“What would you do in your leisure time?”
“I enjoyed a list of activities, cycling, reading, watching movies, hanging with my friends…Sometimes I work collaboratively with artists in art projects.”
“Apart from being a participating artist of the group exhibition ‘Encounters’, I was also the curator. A ‘rebellious’ character was shared among my group. Then an idea of making something rebellious was firstly proposed to all group members. However, the term ‘rebellion/rebellious’ was aggressive at a certain extent. I preferred a more gentle and neutral way of presenting the exhibition to audiences. One of artists, Lizzie, hence suggested ‘Encounters’. We all agreed with her idea and this was the origin of our exhibition’s name.”
“Curating an exhibition was a challenging task. How could you manage with different artworks?”
“I need to familiarize with artworks and creative processes of all participating artists. Luckily we have been staying and learning in a group since September 2019. This informed me about their art practice. When audiences ‘encounter’ the ‘rebellious’ artists, I want to put the boldest and eye catchy artwork at their first sight. The entrance was a sanctum installed by Yangyu, and then audience would see David and Mary Ann’s artworks.”
“Speaking of formalism, David and Mary-Ann’s artworks were colourful and the boldest among the others. In terms of ideology, arranging their artworks, which discussed gay culture and body issue respectively, forced audiences to twist their expectation about our exhibition. I hope to send a message, ‘Liberate your mind. Think out of the box when visiting our exhibition!’”
“Turning left at the front door there were Zhe’s artwork, which was a video about industrial revolution, and Tingyi’s artwork, which was an installation about a Chinese fairy tale.”
“The two artworks explored the architectural and mechanical aesthetic. They were in good pairing of modern versus ancient, real versus mythical, projected image versus tangible object.”
“Turning right at the front door there were two big installations created by Xuan and Lizzie. Theme of Lizzie’s artwork was about tension, which echoes with Xuan’s sound art installation that relied on tension in strings.”
“There was a small room at the farthest end on the right which audiences needed to pass through a long and narrow corridor. I have arranged Dani’s video at the entrance and her display of objects at the end of the corridor.”
Dani’s video at the entrance of corridor. Dani’s artwork Dani’s objects at the end of corridor.
“Her artwork explored the privacy and publicity in the context of security check at Customs. The arrangement mimicked the actual experience we had in daily life. It also bridged the main hall with the smallest and farthest room at the end of the corridor, guiding audience to continue their visit.”
“My artwork (as shown in blog post ‘Group Exhibition – Encounters’) about mould and pests were pairing with Alex’s artwork. We were both exploring aesthetic through referencing organic forms.”
“Alex’s artwork was a set of elegant still sculptures and painting with romantic shades of colours. Her artwork depicted an evolutionary process which lead towards an open-ended unknown future. The set was best situated at the end of ‘Encounters’.”
“Beautifully described!”
“Sometimes I enjoyed being a part of a group. There was an international festival at my college. My group worked collaboratively to make a video installation of ‘what is in your fridge?’ and a flash mob of ‘swapping coats’. It was fun and I enjoyed the cultural exchange when peeking at others’ fridges!”