The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition catalogue (APT2)

1. These are largely unedited extracts from statements received from artists participating in the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial. 2. Extracts have been included from all statements submitted. 3. Translations are indicated. EAST ASIA CHEN Yan Yin What am I? What is love? What is eternal? are old themes of conversation. When a person asks 'what is the moon', another person points out the direction of the moon saying 'this is the moon', the person who is asking says he knows it, but actually he only sees the finger. So what is the moon to this person? That's an old story. We live in the vast sea of desire. We come to this world again and again, because we are indulged in it. But the sacred wish is often an illusion in our heart. We have no ability to refuse enticement each time. The Discrepancy between the desire, the language, the expression in one's eyes and the sense of touch is in the exchange. It is continuance and development in all the time and everywhere. The Discrepancy even gets bigger and bigger. We are unable to stop this discrepancy and each time we fail we injure our heart. That is how life is, that is love. This is what I want to express through my art work. CHOI Jeong Hwa Near the end of this week, I find a very beautiful flower (a flower that is more like a flower than a flower) of an ecological system that can never be destroyed. A group of urban high-rise buildings can be seen in the distance. I see a Super Flower that blooms even when it feeds upon the wind and the light among the rotten wastes. From the petals of [the] ecological system– broken, ripped, destroyed and killed by the touch of the hand-destroyed by indiscriminate terrorism on nature, imitation nature and artificial flowers flourish and bloom. Is this flower that cannot be standardised and seen in one glimpse really a thing we have created out of necessity? ... The super light weight, super large and handy flower, the Super Flower, which blooms at the top of the mountain of wastes that you cannot tell is yours or someone else's, surely must be our creation. I give myself to you. Emiko KASAHARA Untitled-double urinal takes a peculiar form as a urinal yet as a shape of a woman's breast. The theme of this work is the ambivalent relation of the two impressions of female sexuality: 'sex-impurity' and 'life-purity' which are represented by Eve and Maria in terms of Christianity. The inner engraving contains bleach, the liquid which is symbolic of its complete purity carrying the ability of killing life because of its sanitation. Moreover, the shape of the woman's breast found in the work is the outline found when she looks down at her own breast. The work is installed at the height of human eye level, suggesting women to reconsider her standpoint towards her own body and men to search the point of view towards women. Yet again we encounter the linking issue of sexual distinction. Thus my work is deeply involved with the relation of sex, reproduction and gender while considering technology, politics, religion and history which intervenes. KIM Hong-Joo Picture and characters (translated from Korean) Back when I was very small, on my birthday, my parents wrote something on paper and burnt it, and made me eat it. I think it was some sort of a secret shamanistic prescription for my future. In the living rooms and the bedrooms of my house there were screens and scrolls covered in writings that I did not understand and I was cautioned not to touch them in case they got damaged. On every religious occasion which came around tens of times in a year, ancestral tablets written in Chinese characters were carefully placed on a table with food and we bowed to them. Sometimes for peace in the household, writings were pasted on the poles of the house or we were made to carry a talisman with us. Of course these ceremonial rituals continue today. However, since then our lifestyle has changed dramatically. The influx of Western culture and as a result technology and capitalism have shaken our traditional value system and beliefs to their roots. Concepts of art and its function are not exceptions to this phenomenon. We are currently in a dilemma because our culture is interpreted and critiqued in respect to changes and values in Western culture. KIM Myung-Hye (translated from Korean) This work deals with current ideologies deeply embedded in our society. The upper portion of the sign board is of catch phrases about the globalisation of Korea. These are arranged in two parts but are in fact shown in incongruity to each other. Below the catch phrases are various statistical data shown against world rankings which recently gained a social emphasis. In front of the sign board are installations of a pole vault and a limbo stick. In both installations a bar is used to signify socially constructed limits that are imposed upon us. In some cases the bar is raised to be jumped over at progressively greater heights, in others it is lowered until it can only be passed under on one's back. Takashi MURAKAMI On the public road by the August ocean Hit bythe ridiculously glaring sun, Shedding the pitch-black shadow, A shabby car squats. That could be Corolla. The squall comes Sometimes. I hate a long flight. Love to see someone who looks like a dream. The inside of my hands get numb Playing a TV game. Please send me a fax. Kimio TSUCHIYA Restoration Of Myth From a world long before our troubled century, there comes a Celtic myth that asserts that once, long ago, every form of earthly life shared a common language. Between human beings, animals and plants, there was no hindrance to communication, no obstacle to expression. But, as legend has it, an angry god took this language away from human beings, as punish– ment for their argumentativeness, their jealousy and their pettiness. From then on, human beings lacked the ability to communicate, not only with other forms of life, but each other. The dire consequences of this have manifested themselves in the history of this century. How can we return to the ancient idea? Can we create a vision that encompasses all cultures? A vision that transcends race and religion, boundaries and borders, geography and ideology; a vision that ensures that the fast approaching 21st century will be a time of peace and plenty, of hope and happiness for all. Our only hope lies in embracing a new expressiveness. An approach to the arts that ignores conventional borders. WANG Guang Yi About My Work Paradise (translated from Chinese) I intend to express my reflections on the theme of 'narcotic drugs', a question of international concern. In a certain sense, 'drugs' have indeed brought tremendous harm to humanity as a whole; but from the perspective of individuals, they are also able to bring about the instantaneous realisation of 'dreams'. Therefore, as I see it, the dividing line between 'Paradise' and 'Hell' is very tenuous indeed. The harm done to individual 'dreams' by humanity's conventional code of conduct is just as immense. For this reason, I wish to provide through my work a justification or what may be called a golden rule for those with a yen for 'dreams'. WU Tien-Chang (translated from Chinese) My works are intended to exploit the paradoxes between image and material (real and unreal) as well as the temporal-spatial dislocations of objects in order to integrate reflections on the human history of Taiwan. The design of the body language of the actors, especially through the concealment of the windows on the human soul (the eyes), reinforces the visual message of 'damage'. With the bold use of common and brightly– coloured materials such as artificial diamonds, velours, artificial flowers and leather, the apparition-like sparkles highlight the primitive realm of the carnal desires of humankind, thus constituting a cold, stark visual experience. Yukinori YANAGI A national flag is recognised in the existence of other nations and their symbols. For instance, I wonder how many countries and regions in Asia and [the] Pacific had their own flags when they were exposed to ... modern colonialism by Western powers. I [am] also aware of the arbitrariness of national borders and identity... It is not necessary to feel sad when you find a symbol of yours deconstructed here in my work Pacific. This deconstruction continues as other recognisable symbols are dismantled too, until a new world-a single new emblem-is introduced. YUN Suk-Nam I am seeking solutions to women's situation both without-in critiquing representations used to enforce women's limited options-and from within-via womens' collective assertion of full personhood. Shunning the distanced, theoretical feel of deconstructionist work while drawing or carving on its ideas, my most recent works constitute an exuberant documentation of women's transcendence, throughout her/history, of patriarchal strictures and expectation-optimistic, energising images of women through the ages 'living beyond their means'. SOUTH AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA Nindityo ADIPURNOMO Introversion (April the twenty-first) (translated from Bahasa Indonesia) In Indonesia, 21 April has been dedicated as National Kartini Day (Kartini was a prominent [late 19th - early 20th century) figure in the struggle for the education of women in Java, Indonesia), a day in which women as well as young girls in Java commemorate Kartini by wearing national costume, which originates from Javanese tradition and consists of batik cloth, traditional kebaya blouse, and a sanggu/ hairstyle in which the hair is done up in a bun. In the context of tradition and culture, the sanggul hairstyle (also called konde or chignon) conveys meaning at a variety of levels which, up to the present, are being added to in a quite productive way. Apart from its conspicuous decorative function, the konde hairstyle also serves as a symbol of social status, identifying the wearer as having a certain standing within the social circle. In its function within the visual language which I employ, the konde represents, in a special way, a metaphor for Javanese society; a questioning of our understanding of the traditional concepts of harmony and conformity, collective good manners and the expression of good conduct through the solving of problems by means of discussion, and even human hedonistic ambition. Everything appears to possess a beauty that is glamorous and, not infrequently, even quite comical.