Connection between Art and Soul

A good art piece connects our souls to the creative world. Museums play a bridging role for both sides. Due to COVID-19, leisure travel became a luxury. As Hong Kong is developing itself as an East-meets-West center for global cultural exchange, M+ in West Kowloon hits the goal by encompassing contemporary art.

The museum consisted of 6 exhibitions during its opening. “Hong Kong: Here and Beyond” captures the city’s transformation, from the post-war decades to the present day; while the “M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalization” surveys the cultural dynamism of contemporary China.

(1) Involvement—the Innocent Marcel, Wang Xing Wei, 1997

After the groundbreaking art movement of '85 New Wave, artists examined the forbidden styles in response to Revolutionary Realism. Einstein’s letter initiated the US to build an atomic bomb; while Duchamp’s “Fountain” redefined contemporary art. They have to grieve on the consequence of their rebellions.

(2) Stratégie en Chambre, Wang Du, 1999

The Kosovo War broke in 1998 and has killed more than 13,000 people. The installation embodied the US President Bill Clinton, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and several soldiers. On the mountain of newspapers sprawling across the floor, media outlets were telling different stories and ignited a truth conflict.

(3) Crucified TVs- Not a Prayer in Heaven, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, 2018

Walking in the chapel, the commanding video sculpture catches your eyeballs. Consisted of five screens, the warfare and civil unrest inspired rapid text are flashing across. The jazz percussion, ethereal chanting and melodic strings intensifies the spectrum of human experience and echoes one’s emotion.

(4) The Great Pageant Show, Holly Lee, 1997

Queen Elizabeth I was portrayed by a Hong Kong beauty queen. With the reproduction of an 18th century painting by Giuseppe Castiglione, this digital manipulation links the history of British colonized Hong Kong and the Chinese Qing Dynasty. Such a historical moment when the East encountered the West.

(5) Rationality in Common Behaviors, Wang Guangyi, 1988

A human figure stands over Duchamp's iconic “Fountain”. The painting was layered with grids, which was a common tool for scaling and replicating propaganda paintings during the Cultural Revolution. Instead of embracing new Western ideas, the artist highlighted a rational and detached manner to art-making.

(6) Whitewash, Ai Weiwei, 1995-2000

The earthenware jars were painted in white, which obscured their decoration. As time went by, the original surfaces would once again be revealed. The past can never be completely whitewashed, and the act of whitewashing becomes history, just like the tension between historical fact and personal interpretation.

(7) To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain, Zhang Huan, 1995

(Parental Advisory) A classic piece of how the Beijing East Village was in a collaborative work. In order to add one more meter to the peak, the artist himself and nine other artists laid on the top of one another on a mountain. This performance suggested that even a small change can be significant.

Title: M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation

Date: 12 November 2021 to 23 July 2023

Location: M+, Hong Kong

Curator: Pi Li, Wu Mo, Isabella Tam

How does “East meets West” work? There is more than one story of Hong Kong. The city is made up of its people and their stories, which is larger than the sum of its parts. The Hong Kong Museum of Art therefore presented an art spectacular, by showing the surrealism masterpieces from Center Pompidou of Paris.

With the first Surrealist Manifesto by Andre Breton published in 1924, surrealism became official in Paris, to resolve the contradiction of dream and reality into an absolute reality. The Wolf Table demonstrated how the wolf wants to bite its own tail, which projected the tension between desire and death.

My favorite one was definitely “Le Labyrinthe” by André Masson. The bones and organs of the mythological Minotaur have been replaced with stone stairways, mazes and Grecian pylons, which are associated with fear and death. I wonder if Ariadne’s string could help Thesus to find his way out of this labyrinth.

Title: Mythologies: Surrealism and Beyond

Date: 21 May 2021 to 15 September 2021

Location: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

Origin: Center Pompidou

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urHadjVA77w

Art pieces even question their own existence. The deTour 2021 returned to PMQ @Central And Western through working on the theme “Use(fu)less”. The team aimed at reflecting how “useful” designs respond to specific needs, and exploring how “useless” designs can serve hidden yet equally valuable functions, with 50+ workshops.

One of my favorites is “I know not what CAFÉ”, designed by Li Hong Ting and Renatus Wu Cheuk-pan. In order to twist the meaning of coffee-buying into something else, audiences were asked to choose “mind” or “matter” as the “taste” without adequate info. Of course, each option was related to a certain favor.

Shut your mouth, and sip on your coffee.

Title: Use(fu)less, deTour 2021

Date: 26 November 2021 to 12 December 2021

Location: PMQ, Hong Kong

Curator: Trilingua Design