https://westeastiother.com West East I Other Mon, 22 Jul 2024 06:15:51 +0000 https://westeastiother.com en https://westeastiother.com/Conversation-Benjamin-Lee Mon, 14 Jun 2021 16:41:22 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Conversation-Benjamin-Lee A brief conversation with Benjamin Lee Practice:Rotterdam, The Netherland Mediums:Films, Ceramics, InstallationsWebsite:https://benjaminli.nl <img width="1772" height="1181" width_o="1772" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d60f819cfe3f83124ad08fcda41db71914c6e120cfc572802c8296bdb290d872/billy-li-bar-benjamin-Li-lowres.jpg" data-mid="215039662" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d60f819cfe3f83124ad08fcda41db71914c6e120cfc572802c8296bdb290d872/billy-li-bar-benjamin-Li-lowres.jpg" />Image courtesy of the artist It seems that the idea of Heritage plays an important role in your practices, especially in relation to the restaurant in Amsterdam and the Chinese community. What motivates you to explore this concept of heritage? Why did you decide to revisit old elements of the past? Benjamin Li: I think it's a very personal motivation for me. My parents owned a restaurant and migrated to the Netherlands. They worked in restaurants and eventually owned one, but they stepped out of the restaurant business, particularly the Chinese restaurant, about 20 years ago. Although they still work in the food industry, it's not connected to Chinese cuisine. Growing up, I was raised by a Dutch foster mother, so I felt more connected to my Dutch background than my Chinese Heritage. The way I think, speak, and behave is different from other Chinese people I observe. This difference was challenging for me while growing up. Initially, I had a conflicted relationship with my Chinese Heritage because my parents had to give me and my brothers to a Dutch foster mother while they worked in the restaurant. So, there was always a struggle between embracing my heritage and distancing myself from it. In a way, I felt ashamed of my Chinese background, and you could say I was "whitewashed" to some extent. More discussions: Do you identify the usage of old elements as a theoretical concept or evidence which are static documentation?
 Can old elements be trend sensitive? Would it be productive to deploy them in response to different current trends? Full interview: LINK https://westeastiother.com/Conversation-Yuen-Nga-Chi Mon, 22 Jul 2024 05:59:50 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Conversation-Yuen-Nga-Chi A brief conversation with Yuen Nga Chi Practice:Hong Kong&nbsp; Mediums:Film, Photography, InstallationWebsite:https://www.yuenngachi.net <img width="672" height="984" width_o="672" height_o="984" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/45fd89fee2596cfd5716258de5c31354bfb97cbc6836a689700e554f0131f21e/Chi_pic.jpg" data-mid="215040190" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/672/i/45fd89fee2596cfd5716258de5c31354bfb97cbc6836a689700e554f0131f21e/Chi_pic.jpg" /> Image courtesy of the artist 這個 Heritage 的概念對你來說它是一個主題，例如是動物、家人，還是更加像是一個哲學上的理論，還是一些我們也都想不到的東西去定義它們呢? 我覺得會像是一個可能你說哲學那方面或者是一個 concept 的狀態，它像是在當你想創作的時候會出現的一些 terms，然後我們就會去做相關的研究。 拿中華白海豚去做一個中心的想法，我就是因為這個字啦，還有因為它的歷史去再發展了之後 的作品，就是由中華白海豚做了一個 starting point，然後因為它是吉祥物，因為它關於中國香港的一個水域的交集，它會在我們的水域裏面生存，又會關係到一些身份上的一些意義之類的東西，然後再去到現在他們自己本身的棲息地，或者狀態已經去到 一個很小、很微弱、 很少海豚可以再出生或者直接連他們本身聚居的地方都已經移到別處的時候，這個狀態又會再呼應我們現在的一些狀態。 More discussions: 這個文化轉移到另一個地方後，你認為那個地方是否會受到地域的價值觀、歷史影響，並產生不同的解釋詮釋？ 接下來，我想問一下，當我們回到你個人創作的層面時，我剛剛看到你的作品，例如與環境、特定時間和家庭歷史相關的內容。那這些都是你創作的素材嗎？這段對話涉及創作和回望過去的討論。那麼，這是一個美學上的考慮，還是一個概念上的轉換呢？ Full interview: LINK https://westeastiother.com/Conversation-Zhang-XuZhan Mon, 22 Jul 2024 06:15:51 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Conversation-Zhang-XuZhan A brief conversation with Zhang XuZhan Practice:Taipei Mediums:Films, Sculptures, InstallationsWebsite:http://www.mores-zhan.com/index-white.html <img width="344" height="328" width_o="344" height_o="328" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ecb77d0337ada2f936046c5585ae2a1ed96bcbcaef8c6539ce3c924147abf7ea/435015488_269542082900644_6895521892730390808_n.jpg" data-mid="215041362" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/344/i/ecb77d0337ada2f936046c5585ae2a1ed96bcbcaef8c6539ce3c924147abf7ea/435015488_269542082900644_6895521892730390808_n.jpg" /> Image courtesy of the artist 你的作品裡頭，你用了你家人教你的紙紮的方法做公仔做不同模型、創作，我感覺好像有一個叫文化遺產的概念在你的作品中。 而且他們在你的實踐中佔了很重要的一部分。 是什麼原因呢? 我知道跟你的紙紮、跟你的家 人、跟你的原生家庭有關係。 我也想問你這個概念，為什麼你對這個概念產生了 一個興趣? 類似那種雕塑的材料這樣子。因為像我看那個前陣子看那個蔡國強的紀錄片，他也說他們那個家鄉蠻多火藥這樣子。所以他在創作的時候，就很自然地去選用他的環境裡面出現的材料去發展成創作這樣。所以那個創作的過程很像是用不同的，別人可能比較容易忽略的，或是我們比較隨手會拿到的材質去做一些雕塑的概念啊，或是拍影像的就是一些道具啊這樣。所以我覺得它是從一個，就它始終還是一個創作的過程，只是因為它的材料不同，所以那個創作過程產生一些新的變化。我覺得對我來說它比較像是這樣的概念。所以相對人家來說文化遺產，但對我來說會是一個非常親近的東西，它不是一個非常遠的文化遺產這樣子。 More discussions: 所以你認為文化遺產的定義是由權威來決定的嗎？ 在當代藝術中，似乎是一個自由開放的平台，但你提到西方權威對文化遺產設定了一定的限制。這是否正確？ Full interview: LINK https://westeastiother.com/Benjamin-Li-In-Search-of-Perfect-Orange-copy Mon, 22 Jul 2024 05:32:18 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Benjamin-Li-In-Search-of-Perfect-Orange-copy In Search of Perfect Orange/ Benjamin Li 2020 Single-Channel Video benjaminli.nl/menu/works/carrot_rose.html In Search of Perfect Orange investigates the origin of the Chinese community in the Netherlands, specifically focused on foodways and the development of the Chinese-Indonesian restaurant. The transfer of food particles as a methaphor for human interaction, exchange of values and identity.&nbsp;The works of In Search of Perfect Orange are closely linked to the project Chin. Ind. Rest. <img width="884" height="608" width_o="884" height_o="608" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e2aedc55b84c5de76d192787d34ad3881eaebf6780cb40a1ee3de3eecec696bc/Screenshot-2021-05-08-at-18.19.52.png" data-mid="215039501" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/884/i/e2aedc55b84c5de76d192787d34ad3881eaebf6780cb40a1ee3de3eecec696bc/Screenshot-2021-05-08-at-18.19.52.png" /> https://westeastiother.com/Zhang-XuZhan-Compound-Eyes-of-Tropical Sat, 08 May 2021 17:17:19 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Zhang-XuZhan-Compound-Eyes-of-Tropical Compound Eyes of Tropical/ Zhang XuZhan 2022 Single-Channel Video Link Compound Eyes of Tropical embarks on a captivating journey through a short video artwork inspired by Taiwan's ceremonial festivals. The film weaves together diverse traditional folklore narratives, centering around a half-mouse deer, half-fox shaman puppet dancer. With seamless transformations between human and animal forms, the dancer cleverly outwits crocodiles in a daring attempt to cross the river.&nbsp; <img width="1932" height="992" width_o="1932" height_o="992" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9755a9f2aafe793000e5ae5fd78ee6bc7b899d29c109a441db9c6ddeeedb6737/Screenshot-2024-07-22-at-1.36.50-PM.png" data-mid="215039510" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9755a9f2aafe793000e5ae5fd78ee6bc7b899d29c109a441db9c6ddeeedb6737/Screenshot-2024-07-22-at-1.36.50-PM.png" /> https://westeastiother.com/Yuen-Nga-Chi-Monuments-Flipper-Ada-and-Honey Mon, 22 Jul 2024 05:38:43 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Yuen-Nga-Chi-Monuments-Flipper-Ada-and-Honey Monuments : Flipper, Ada and Honey/ Yuen Nga Chi 2023Three-Channels video Viewing Link is provided on request. Statue and Sea explores the stories of two dolphins, Ada and Honey. Ada, the world's first successful artificially produced dolphin from Hong Kong, and Honey, an abandoned dolphin in a closing Japanese aquarium, represent different contexts and raise questions about cultural connections and differences. <img width="728" height="412" width_o="728" height_o="412" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8362de9f1a49972908db4af4fa0347b617850db896cdd4674e3fd6d90c67e23e/Screenshot-2024-07-22-at-1.43.00-PM.png" data-mid="215039568" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/728/i/8362de9f1a49972908db4af4fa0347b617850db896cdd4674e3fd6d90c67e23e/Screenshot-2024-07-22-at-1.43.00-PM.png" /> https://westeastiother.com/Home Wed, 09 Jun 2021 15:45:02 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Home <img width="2130" height="1504" width_o="2130" height_o="1504" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/699b468678a2db6e1d920c230d9b76b80f60eea64a33d0b172966c304ff0b674/Screenshot-2024-07-29-at-2.27.32-AM.png" data-mid="215400252" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/699b468678a2db6e1d920c230d9b76b80f60eea64a33d0b172966c304ff0b674/Screenshot-2024-07-29-at-2.27.32-AM.png" /> <img width="1664" height="492" width_o="1664" height_o="492" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/14b5ce9f415d5799006a65ee07538e1779b9e70726de2440797e76bd5d2a5e43/quote.png" data-mid="215345993" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/14b5ce9f415d5799006a65ee07538e1779b9e70726de2440797e76bd5d2a5e43/quote.png" /> LINK ︎︎︎RESEARCH DOCUMENT <img width="1550" height="1045" width_o="1550" height_o="1045" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/715a1de03c6a34f82ded769c09493b41a3addefd20919817f9abafcadff177f3/001.png" data-mid="215384466" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/715a1de03c6a34f82ded769c09493b41a3addefd20919817f9abafcadff177f3/001.png" /><img width="1550" height="1045" width_o="1550" height_o="1045" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a6e1ba06c964213c320c1f3ae5c081776a5b44b27ad431628aee033ec3919b34/003.png" data-mid="215384469" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a6e1ba06c964213c320c1f3ae5c081776a5b44b27ad431628aee033ec3919b34/003.png" /><img width="1550" height="1045" width_o="1550" height_o="1045" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/02e7372f0ade45889431dd76a1053615907768ba58e49f1282a9cd84b32400bb/002.png" data-mid="215384528" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/02e7372f0ade45889431dd76a1053615907768ba58e49f1282a9cd84b32400bb/002.png" /> W.E.I.O. is interested in exploring “Heritage” within the the field of&nbsp; contemporary arts in the 21st Century. Defined by artists who situate themselves in disparate cultures, this platform offers a study of the impact of heritage on contemporary art through the lens of actor-network theories. ︎︎︎ <img width="1428" height="1262" width_o="1428" height_o="1262" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c229d7212812918cc23329bf5bc2488688d9cfdbe53bd353c82ad9d1ad0b5d2d/conversation.png" data-mid="215400378" border="0" data-scale="89" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c229d7212812918cc23329bf5bc2488688d9cfdbe53bd353c82ad9d1ad0b5d2d/conversation.png" />&nbsp;︎︎︎CONVERSATIONS Actors This study defines all ‘actors’ as stakeholders who have the ability to shape and influence on one or several creative outcomes simultaneously. Sociologist and anthropologist Bruno Latour claimed “anything that does modify a state of affairs by making a difference is an actor.”1 Actors do not necessarily need to be presented in one definite form but can be elastic instead. Therefore, actors of this project are not limited to humans, but may extend into art, technology, digital communication and cultural groups. This is a key principle of this archive. Despite the notion that some actors are more imminent in this platform, others can be less visible but still important in the pursuit of a new contemporary perspective. The belief of this project is to give an equal amount of attention with agency to all actors. The interactions of actors are being traced impartially, assuming there is no differentiation between the human and material or the social and the natural.21. Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, Clarendon Lectures in Management Studies (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).2. Jonathan Murdoch, “Towards a Geography of Heterogeneous Associations,” Progress in Human Geography 21 (1997): 321-37. <img width="1342" height="706" width_o="1342" height_o="706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/41a1419a0e40d42eb5ad416f3bc2e262143bebf709c547e2708088fedba6a707/archieve.png" data-mid="215347479" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/41a1419a0e40d42eb5ad416f3bc2e262143bebf709c547e2708088fedba6a707/archieve.png" />︎︎︎PROJECTS https://westeastiother.com/About Fri, 30 Apr 2021 11:25:16 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/About Mission ‘West. East. I. Other.’ aims to provide a space to nurture another perspective on visual culture that has yet to be fully represented in the mainstream. This online study seeks to decentralise the notion of ‘global vs local’, and to document a growing desire for self-presentation as persons who exist in between various cultural spheres. By gathering projects such as art and publications, through to music, design and fashion, that are a part of the developing culture of East Asian actors and their ancestral European migration, their interactions embody both familiar and unfamiliar cultural values and influences occurring in wider contemporary culture. The points of departure for this archive are always persons who reside or practice primarily outside of Asia that have shown an alternative way in accessing their parental or ethnic origins to produce a contemporary outcome. By going through the entangled background of the participants, the archive traces the many varying voices with a focus on what inherent histories and which societal constructs they have been born into. Rather than offering a definitive explanation for the cultural identity of the East Asian diaspora, the range of concepts and ideas of W.E.I.O. provides a sensitising tool for understanding the stories which will emerge in this platform. The archive is based on the process of selection that highlights ideas, materials, themes that have contributed to the cultural identity of East Asian Diaspora. By digitising information continuously through a research process that includes interviewing, tagging and mapping, our future aim is to embrace a dynamic understanding of this project by conducting an online residency with the actors, allowing them to edit or modify the architecture and the mode of thinking of this actor-based archive. &nbsp; Method ︎︎︎&nbsp;Looking at a new case of contemporaneity through the use of an Actor-based Archive Website Actor Jims Lam Hong Kong curator and founder &nbsp; <img width="29291" height="5575" width_o="29291" height_o="5575" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/15cf0eb3f6446a149614d604822404cd0c8b30e4ee25da1aec5a934190d24d77/WEIO.png" data-mid="215034601" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/15cf0eb3f6446a149614d604822404cd0c8b30e4ee25da1aec5a934190d24d77/WEIO.png" /> https://westeastiother.com/Actor-based-archive Fri, 11 Jun 2021 17:12:25 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Actor-based-archive Looking at a new case of contemporaneity through the use of an Actor-based Archive A brief methodological proposal by Jims Lam In the 21st century, there is an emergence of creative intensity that is flowing in an unexplored territory in between two well defined cultures – geographically representing the west and the east. This energy, an impulse, is currently and simultaneously situated in a time and place that is both inside and outside the realm of the ‘contemporary (art)’. However, a systematic explanation has yet to be worked out to account for the creation and operation of this new articulation in the field of visual culture or in the art world. The concept of contemporaneity as the philosopher Giorgio Agamben brings forth, is a state of untimeliness, in which it “is that relationship with time that adheres to it through a disjunction and an anachronism.”1 For this archive, the term contemporaneity is understood as a cluster of perspectives that is deemed most important and productive of a particular time which is dynamic. Thus, this online archive is trying to foster a methodological proposal to imagine a new case of contemporaneity, an alternative way to understand our visual culture. Briefly, this creative energy is subordinated to a broad artistic sphere that began to take shape when a new generation of younger Asian descendants in the west, also known as diaspora, have undergone continuous development, and of which their articulations of art and culture have accumulated over the past decades. It consists of various disciplines that self-consciously distinguish themselves from thematic art, mainstream academic art and traditional art (although also constantly interacting with these categories). East Asian diaspora of different nations who are now producing at a rapid speed, are eager to be understood by others. This, because they often felt misrepresented or even underrepresented by the current social environment that they were born into. Generally speaking, there are two problematic ways to look at the creative projects that are created by these artists: 1) Traditional art histories defined by the nations and 2) A global perspective that oversimplified local angles of observation. Therefore, decentralising the global versus local dichotomy is a vital part of this new perspective of contemporaneity that this archive is actively pursuing. The traditional encyclopaedic approach that has been used by cultural institutions in the attempt to periodise contemporary art is inadequate. The scenarios that this network is trying to explore often carries multiply explanations. Hence, the actor-based archive is designed not to become a vault to encompass as much as possible, but rather it is a tool to resist closures and limitations. The curator, Hou Hanru once mentioned the ancient Roman forums as a combination of market and political forum, a prototype of a democratic society, as opposed to the Roman forums today that are a tourist hotspot or a token of consumerism.2 With such an awareness in mind, this actor-based archive seeks to gather all kinds of topics that could continuously revitalize our present perspective to better understand contemporaneity and more importantly – to provide a capacious space that recognizes pluralistic definitions. In this last paragraph and also as a point of departure, this archive would like to suggest a mode of thinking as an immediate response that can potentially contribute to a better understanding of our present time. In my eyes, interactions and mutual influences between cultures are very important. ‘West’, ‘East’, ‘I’, ‘Other’ are not fixed concepts; they can shift. I was very interested in the West when I was in China. I considered it as something outside me and it provided a source for my imagination. On the contrary, I talk more about China now that I am in the West. This is probably because of the Western context.Huang Yongping (Paris: 1993) Being widely regarded as one of the most prominent figures during the Avant-garde movement in the 1980s, the artist Huang Yongping (b.1954-2019) had demonstrated to us that subjectivity are different modalities that could be swapped and interchanged in order to make the most value of arts. When applied in this actor-based archive, the conscious shifting of modalities implies a fluidity to the understanding of art as nexuses that is not limited to western and eastern perspectives, but can be made of different actors instead. This new case of contemporaneity consists of numerous convergence and diversity provided a challenging point of reference for audiences from all cultures. The exploration of how much people have to learn from each other is the focus of this intriguing network consisting of creative projects from both Western and Eastern actors. &nbsp; Additional statement about the concept of the actor-based network Inspired by the actor-network theories that are proclaimed by the philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist Bruno Latour. The design model of this archive identifies actors and emphasises how they are involved in shaping various creative outcomes. Actors can be defined as entities which serve as intermediaries between other actors. Actors are not limited to humans, but may include technology, history and cultural organisations. The act of creating a network of actors, henceforth, does not distinguish between human and material, and sometimes actors may be better referred as actants. The primary principles of the actor-based archive are as follow: Providing space to nurture a new perspective on art and culture Decentralizing the dichotomy of ‘Global vs Local’ Documenting new cultural happenings among the diaspora communities To promote a dynamic understanding of co-existence and discursive commitments &nbsp;&nbsp; 1. Agamben, Giorgio. “What Is an Apparatus?” And Other Essays. Meridian, Crossing Aesthetics. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2009. 2. Hsiao Hwei, Yu. “Why Do We Still Need Museums? An Interview with Hou Hanru, Artistic Director of MAXXI, National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome.” Yishu Vol. 14, no. No. 2 (April 2015). https://westeastiother.com/Index Wed, 09 Jun 2021 16:27:34 +0000 West East I Other https://westeastiother.com/Index Actors Ancestral-origin &nbsp; Diaspora &nbsp; Sci-fi &nbsp; ScenographyChinese-restaurant &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Fortune-cookies&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Collective-memories Decolonisation&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Furniture &nbsp;&nbsp; Playfulness &nbsp;&nbsp; 3D-printing &nbsp; &nbsp; Ethnicity&nbsp; &nbsp; Third-culture &nbsp;&nbsp; Modernity&nbsp; &nbsp;Photography&nbsp; &nbsp;Music&nbsp; &nbsp;Calligraphy ︎︎︎ Mappings ︎︎︎<img width="1870" height="1190" width_o="1870" height_o="1190" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d7f83127b087cbda0fab9f08f3bc7443ffca72011c8e47c9324fa07283f2c855/Screenshot-2024-07-26-at-4.26.28-PM.png" data-mid="215313468" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d7f83127b087cbda0fab9f08f3bc7443ffca72011c8e47c9324fa07283f2c855/Screenshot-2024-07-26-at-4.26.28-PM.png" /> Artwork Archives