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What Are You Looking At?
Tsang Kin-Wah
The first
thought when entering Tsang Kin-Wah's minimal text installation really
is, 'what am I looking at?' For on first inspection of the main gallery
space of Manchester's Chinese Arts Centre, it feels dark and drab, the
edited sound clips lingering in the background of the empty, macabre
room. You don't really know what is going on or where to begin. If,
like me, you view this exhibiton with no one else in around, the sense
of tension really does hang in the air even before you realise there is
some text written along the walls. In the dark, you slowly make out the
words written in linear bright white font, reminiscent of the Korova
Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange. This installation however, is inspired
another Stanley Kubrick film, The Shining, and you do feel like Wendy
when she discovers the prose that an insane Jack Torrance has written
on his typewriter. Uncompromising phrases are repeatedly strung out, "I
would never kill you I would never shoot you" and so on, and this,
coupled with the sense of dread emanating from the speakers, creates a
feeling of exposed repression, where the racism and violence hidden in
everday life is rhythmically revealed to us. There is a strange
insentity to the room, similar to the influence of the hotel from The
Shining, where brutality and rage is confined within this one space.
Whilst
interesting and an experience of the senses, one cannot wonder if it's
all a bit obvious. The message does not take long figure out. It
challenges the idea of society and its repression of racism and
prejudice. It is there to make us look at the world and how racism is
similar to that of the text, hidden, but omnipresent, frank, but
brutal. However, it is clever and imaginative work that is a human
experience, despite its lack of originality.
Entitled 'I Love
U,' the second installation held in the washrooms is a brighter affair,
at least initial sight, where pink floral patterns adorn the walls.
Similar to the first installation, you have to look closely, with
further inspection revealing Tsang's cynical Chinese and English
phrases juxtaposing with the beautiful floral patterning. The clean,
low-key room adds to the effect, with the quasi-abusive sentences, such
as 'I love your credit card,' feeling stronger because of the fact
that it appears in such fine surroundings. Aesthetically, the room is
pleasing to the eye, and the artistry in creating these floral patterns
is commendable, all of which add to the contrast in text and image: a
metaphor for the beauty and cycism of relationships. The oxymoron is
not particularly surprising after viewing the first installation, as
you expect the text to be vulgar, but it still portrays the message in
a profound and stylistic manner, whilst giving a succinct observation
on modern relationships.
Tsang Kin-Wah is a multi-award winning
artist who was born in China. He graduated from the Chinese University
of Hong Kong and Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts
London. His two installations, 'I Love U, and 'I Love You More Than
Anything Else in the Whole World and I would Never Do Anything to Hurt
You...' is on exhibition at Manchester's Chinese Arts Centre until the
28th September 2008, and is a fully worthwhile experience.
http://www.chinese-arts-centre.org/ Leon Lau
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