East Contemporary

Hong Kong Arts Centre: “A Journey through Art and Technology in Asia Contemporary Art”

(11/12/2013-1/12/2014) 2 Harbour Rd, Wanchai, Hong Kong

A group exhibition with a grand yet little saying title. In terms of content, it was quite well done – a selection of 9 artists, spanning styles and generations – Wang Ningde, teamLab, Shilpa Gupta, Lee Yongbaek, Cang Yung Ta, Takashi Ishida, Wong Chung Yu, Nam June Paik, Samson Young. The selection was quite eclectic, and this could be a criticism – putting together a show only based on the fact that each artwork needed an electricity supply may not be enough – but in the end, it all made sense. I think this was mainly due to the fact that each artwork was given its own space, undisturbed by other artworks. As a result, visitors could simply walk room to room, sampling different facets of ‘media art’ in Asia. Rather than providing a survey or great narrative, the works were simply to be taken as samples of a large variety. What got a bit lost in the setup was the generational span between artists in the show – even though the works in the show were all quite recent (except for Nam June Paik, represented by later works), there is a generational difference in how artists approach technology. This was visible, but pointing towards it would stress another axis around which the show was built. It was a family friendly exhibition, with easy-to-understand, self-explanatory works, which however was probably appropriate for its location at the Hong Kong Arts Centre: An introduction to media art more than a curatorial statement. To conclude with the words I started off – uncomplicated yet well done.

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