Kwan Sheung Chi reveals how to survive as an artist in Hong Kong in telling video

HONG KONG FOTANIAN ARTIST VIDEO INTERVIEW

“Kwan Sheung Chi [art]attack 29” (length of video, 5:12 mins), features the Hong Kong artist Kwan Sheung Chi (b. 1980). In the video, Kwan describes the issues he explored in two of his exhibitions, as well as providing insight into his lifestyle. He emphasizes that creating art forms only a part of his activities. The video shows Kwan as he is interviewed in his studio in Fotan, Hong Kong, alongside examples of his work.

Kwan Sheung Chi's 'in situ', part of the exhibition "No Matter, Try Again, Fail Again" held at gallery EXIT (Hong Kong) in 2009.

Kwan Sheung Chi graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003, with a Third Honor Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. He has been recognized in Hong Kong from as early as 2000 when he was named the King of Hong Kong New Artist while still a student. His 2002 exhibition “Kwan Sheung Chi Touring Series Exhibitions, Hong Kong” toured ten major exhibition venues in Hong Kong.

He set up a studio in Fotan, Hong Kong where he creates art when he is not working at his part time job.

My studio looks more like a home. I spend most of my time in the kitchen. Since I’ve moved into this studio, I’ve cooked more than actually creating.

Kwan comments on the importance of trying different mediums for his work. He comes up with an appropriate medium for his work after he has explored many ways of expressing a certain concept or idea.

The medium of creating a piece of art is not my priority; rather it’s what I want to express and what I feel about a certain subject matter, then I will choose a suitable medium for the artwork.

He comments that his first solo exhibition, “A Retrospective of Kwan Sheung Chi”, was meant to be a “reverse” logic, an exploration of what a new artist needs to do to prepare himself for his own “retrospective”.  He says that it is due to this exhibition, held at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, that he is now so well-known in Hong Kong.

My intention of the retrospective is to ’reverse’ the logic of a new artist preparing for a retrospective. The artwork in the exhibition mainly reflects my ideas on how to survive as an artist in Hong Kong.

Kwan also discusses his 2009 exhibition “No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again.”, which consisted of about ten videos, small sculptures, and installations, and in which he explored the idea of failure. He explains that we encounter failure in many aspects of life, and it is impossible to avoid the negative feelings it causes.

One of the videos is about suicide, it’s called ‘Plan A To Z To End My Life’. I tried to think of 26 ways from A-Z to commit suicide.

Watch the video on the ChooChooTV show [art]attack (length of video, 5:12 mins).

MM/KN

Related Topics: Hong Kong artists, videos, profiles

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