Arthub Favorite #38: Art Talk @AAC Taipei

The Dashes; The Laughter; The Reservoirs

Time: Friday, September 23, 2016 at 15:00
Venue: Asia Art Center Taipei II, No. 93, Lequn 2nd Road, Taipei

Panelists: Morgan Wong (Artist), Gao Jun Honn (Artist), Esther Lu (Independent Curator and Director of TCAC)

A+ Contemporary is now presenting Hong Kong artist Morgan Wong’s first solo exhibition in Taiwan: The Dashes; The Laughter; The Reservoirs. For the occasion of the exhibition, A+ Contemporary will also hold an Art Talk this Friday. Morgan Wong’s interest in the notion of time has developed into two intertwining directions – micro and macro perspectives of comprehension. The personal perception, or micro narrative, is woven into the larger narrative of social changes in history. Through contemplation of three individual incidents, which are nevertheless connected with each other, this exhibition examines the temporality of sovereignty.

About the Exhibition
The Dashes; The Laughter; The Reservoirs comprised of three sections: paintings, video and digital prints, and sound installation. While the three sections each refers to one word within the exhibition title, each corresponds to another to represent a comprehensive narration towards the subject matter. Within each eleven paintings, a black line protrudes boldly out of the largely emptied canvas. Lines often distinguish explicit boundaries. When a line is crossed, there is a disruption. The practice to draw a line is an affirmative manifestation and often also an action to seize control. Moreover, when a line is contrived to curved under external forces, it implies an unseen manipulation over the subject; The Dashes aims to convert discrete concepts into visible description. As a result, the artist’s practice to draw lines is repeated, losing its distinctness in politics, revising its forms with subtleness. The artworks are, thus, independent from the restricted contexts.

To extend, there is a dark room in which one is enveloped within laughter that one could not find source of. One confined only to focus on the dimly lit memorial plate. As both visual and audio senses are under temporarily controlled condition, the installation conveys vigorous and bewildering sensation. Not a Century; Not a Millennium; Just Five More Years is a video depicting an emptied conference room. The bright scenery outside the window facade alleviates the intensity that once happened on the conference table in the room. Numerous issues have been discussed, resolved, or compromised. How many of them stay? Three black and white digital print shows aerial view of four seemingly peaceful reservoirs. While topped underneath an unknown architectural plan, the only connection of the theme are the name Tai Tam. If the photograph itself is not the essence of the work, but only a means, we may also doubt what does Tai Tam or other terms are conveying.

For more details about the exhibition, please click here.

About the Artist
Morgan Wong was born in 1984 in Hong Kong. Graduated from the BA(Hon) in Creative Media at School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong in 2007 and from MFA in Sculpture at Slade School of Fine Art, University College London in 2013, Morgan Wong currently lives and works in Hong Kong.