It's that time of year again... The Kusama pumpkins are sprouting, the influencers are blocking traffic for selfies, and he cafe's have raised their prices by 10 percent... It's art week in Hong Kong...
While everyone is clamoring to the posh Basel launch parties and mapping out where Paris Hilton might be staying this year (hint, it's probably the Hilton...) Every local gallery is hosting their own openings to cash in on the sweet sweet painted dollars flowing into the city this week (#painteddollar : yes I did think of that and it WILL be a thing).
I'll be working to write up about at least one opening per day... and I have just finished my 2 week liver cleanse to deal with the sudden influx of champagne in my diet to do so.
We're starting off with the most neon and insta-worthy opening with HART HAUS' opening show of Double Vision by Jeongmoon Choi, presented by the HOCA Foundation's show.
Everyone knows the way to my heart is heavy neon accents and a good wall to take my own photo in front of; Choi's show was thus, my perfect Sunday afternoon.
We enter the show to what appears to be a floating sculpture at the far end of the gallery. Depending on the angle of your initial viewing, the viewer can interpret either a floating dissected circle, or a series of floating black lines. At the foot of the space are a selection of white slippers which the viewer is invited to wear for a closer inspection of the work.
Enabling the viewer to immerse themselves in the work gets you up close and personal with Choi's craft. The piece is actually composed of super thin elastic wire which has been strategically painted to give the illusion of suspension in space.
As fate would have it, I lost my glasses in LA last week, and the seamlessness of Choi's illusion thus caused my blind ass to walk right into the elastic string... The sculpture was not harmed and it really emphasized the need for Lenscrafters to hurry up with my new specs order (I'm talking to you @lenscraftershk !) but also speaks to the artist's true intent, spacial disruption. (We'll touch more on this after room number 2)
Upon walking towards the second room, we were greeted by a black curtain covering a pitch black hallway. I was informed via the invite to "wear as much white as possible, and was thus relying on the reflection of my Saturday Night Fever in space suit for others to not crash into me.
Once we rounded the corner, I was immediately transported to my fantasy land...
From floor to ceiling, the room was filled with strings of neon illustration covering the room under an array of black-lights. After quickly ensuring you nothing had splashed on my shirt during lunch, I began venturing through the elastic shapes.
While my all white suit made me the immediate topic of 3 photographers in the room (sorry I followed the invites "all white" instructions #ShamelessGloat) moving about the room gave an entirely new experience to the average gallery viewing.
Choi has constructed her shapes to flow and perceive differently based on where the viewer is standing within the space. The experience is as immersing as it is disorienting and plays perfectly into Choi's desire for constructs which disrupt space.
Rather than dealing with purely visual narratives to approach a concept, Choi's work relies on the sensory disposition that the viewer experiences within her work. In recreating different visual anomalies which, in some cases, mirror the effects of visual disabilities, she remarks on the individual perspectives of people sharing the same space, a concept here which can be read either literally or metaphorically.
Whether you are looking to test your spacial sensory strength, feel oneness with fellow galley guests on our contemporary perceptions, or get some mad Instagram pics up in hur, you should hurry down to HART HAUS in Kennedy Town before this Double Vision gets Lasik-ed away ~
Double Vision by Jeongmoon Choi Presented by the HOCA Foundation
Tues-Sun 12-8pm (closing April 21st, 2018)
HART HAUS 3/F Cheung Hing Industrial Building 12 Smithfield Road, Kennedy Town
Hong Kong
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