+8+7+3+1-1-5
“+8+7+3+1-1-5” based on time differences, according to where the artists are living.
The project took place at: the Malinki Manege in Moscow Glassbox , in Paris; Project 304, Bangkok, Thailand; San Casciano dei Bagni in Toscani, Italy.
(tri-lingual leaflet+ www.chooseone.org).
The title +8+7+3+1-1-5 simply spells out time differences between sixcities where this series of exhibitions will take place. Whether they live inMoscow, Paris or Bangkok, artists often find themselves travelling from one placeto another. These movements have little to do with tourism. They are not amatter of choice, but the necessary consequence of expanding worldwidecommunication and exhibition opportunities which in turn affect manycontemporary artists’ thinking, as well as the content and reception of theirwork. This presentation aims to shine a fresh light on a wide range ofapproaches responding to tensions arising in contemporary life around theworld.
This show +8+7+3+1-1-5 includes a 60-minute video-programme, an extensive selection of short pieces, made by artists who rely on the image in movement, to focus on fundamental issues relating to social behavior in a sometimes humourous, sometimes tragic mode. Often produced with a minimum of equipment, the narrative, experimental and performance works chosen for this presentation are not video-clips. Understandable in any language, they document short-moments of life to be shared or present animated visual statements. Be they real or fictive, distances in time and space are reflected in a complex array of cutural differences and idiosyncrasies. Accordingly, the ten selected artists have also been asked to come up a maximum of ten snapshots related to the cities where their project is to be shown. These virtual journeys provide subjective documentary views: at each venue every artist’s contribution expands by another couple of images and draws a different response. The pictures may relate to whatever the artists will have read or heard about those cities from litterature, music, the media or any resources they consider relevant to their work and to the different audiences. In each city, the video-programme will be identical but new stills will be presented. Thus combined together, their significance and their mode of production will be enhanced by the different urban contexts and bring unexpected insights. +8+7+3+1-1-5 already took place in Moscow at the Maly Manege (catalogue) in early July on the occasion of theMoscow Forum of Art Initiatives and in Paris from 20th November to 5th December, at the arist-run space, Glassbox. The project is supported by AFAA,Association Française d’Action Artistique, Soros Center for Contemporary Art,Mondriaan Stichting and the Ministerio de Cultura of Spain. It will next be shown at Project 304, Bangkok, in December 1999, during the film festival.
Nawajul BOONPUCKNAVIG b. 1965, lives and work in Bangkok"The Bugs", 1995, Video, black&white, 4mn.This simultaneously haunting and amusing short film chronicles aKafka-esque noodle-catering commune with cockroaches. Expertly short with several disturbingly beautiful images of the boy and his bugs. Winner of the First Thai Short Film Festival last month it was produced when Nawajul's employers, Siam Studio, decided to encourage their staff to make their own short films. At that time Nawajul was working as a camera assistant . Now he is a film director at Bandits production house. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science from Ramkhamhaeng University, Nawajul went on to study film production at the University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles and returned to Thailand to work for Bandits. C.B.
Michael SHOAWANASAI b. 1964 in Thailand, lives and works in Chicago and Bangkok"Exotic 101", 1997, Video, colour, sound, 7mn.As a Thai-born artist, Michael Shoawanasai, addresses problems raised bythe growing local sex-industry through the notion of exoticism. He brings. together the dual point of view of his sexual identity and culturalbackground to construct the essential part of his video "Exotic 101",Instructions To Teach You How To Be Exotic In Seven Minutes. Easy to follow. I guarantee that the minutes that we'll spend together will give you the lesson of your life time". While he sees himself as a native Thai, Shaowanasai spent half of his life in the US where he felt he was perceived as an "exotic" person. He reinforces this notion by switching his focus and engaging"non-exotic" people to try and experience these feelings. The distinction between exoticism and non-exoticism continues to generate interesting interactions. Besides the night life, a quasi-freak-show scene depicts as a parallel how queer-culture is perceived in his country. In his videos, Shaowanasai examines the roles of various protagonists, go-go boys/clients, host/tourists, sellers/buyers. Meanwhile he also calls ordinary Thais to switch roles with Thai sex workers. Gridthiya Gaweewong, director ofProject 304, Bangkok.
Hsia-Fei CHANG b. 1973 in Taipei, lives in Bordeaux and Taipei"Mon frère chez le coiffeur"/"My Brother At The Haidresser's", 1997Video, colour, sound, 5mn.In her work, this young Taiwanese artist -currently studying at theBordeaux Art School in France- juxtaposes texts, sometimes fictional, sometimes real. Tales about distance or love also appear in the form ofshort videos often documenting selected episodes of her life: her brother at the hairdresser's, her dog's grooming session, her grandmother'sbirthday etc... For the exhibition You Talk/ I Listen in Taipei, these sequences where shown on a monitor placed on the floor and surrounded by synthetic flowers which evoked an experience of the sacred in everyday life such as the Taiwanese funerary cult of ancestors. With simple means, Hsia-Fei Chang brings us close to her own situation between East and West by sharing with us some moments of distance and proximity. C.B.
Fiona TAN b. 1976 in Indonesia lives and works in Amsterdam"Totenklage/Lacrymosa", 1994/1997, Video, colour and black&white, audio, 4mn.As much impressive as it is disturbing, this video - a plea against forgetting - is dedicated to Ciro Lamarco, who died of AIDS on September12th 1993. Over a period of two years while she worked in an Amsterdam cinema, Fiona collected scrap 35mm footage; this became the raw-material for "Totenklage/ Lacrymosa". The collecting process ran parallel to the fatal advance of Ciro's disease. The score for this video-piece, written and executed by Gregory Whitehead, is appropriately a requiem. There is a clear reversal in the development of this film: towards the end the images are upside down and the subtitles can no longer be read. All that is there is the trace of a vanishing , a fading away and decomposition of every conventional sense and meaning. Fiona engages herself in "Totenklage/Lacrymosa" by giving a most individual experience a universal dimension.
Le titre +8+7+3+1-1-5 est une simple transcription du décalage horaire entre les six villes où cette exposition aura lieu et où résident les artistes invités. Qu’ils vivent à Moscou, Paris ou Bangkok, nombreux sont les artistes qui voyagent fréquemment d’une ville à l’autre. Ces va-et-vient n’ont rien à voir avec du tourisme. Loin d’être un choix délibéré, ils sont la conséquence inévitable de l’expansion des communications intercontinentales et des opportunités d’expositions. La multiplication des contacts affecte profondément la façon de penser des artistes ainsi que le contenu de leur travail mais également les réactions des divers publics. Cette présentation a pour but de mettre en lumière la diversité des solutions envisagées face aux conflits de la vie contemporaine, dans différents contextes culturelles.
L’exposition comprend un programme vidéo de 60 minutes. Il offre un vaste choix de pièces courtes réalisées par des artistes qui utilisent l’image en mouvement pour poser des questions essentielles liées aux comportements sociaux sur un mode parfois humoristique, parfois tragique. Pour la plupart ces œuvres sont narratives, expérimentales et produites avec un minimum d’équipement. Aux antipodes des habituels vidéo-clips, elles sont compréhensibles dans n’importe quel langage. Ces ouvres documentent de courts moments saisis sur le vif ou encore présentent des séquences animés d’invention visuelle.
Qu’elles soient réelles ou fictives, les distances spatio-temporelles se reflètent dans un large éventail de différences et de spécificités culturelles.De ce fait, on a demandé aux dix artistes de proposer un maximum de dix instantanés photographiques concernant les villes où leurs travaux sont présentés. Ces voyages virtuels permettent d’ajouter un point de vuedocumentaire subjectif : à chaque étape, le travail de chacun acquiert une nouvelle audience et s’enrichit de visuels. Les artistes ont toutes libertés pour choisir les images ou les mots qu’ils considèrent adéquats dans le cadre de leur travail et en rapport avec les différents publics. Dans chaque ville, le programme vidéo restera inchangé alors que les visuels s’enrichiront de nouveaux instantanés que les artistes apporteront. Cette présentation simultanée de deux supports distincts permettra de mieux apprécier leur impact respectif et leur mode de production. Les œuvres bénéficieront aussi des perspectives offertes par la variété de contextes urbains où elles seront présentées. Cécile Bourne, commissaire de l’exposition pour l’association Choose One, Paris. La première présentation s’est tenue à Moscou début juillet à l’occasion du Moscow Forum ofArt Initiatives. Ce projet est soutenu par la Fondation Soros, Mondriaan Stichting et l’AFAA.