Block the Shield
Our Theme:
Through exchanging ideas and making contrast of Hong Kong and Mainland, artists living in these two societies have discussed two issues. First, how is the virtual world taking place in each place respectively under OCTS? Then a further question, how the operation of public debate and degree of information disclosed is going on in this world? Through paintings, graphics, videos, installations and multimedia, a multi-directional art scene will be formed by composing unique points of view and individual thoughts from the artists.
Internet, as a virtual space, is now a main component of our daily lives. Its searching and exchanging functions widely expand, if not alter, our living. Topics found in Internet have already become popular social issues. Entering the vision of artists and being transformed as thoughts and art expression, these become the starting point of our show.
While Internet is served as a public space, how the operation of public debate and degree of information disclosed should be built is a difficult and long-term civil duty. This exhibition is an exchange of artists from Hong Kong and Mainland. Through the works created by artists living in these two societies, they judge their respective situation found in the Internet under OCTS, and cause a trigger for thinking about the Internet culture. Aligning and interchanging internet media and normal medias, a multi-vision art scene will be presented.
An artist uses performance to speak out. Through repeating “sensitive wordings” loudly and not going to stop till twisting tongue and off-key even feeling nauseated and like vomiting, the artist uses his own physical body to appeal collective unconsciousness. This work follows the artist’s traditional gimmick to make one lose control by inputting a behavior which links to the work. It makes the behavior much powerful and the theme clearer.
“Rainbow Campaign”, by an artist who combined prohibited books and movies by the New China with some rainbow color cubes to form an embossed monument, is an archeological project to study “another history” of China. As the color of both words and the background are so similar, it looks like a rainbow when the audience stands far. Anyway words will emerge from the rainbow while changing the distance, angle and light. Eventually the more one tries to cover up, the better-known it will become.
Series “He Xie 2.0”is a collection of words being harmonized on the internet combined with color sheets to form an embossed monument. With variation of distance, angle and light, audience will be able to read the words to form a new visual impact.
The openness and publicity of internet have become an important channel for speech freedom. Anyway the program which acts as a mechanical control for blocking sensitive information reflects an ironic situation. The artist searched some sensitive words in online search engine. What resulted are not those related pictures, but are some graphics and passages which are totally unrelated to those sensitive words. This serious blocking mechanism on the other way round becomes a humorous idea for this artist to create the work.
A website of “Open Classroom” which is maintained by teaching staff in universities is displayed in the exhibition. This website is shielded by campus management inside the institutions and no one dare to mention this website in schools. However as the website is still able to be accessed outside the campus, teachers are discussing issues about institutions and education reform, enhancing individual thinking and to get the public control and public space of universities moving.
Also there is artist using traditional writing method to face this virtual world by apprehending different levels of mental state.
Artists living in Hong Kong show a different scene of Internet. An artist paints two folk flower stands to present the Google Issue in China. One stand congratulates Google leaving from China to Hong Kong safely while another one is beforehand congratulating Google’s return to China.
Through painting a scene of virtual car racing game, an artist shows the smoothness and happiness of dominating which forms a sharp contrast with the phenomenon reflected from works of mainland artists.
While enjoying the openness of information in Hong Kong, artist discovers that another difficulty of being shielded by too much information, and through art he represents this sadness.
This exhibition focuses on the balance and collision between the virtual network and realistic world. Through exchanging ideas and making contrast of Hong Kong and Mainland, artists living in these two societies show the difficulties of information openness and forming a space for public debate, and discuss the forming and liberation of the public culture on the internet. Through paintings, graphics, videos, installations and multimedia, unique points of view and individual thoughts from the artists will be observed.
Influence of politics ultimately is existing in human consciousness. Politics tries to make us believe that we are trapped by the “reality”. On this state of mind, what politics most afraid of is our creativity and emotions. The power we spurted in order to get liberation is able to decompose all virtual shackles and penetrate every shield. And the way to liberate is to figure out this so called “reality”, then to reconstruct our dream and vision. Once politics are inserted with creativity and aesthetics, it will transform as art and thus fear of politics will be eliminated and denied.
When the firewall become canvas for graffiti or even when this becoming has just started from a rough concept, the wall is already started to collapse.
