|
While the northern hemisphere basks in summer weather,
ArtAsiaPacific has decided to take a hint from this change of
seasons and let our hair down. In our desire to lighten the tone, the July/August
issue of AAP looks at artists who are exuberant in their
methods yet take the time to be playful, even naughty.
Our
Features begin with a look at Trippple Nippples, a six-piece noise-pop
ensemble from Tokyo. While some readers may wonder why we are dedicating
pages to a pop band, other mainstream media outlets resort to discussing
Trippple Nippples as an art group. In his article, Taipei desk editor David
Frazier reveals the artistic influences of Trippple Nippples' work, arguing
that the band's performances will inevitably circulate in the realm of
visual culture.
Also working at the border of popular culture
and conceptual art is Turkey's Vahap Avşar. Editor-at-large H.G. Masters
traveled from Istanbul to New York to speak with Avşar, who only recently
returned to art-making after nearly 10 years as the founding director of
the street-wear clothing company Brooklyn Industries in the US. Masters
traces Avşar's artistic career, from painting sentimental imagery drawn
from postcards to creating conceptual works that were consistently
questioned by mentors, banned by authorities and beloved by young Turkish
artists.
Taking another cue from popular culture, guest
contributor Elisabeth Stoney interviews Lebanese filmmaker Rania
Stephan about her epic filmic montage The Three
Disappearances of Soad Hosni (2011), which assembles film clips of
famed Egyptian actress Soad Hosni in an exploration of her life, as well as
the golden age of Arab cinema and the impact of modernity on West Asia.
With the London Olympics set to launch in late July, AAP managing
editor Olivier Krischer looks at the art-trio Xijing Men (Tsuyoshi Ozawa
from Japan, Chen Shaoxiong from China, and Gimhongsok from Korea), whose
collaborations include a staging of their own "Xijing Olympics" in 2008,
with absurdist events such as a sleep marathon and a cigarette relay
race.
In Essays, we run the first
of a two-part treatise by art historian and critic Terry Smith,
examining how the biennial format has nurtured and embraced experimental
art-making. We also hear from Arahmaiani, a radical Indonesian artist who
has initiated an environmental project with a Tibetan Buddhist temple in
China. For Case
Study, Chin-Chin Yap examines José Antonio Vega
Macotela's Time Divisa (2006–10), for which the artist
interacted with 365 prison inmates over a period of four years.
Among our Profiles, Dubai desk editor Isabella E. Hughes sits down with
Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi, founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah.
From Sydney, contributing editor Michael Young examines Australian art
patrons, Simon and Catriona Mordant, who have supported local artists and
leading institutions for nearly 30 years. Contributor Susan Gibb offers a
candid portrait of the Philippines' bad-boy artist Manuel
Ocampo and his latest initiative, the artist-run space Bureau of
Artistic Rehab.
In The
Point, San Francisco-based artist and experimental philosopher
Jonathon Keats contemplates why there isn't more humor in art. For our
Projects, Sydney's Janet Laurence answers the Questionnaire, while in One
on One, peripatetic artist Heman Chong explains his affection for Young-Hae
Chang Heavy Industries' work. In Berlin, we visit the sparse studio of
Song-Ming
Ang, who is known for a practice that deconstructs music and
sound.
Our long-form review takes senior editor Don J. Cohn to
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for Chinese
Art in an Age of Revolution: Fu Baoshi (1904–1965).
Among other reviews, Anneke Jaspers heads to Tokyo's Museum of Contemporary
Art for the survey show of Atsuko
Tanaka, and Narelle Yabuka sizes up the solo exhibition of Lee
Wen at the Singapore Museum of Art. And in search of an
informative yet fun read, we consider Michael Findlay's latest book, The
Value of Art, which helps remind us why we love art.
Select articles now online in Arabic and Chinese: artasiapacific.com
Subscribe,
buy on Zinio,
become a Facebook fan
and follow us on Twitter.
|
