One in the world!’, ‘Recommended by the expert curator!’, and ‘Transfor-mation of a boring space into a gallery!’ which aim to delude customers. Of course, all this process in the work of Fong takes place in the exhibition venue. The artist invited the professional show host as the performer of his project to show the circulating method of art as com-mercial goods by reproducing a TV home shopping program in the exhibition space. The showy speech of show host and the clear ad-vertising copies covering all over the screen is no different from the actual home shopping channel program in reality. Walking a fine line between real and virtual, this project directs the position of artist, art piece, collector and viewer in an unconventional way. The reconstitution of a studio that produces an art rental home shopping program, thickly covered with only the marketing terms to sell the art pieces rather than to convey the essential value of the work, invites us to see the reality of art museums of our time from a critical perspective

    <Greeting for Artists>, a sound installation to learn the common conversing manners used in the art world, describes the meaning hidden behind the actual said, yet still expressed in the intonation of Korean language, through social relational psychology. Fong is fond of this kind of unique psychological tug-of-war that can attract the attention of viewers/participants. (2008-2010) that he created at the very starting point of his career as an artist is also a video work that recorded people in the elevator during the short time of 6 seconds when the doors remain open on the 6th floor of a 40-story building in Hong Kong. Through this tug-of-war of gaze between the object, the people who are placed in a slightly different position each time the doors open, and the artist, he mischievously questions whose time it is. Fong induces some questions: Is the time acquired in a justifiable way (he had the right to stop the elevator by pushing the stop button) really justifiable? Is the materialization of the immaterial that can happen in the system of art, which is also a process of com-mercialization, (he resold DVDs containing the video filmed in such way) justifiable? Whose time was he selling?

    One of his works that particularly attracted my attention was that he presented at the Hong Kong Art Center in 2015. He reconstituted his living space at the exhibition venue perfectly as it was including the shape, sound and lighting, and let the viewers/participants expe-rience that space for 10 minutes, after they pledged some code of conduct to be observed in the exhibition space. Through the promise with the viewer to follow the pre-decided regulation by the artist, he hides the time of the viewer/participant as well as the time of the artist himself in the form of the exhibition and questions back to the viewers what art is. It seems that he intended to twist the value of art suggested at the limit of conceptual art, highlighting the forced appreciation and enjoyment of art pieces and the one-sidedness of their experience.

    His art is aiming at the conceptual art, but he rearranges in time certain immaterial things such as video, letter, text and sound, and makes use of the structure of relational psychology that connects Langue and Parole in the works, and the artist and the viewer in the society.

    He regards his exhibitions as a place to build an ecosystem of art. Also the artist summons the viewer as a co-creator of his social exper-iment. His works are always based on a pre-determined scenario, but they do look like a real society including variable and constant, be-cause the artistic awareness of the participants has to be placed in his works. The information presented in Fong’s works is mostly undefinable as truth. Moreover, the gaze observing those pieces of information is also made in the social relationships, in the social con-ventions and their cultural background. Particularly, his observation to reveal the relation between the art and the society of our time is caustically critical and paradoxical. In the explanatory note of the exhibition, he said “SAD is a recurrent observation in the art community, self-awareness, and critique.” However, even someone who has the eyes of truth, if looking through a broken mirror, would see the frag-ments of images reflecting a distorted consciousness.

    The works of Silas Fong, reflecting the consciousness about the problems that the art world of Korea is facing in reality, are not to be un-derstood from some art theories or common art perspectives, but to be perceived as a work of critical interpretation of our art society. His works invite us to realize that a new interpretation of art can obtain the justification, through our eyes as an observer summoned as viewer/participant to this event.

    ——————————————————————————————————————

    1) In the interpretative sociology, we try to answer the questions such as ‘How is the meaning born and preserved in a social system?’, ‘How does the cultural background (norm, value, assumption taken for granted) influence on people’s decision?’ and ‘What does a specific piece of art mean?’ Max Weber, through the concept of ‘switchman metaphor’ believed that when people decide something, they behave legally according to their individual understanding. The meaning of reasonable choice, namely the profit, is based on the culture or concept.


    2) Weber said ‘Not ideas, but material and ideal interests directly govern men’s conduct. Yet very frequently the ‘world-images’ that have been created by ‘ideas’ have, like switchmen, determined the tracks along which action has been pushed by the dynamic of interest.??The perspective of interpretative sociologists of ‘believing is seeing’ is often efficiently used to help understanding the meaning of a piece of art and how people produce a meaning out of a piece of art.

  • Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (An Excerpt)

    Lambda prints, table, sound
    Size variable
    2020

    A rearrangement from the exhibition with the same title exploring the possibility of spaces within and between images. Fong borrows the title of a poem by Robert Frost and loosely associates it with his life in foreign places. The audience is free to arrange the image sequence for their own reading.

  • Enjoy Your Meal!

    Exhibited at Duddell’s, Hong Kong, 2 Aug – 23 Sep 2018
    Clothing, Dummy, Plastic Food Model
    2018

    In 1959, Mark Rothko accepted a commission from Four Seasons restaurant in New York City. “I hope to paint something that will ruin the appetite of every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room”. Sounds dramatic enough, but he failed and returned the money because he found that ‘people can stand anything these days’. I was curious about what I could do in a high-end restaurant, while contributing to the context of this exhibition.
    Enjoy Your Meal! is a scene recreated to depict the McRefugee phenomenon and the problem of extreme shortage in affordable housing situation in Hong Kong.

    During the opening of the exhibition, visitors around Enjoy Your Meal!
  • Introduction to International Art English (IAE)

    Exhibited at
    SAD Info Days, PS333, Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, Seoul
    19-31 July 2019

    2019
    LED display panel, art magazines
    250 x 100 x 10 cm, size variable

    Artists, curators and critics used popular art jargons to decorate their writings and artworks. It might sound more professional, contextualized, more important than it is but difficult to be understood. These jargons pop up on the LED display like an attractive billboard. One keeps looking without reading a word from it. The LED panel is supported by piles of important art magazines borrowed from the archive of Seoul Art Space Geumcheon. Visitors could pick up the magazine but they would bear the risk to make the panel fall.

  • Small Talk

    Sample Conversations for Your Perfect Date and Successful Meeting

    Exhibited at Duddell’s, Hong Kong, 2 Aug – 23 Sep 2018
    Booked 2019: Tai Kwun Contemporary Hong Kong Art Book Fair

    Artist’s book
    15 cm × 10 cm × 1.5 cm, 100 pages
    2018

    Small Talk is a small coffee-table book that visitors can flip through while having a drink and chatting with their peers. Instead of
    beautiful and colorful pictures, this book collects pre-written dialogues, offers for the visitors to act out when they run out of words.

    For this special occasion, aims for a practical use in social situations. Readers could choose from a list of sample conversations
    collected from anonymous source and improvise when they are running out of words. At the same time, the book also arouses reader’s awareness
    of the surrounding socio-physical setting.

  • Artist Career Map

    Exhibited at
    SAD Info Days, PS333, Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, Seoul
    19-31 July 2019
    Make: Experiments in Art Making, Platform-L Contemporary Art Center, Seoul
    1-12 October 2019

    Vinyl on Wall
    1400 cm x 300 cm
    2019

    SAD School of Artists Development presents the Artist Career Map, an insightful career path for emerging artists in South Korea. With this grand picture, young artists can easily set their destination and choose the fastest way to achieve. SAD arranges the sections such as education, overseas, artist’s run space in hierarchical order. Higher position on the map indicates a higher status. SAD systematically ranks lists of institutions from the best to the worst.
    Artist Career Map is not a comprehensive map but apparent pathways through important organizations.

  • Art Recycle Bin

    Exhibited at Exit Strategies, H Queen’s, Hong Kong
    1 March – 4 May 2018
    Official satellite event’s of Art Basel Hong Kong 2018

    Acrylic, stainless steel, vinyl
    80 cm x 50 cm x 30 cm
    2019

    Art Recycle Bin, an acrylic box with a slit placed at the endpoint of the art experience on the 1st floor lobby. Visitors are invited to insert thin pieces of paper such as floor maps or exhibition leaflets, which many visitors will have in hand over the Arts Month in March. Fong sees this act as a means for visitors to clear their mind after an exhilarating experience and as a form of recuperation that injects new life to these sometimes overlooked materials.

  • Vocabulary: Understanding Your Art Professor and Make Life Easier

    Artist’s zine
    A6, 48 pages, black & white, softcover
    2019

    Understanding your art professor is not easy, let alone the unpleasant atmosphere during a critique session. Art professors receive complaints from time to time that they are being too direct and traumatize the students. In order not to hurt the students’ feeling and receive a negative lecture evaluation, a few professors have developed a set of specific language to interact with the students and comment on their art projects.

    When you peek through the window of an art college into the art world, you might wonder what else cannot be art. And you are already asked to create artwork. You want to make amazing work and get a high score. Therefore you consult your professor. Unfortunately, the advice you heard from your professor makes you more confused.

    For the first time, with this pocketbook, you can explore the vocabulary and phrases that your professors often use. You will acquire the technique to understand your professor, better and faster. Hopefully, you will understand what your art professor means in the end.

  • Artist Portrait Basics

    Digital print on polyester, studio flash, camera, backdrop Stand
    480 cm x 370 cm (size of the print)
    2019

    For a successful career as an artist, you need a good portrait. For a successful artist’s portrait, you need a perfect studio. What if you do not have a high ceiling and tall windows at your studio? What if you do not even have a studio? Artist Portrait Basics offers you a chance to get familiar with the essential ways to show off your potential, productivity and professionalism in a single photo backdrop. You will also learn several hands-on skills to project your ego and charisma through your posture. For better opportunities in your future career as an artist, take this course by SAD School of Artist Development, regardless of your discipline.

  • 當月精選:眾神失語的日子

    Media. 藝術地圖
    Date. 2018-11-08
    Text. 楊承謙

    http://www.artmap.xyz/tw/index.php/column1/highlight/item/20181110/460.html

    眾神失語的日子
    《眾神失語的日子》由富源策展,參與藝術家有陳泳因、陳沁昕、方琛宇及葉慧。富源嘗試在都爹利會館的餐廳空間,呈現著名導演寇比力克風格的電影狀態。除了一眾神明,相信觀眾也難免失語。「失語」不是一個展覽傳遞的訊息,也不是一個情況的描述,而是一種狀態的呈現。

    陳泳因有感都爹利會館是一個等待故事發生的空間,結合本身對日常、記憶、碎片等創作興趣,以燈、廁紙、環保袋及電線創作裝置。陳沁昕重新佈置會客廳,對照寇比力克的電影元素。方琛宇的作品則包括夾在酒吧飲品單內的便條、藝術家聘請的神秘顧客、為打開話匣子而設計的書及《請慢用!》假人裝置。葉慧自言案發場景是她的興趣,她的聲音裝置在餐廳不同角落播放著三名女兇手的對話。

    Doreen Chan He is alright2018

    Doreen Chan, He is alright,2018

    先從展覽中最能夠引起觀眾討論的作品入手了解展覽。方琛宇的假人裝置模擬一名「麥難民」,即在二十四小時營業快餐店休息的無家者,坐在餐廳一角,與餐廳的高尚環境和高消費力顧客環境形成對比。作品既可以諷刺餐廳,但都爹利會館的顧客應該不會抗拒觀賞藝術才光顧,高消費力顧客也是社會上傾向喜歡參與藝術活動的一群。陳泳因的裝置《他安然無恙》也是廉價物料與高尚場合對比,據說曾在展覽開始前因為物料不特別,讓清潔職員險些誤會是雜物。展覽基本上就是由這些尷尬情況貫穿。

    作為藝術工作者,愛吃的筆者時常想:(特別是在展覽開幕般藝術和食物同場較勁的場合)藝術是否比食物吸引?前者的價值經常顯得模棱兩可,後者卻關乎生存需要,重藝術而輕食物多少有點諷刺。放諸《眾神失語的日子》,以上疑問的意思就是假若藝術沒有足夠存在的意義,倒不如不做展覽,讓食客吃頓「安落茶飯」,反正都爹利會館本身是所食肆。這裡不是要直接討論藝術存在意義的沉重議題,只是要指出富源應該是背負著這個疑問策展,決定展覽整體或個別作品「打擾」觀眾至甚麼程度算為合適。

    1980年代Richard Serra的《Tilted Arc》仍然是公共藝術的「懸案」。該數米高乘數十米長的作品橫跨了一整個公共廣場,惹來關於公眾不便、景觀、安全等各方面的投訴,引發了藝術大師作品和公共利益對立的爭議,最後作品逃不過拆卸的命運,但誰對誰錯沒有公論。若公共利益是公共藝術的前題,那麼食客胃口便是富源策展不能跨越的底線,實情的確是這樣。傳媒午餐聚會當天,餐廳的老闆也到餐廳用膳。有傳媒朋友問他給予展覽多大的自由,他說只要不影響食客胃口便可,眾人隨即失笑,因為方琛宇提過嘗試讓食客不安的想法。

    Ye Hui The Waiting Room2018Ye Hui, The Waiting Room,2018

    超越純美感裝飾功能的藝術介入餐廳不一定是引起不安或無所作為的,都爹利會館下層餐廳的中國畫展覽便有讓食客心情舒暢之功效,而諸位中國畫大師作品的價值豈止裝飾。當代藝術幾乎逃不開批判概念,因為定義、界限、意義以至形式都傾向模糊,概念成為批判藝術的重要基礎。為追求概念上的批判價值,一味討好食客、讓他們心情舒暢的方向不會太湊效。《眾神失語的日子》走了比較接近餐廳底線的方向,雖然就算方琛宇的假人都不算真的怎樣驚嚇,葉慧的《等候室》聲音裝置奇怪卻不至於煩厭,策展人冒的險是展覽趣味的重要因素。

    Curator Yuan FucaCurator Yuan Fuca

    餐廳空間複雜化本身就有點荒誕、突兀或者神秘的作品,反之亦然,本身就有點荒誕、突兀或者神秘的作品也複雜化了餐廳空間。對藝術比較認真的觀眾,或會失語於觀賞藝術與否之間的模糊界線;而作為一般食客,既不得不承認吃飯的環境得到某種提升,卻無奈看到環境受藝術品打擾著;也難保有食客直接跳過餐廳一切的藝術安排,專注吃飯。甚麼寇比力克或者電影感都好像不太重要,反正就是讓人失語的展覽,或許這也算是展覽的成功。

    眾神失語的日子

    展覽日期+ 2018/08/02-09/23

    展覽場地+ 都爹利會館