In the work Cinema , Fang Lu explores in a meticulous yet un-dramatic — almost casual — way of how “the self” in our today’s life is a controlled and staged construction of oneself. What appears at first sight to be a not unusual performance of self-choreography, becomes at a second glance a disturbing portrait of a – female – persona brought to life under contemporary conditions of attractiveness, anxiety and narcissism. Unlike her previous works, which duel more on the internal, surrealistic human conditions, this seven-channel work elevates the individual relationship with its socio-political environment to a more recognizable and appealing set of behavioral actions of self-awareness and self-inflicted anguish. Cinema , as a “portrait”, is staged in the fashion of creating a self-image in the politically guarded societal arena of surveillance and social networks. In this media oriented process of constructing a self-image, one experiences over time the loss of one’s, authentic, identity. In that sense Cinema is a “melancholic” portrait.
Fang Lu uses intimacy as a place for self-expression in her videos and draws out mundane moments from everyday life as a strategy to heighten one’s awareness of existence from the rest of the world. Instead of using the camera as a tool to document or capture, she stages a superficial experience, or “situated reality,” that locates the self in relation to a relationship, environment, or idealistic notion. For example, examining behavioral patterns of being in love or being sequestered in an empty building with nothing but circulated online images. For Fang, there is no one reality and everyone creates her own reality. Thus, her practice is an ongoing exploration of self-awareness and seeking realization of truths within experience, and the content in and direction of her videos are directly influenced by her immediate and living environment.
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (4–10 Feb 2019) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do February 4, 2019 Puja Pantai Festival 2019 , at Mah Meri Cultural Village, 9 Feb, 10am–3pm Puja Pantai is an ancient Mah Meri ritual, and members of the public are invited to witness it...
Office Lady with a Red Umbrella restages a figure from a 1980 postcard made from a photograph from 1950’s...
Vietnamese director's debut feature The Third Wife wins award at Toronto Film Festival | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles October 1, 2018 The directorial debut from Nguyen Phuong Anh, also known as Ash Mayfair, won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award at last week’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)...
An Expansive New Exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe’s Lesser-Known Works | AnOther As a new show dedicated to Robert Mapplethorpe opens in London, gallerist Alison Jacques talks about showcasing the photographer’s less famous portraits and still lifes November 30, 2023 Text Miss Rosen Over the course of his brief but wondrous life, Robert Mapplethorpe was a seminal force in elevating photography to the realms of fine art...
ArtsEquator's Hot List: January 2021 | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints January 6, 2021 Every first Wednesday of the month, ArtsEquator will release a list of recommended shows/events/programmes that our readers can look out for in that month...
Singapore Art Week 2022: Returning to form, not FOMO | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Third Street Studio January 21, 2022 By Jennifer Anne Champion (1,400 words, 6-minute read) The Singapore Art Week (SAW) officially runs from 14th to 23rd January 2022...
Beatles Painting Sells for $1.7 Million | Art & Object Skip to main content Subscribe to our free e-letter! Webform Your Email Address Role Art Collector/Enthusiast Artist Art World Professional Academic Country USA Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Ascension Island Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canary Islands Cape Verde Caribbean Netherlands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Ceuta & Melilla Chad Chile China Christmas Island Clipperton Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo - Brazzaville Congo - Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard & McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao SAR China Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Outlying Oceania Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St...
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (3 – 9 Sept 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do September 3, 2018 Merdeka State of Mind documentary screenings , at APW, 8 & 9 Sept, 8pm A celebration of freedom of expression in Bangsar, this festival features two nights of timely documentary screenings: the subjects of child brides in Malaysia, and the Orang Asli blockades currently under siege in Kelantan...
Quiz: How well do you know Southeast Asian films? | ArtsEquator Skip to content While the works of Steven Spielberg, Wong Kar-wai and Bong Joon-ho have left a mark on the world, we should not forget our homeground talents, from the late Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad, to Indonesian actor Iko Uwais, and father of Philippines cinema, José Nepomuceno...