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...
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...
From Green to Orange is a series of silver films immersed in a bath of dye and rust...
"xhe": Caught Between a Square and an Octopus | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Bernie Ng Photo by Bernie Ng, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay October 18, 2018 By Loo Zihan (1460 words, six-minute read) To preface: a statement to disclaim...
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...
Witnessing is political: Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints March 3, 2022 By Chu May Paing (1,532 words, 6-minute read) Witness (noun) 1 : attestation of a fact or event : testimony 2 : one that gives evidence specifically : one who testifies in a cause or before a judicial tribunal 3 : one asked to be present at a transaction so as to be able to testify to its having taken place 4 : one who has personal knowledge of something 5 : something serving as evidence or proof – Merriam-Webster Dictionary When I think about the word “witness” in English, I feel a sense of passivity: one being interpellated into seeing or being in the presence of an event unfolding in proximity of their own body (or mind)...
New Jo de Pear Caribbean Print collection – Gina Cross - Curator + Mentor Close Thin Icon Close Thin Icon Your cart Close Alternative Icon Now partnered with Art Money for interest free art collecting Now partnered with Art Money for interest free art collecting News Written by Gina Cross Previous / Next Jo de Pear is a British Printmaker whose recent work has focused on the flora and fauna of the island of Antigua where she spends several months of the year living and working...
Cosmic Mumbo Jumbo, a screening program curated by Erin Christovale, followed by a conversation between the curator and Ra Malika Imhotep Cosmic Mumbo Jumbo is anchored in the esoteric musings of Snake Doctor, an artist, philosopher, and public figure in his Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles...
Inside Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys’s Collection at the Brooklyn Museum | Artsy Skip to Main Content Advertisement Art Market Inside Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys’s Collection at the Brooklyn Museum Jewels Dodson Feb 9, 2024 5:25PM Installation view of “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys” at the Brooklyn Museum, 2024...
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)...