Meeting People Is Easy: An Open Studio Project

MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY An Open Studio Project

Gan Siong King

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Editing this publication, Dec 29 th, 2017

Editing Meeting People Is Easy’s promo video

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A Note Gan Siong King

This publication is for Meeting People Is Easy, my open studio project, which took place in September 2017. Open studios can mean many things to different people, but to me, it’s an opportunity for artist and visitor to meet and have intimate conversations about art-making in the space where the art is made. I believe our appreciation of art is deepened when we know more about the artist and his or her processes, and feedback is useful to me.

This project came about as a logical next step to make exhibition making an extension of my creative practice. I was trained as a visual artist, or more specifically, as an oil painter, back when art education was still medium based, so exhibition making is something I picked up as my creative process evolved over the last 20 years.

This publication started out as documentation for this project, but has since evolved into a work in itself. I’ve always seen documentation as a passive recording of events, which is why for the longest time documentation is something I left to others to handle when it came to my own art projects. Having done two Instagram-hosted art projects pushed me to explore other possibilities of documentation, especially ones that are playful as playing is fundamental in all my creative work.

A big part of this publication is to make something in book form, which is something I’ve never made before. I am interested in playing with this printed and sequenced form, as it seems to bring together elements from my paintings and video works. The end result is analog like paintings, with data and aesthetics in rectangular frames which are edited into sequences like a video timeline, all in the service of creating a meaningful experience.

This publication is made with the collaboration of a progressive gallery, writers, designers and friends, which is another pull for me, as my daily creative work is mainly a solitary endeavor. The essays in this publication are not meant to be a definitive representation of me or my creative process, but rather, the writer’s interpretation of the conversations we had 5

Gan Siong King

A Note

about ideas and works in progress. I am unable to provide the texts in all the written languages commonly used in Malaysia because I’m working with limited resources. , jangan marah, 下次会做得更好 .

A wise person once said, the one thing artists fear the most is being seen as pretentious. There is some truth in that, but I choose to trust my instincts and I’ll gladly risk all the failures in the world to make something that is meaningful and fun to me. Thank you for your support.

Gan Siong King December 2017 Kuala Lumpur

—� Promo video @meeting.people.is.easy

A Note

Gan Siong King

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Editing Meeting People Is Easy’s promo video

Contents

Meeting People is Easy: Nota Lawatan

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Azzad Diah

Four Rabbits Talking

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A conversation between Wong Tay Sy, Chang Yoong Chia, Tan Sei Hon, and Gan Siong King

Notes on GAN+HAN

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Tshiung Han See

The Place Where The “Art” Stuffs are Made

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Tan Sei Hon

coming sometime soon-ish: until further notice untitled unnoticed noteworthy

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Roy Voragen 從畫框內景框外航向宇宙 張敏華

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Scrapings of dried paint from palette

Drawing Room Wide-view of drawing room

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Meeting People Is Easy: Nota Lawatan Azzad Diah

Walaupun tajuknya dalam Inggeris, tulisan ini berbahasa Melayu. Ada yang mengatakan, bahasa membentuk cara berfikir. Setiap bahasa, sama ada pertuturan atau tulisan, mempunyai struktur yang unik, membezakan tindakan pemikiran dan pemahaman setiap pengamalnya. Tulisan ini bukanlah mahu bercerita tentang bahasa dengan panjang lebar, malah tiada kena mengena dengan bahasa pertuturan. Sejujurnya, tajuk ini saya tiru dari program di mana tulisan ini dikhususkan. Meeting People is Easy atau terjemahan secara kasarnya, Mudah Berjumpa Orang. Bunyinya agak janggal. Terjemahan langsung dari setiap patah perkataan. Meeting People is Easy ialah sebuah program studio terbuka artis Gan Siong King. Sudah lebih kurang 20 tahun Gan Siong King berkecimpung di dalam dunia seni.

Setelah tamat pengajian di Malaysian Institute of Art, beliau terus sahaja aktif di dalam industri kreatif. Walaupun begitu, sebelum ini Siong King tidak pernah menganggap dirinya sebagai artis sepenuh masa. Seperti tok dalang wayang kulit dulu-dulu katanya. Tok dalang (dulu-dulu) bukanlah sebuah pekerjaan sepenuh masa. Mereka mempraktikkan wayang kulit hanya selepas waktu kerja. Tanggungjawab dalang melewati segala bentuk karier — ia sebuah kehidupan. Idea tok dalang ini membentuk cara kerja Siong King, di mana beliau tidak terikat dengan mana-mana bidang yang spesifik — namun akarnya teguh di dalam seni.

“Kebanyakan kerja-kerja yang saya lakukan sebelum ini demi meluaskan lagi praktik saya sebagai seorang pekerja kreatif — teater, filem, projek komuniti, kolektif seni — semuanya diluar dari apa yang saya pernah pelajari — catan.” Mungkin kerana terlalu sibuk dengan pelbagai tugasan, beliau sering kali dianggap tidak aktif menghasilkan karya.

Bekerja di dalam industri bukan sekadar berkerja mencari duit, Siong King terdedah dengan selok-belok menjadi artis yang lebih baik – sama ada dari segi pemerhatian, penghasilan, persembahan dan menghargai seni.

Walaupun tidak sebagai artis visual professional (kerana tidak mencari makan melalui karya seni), 15 pertama tahun karier beliau adalah tempoh pembelajaran yang sangat berguna, memahami dan mengalami seni dalam pelbagai bentuk dan pendekatan, memperluaskan tatabahasa seni beliau sehingga sekarang ini. “Kini segala-galanya tampak terang bagi saya. Saya tidak mahu lagi bekerja untuk orang.”

Program studio terbuka ini seakan meraikan karier beliau sebagai seorang artis sepenuh masa. Ia sudah dirancang awal namun hanya kini 11

Azzad Diah

Meeting People Is Easy: Nota Lawatan

berpeluang untuk merealisasikannya. Menurutnya program ini seperti membawa orang luar memasuki dunia beliau. Dunia yang penuh dengan visi dan imaginasi, realiti dan fantasi. Sesiapa yang melawat akan disambut oleh lukisan, catan, video, alatan-alatan, material dan objek-objek yang digunakan oleh Siong King untuk menghasilkan karya. Ia satu pendedahan, seperti gua yang terbuka untuk diterokai. Siong King mendedahkan segalanya — peribadi, idea dan juga objek obsesinya — untuk diterokai dan diamati khalayak umum. Kehidupan yang selalu dianggap terpencil, jauh dari penglihatan ramai, hanya diketahui sebilangan orang, kini terbuka untuk semua.

Melewati kawasan taman perumahan di Sri Petaling, mungkin tiada siapa yang menyangka terdapat sebuah studio seni di dalamnya. Dari luar, rumah teres satu tingkat ini kelihatan lebih kurang sama dengan rumah-rumah jiran di sekelilingnya (yang kebanyakan dihuni oleh keluarga). Tiada yang ‘seni’ mengenainya. Namun, seni itu fleksibel. Tidak perlu tempat yang kononnya artisitik untuk membuat seni. Semakin banyak korporat-korporat perumahan yang cuba menyelitkan unsur-unsur seni di dalam projek perumahan mereka.

Tanggapan lazim, seni melambangkan budaya. Masyarakat berbudaya, mencerminkan keperibadian sivik yang tinggi. Ini hanya tanggapan sahaja.

Kebanyakan perumahan-perumahan bertemakan seni ini hanya sebagai marketing stunt semata-mata.

Seperti ‘seni’, membuat ‘seni’ juga boleh melebur di mana-mana sahaja. Terbukti aktiviti seni mempengaruhi sesebuah ruang, biar pun ianya di tempat awam, persendirian, terpencil, institusi, petempatan luar bandar, hutan, lorong dan kaki lima. Allan Kaprow menjadikan kawasan pameran sebagai studio beliau untuk karyanya Yard (1961) dengan longgokan tayar-tayar terpakai secara horizontal di ruangan taman Martha Jackson Gallery. “Catan akan berhenti menjadi catan dan melebur menjadi persekitaran,” kata beliau merujuk kepada tindakan artis yang hidup di dalam persekitaran hariannya. Apa yang dimaksudkan di sini, artis harus bersatu dan ‘hidup’ di dalam amalan studio mereka.

Studio ialah sebuah tempat mistik. Tempat reproduktif kreativiti.

Di dalamnya diselubungi semangat artistik — di mana segala tenaga dipusatkan. Gudang idea, ruang untuk bermeditasi dan komunikasi.

Terdapat dinding yang memisahkan antara studio dan dunia luar. Tapi ini bukanlah bererti apa yang berlaku di dalam studio tiada kena-mengena dengan dunia luar. Cumanya, seni berbicara dalam bahasa yang khusus untuk dibaca dan difahami.

Saya membayangkan, studio Siong King bagaikan sebuah organisasi yang mempunyai bahasanya yang tersendiri. Seperti mempelajari bahasa yang asing, perkara pertama yang harus dilakukan sebelum faham ialah mengalami bahasa itu sendiri.

Meeting People Is Easy: Nota Lawatan

Azzad Diah

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Wide-view of drawing room

Homemade rig for shooting extreme close-up tracking shots

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Selain pertuturan (bunyi), bahasa juga visual. Teks adalah imej.

Percantuman antara teks menbentuk makna, dan makna ini difahami (jika sudah tahu berbahasa). Bahasa isyarat memerlukan penuturnya memahami simbol dari pergerakan tangan. Kaligrafi Cina mengambil bentuk dari persekitaran manusia, seperti gunung, haiwan, dan rumah.

Perbendaharaan bahasa Inggeris sangat luas, dan setiap perkataan menekan perbuatan atau makna yang khusus. Bahasa Melayu pula banyak menggunakan objek sebagai subjek — jadi, jika makan ialah perbuatan, dengan imbuhan -an menukarkan perbuatan menjadi benda — makanan.

Setiap bahasa mempunyai karakter tersendiri dan memerlukan laluan masuk yang berbeza untuk memahaminya. Etika berbahasa, walaupun berlainan, tetapi terbit dari pemahaman yang universal.

Sampai saja di muka pintu masuk studio, penglihatan saya disapa oleh sebuah carta warna yang tergantung di ruang tamu studio. Walaupun ia bukanlah objek yang paling hampir kerana kedudukannya di sebalik meja, namun ia sangat menyerlah, memaku pandangan sebelum melewati pintu masuk. Ruang tamu empat segi diperlakukan persis gubahan pameran dengan catan-catan disusun di setiap dindingnya. Lewat ruang tamu, langsung memasuki ruang dalaman studio yang agak besar sedikit berbanding ruang tamu. Rumah ini punyai ciri-ciri arkitektur perumahan 80an (mungkin lebih lama lagi) — bahagian siling tinggi yang mempunyai tingkap udara (nostalgia). Terdapat tiga buah bilik — antaranya dijadikan bilik suntingan video dan stor. Siong King aktif menghasilkan karya-karya berbentuk video seperti mana beliau menghasilkan karya-karya catan.

Lebih ruang untuk bermain berbanding dengan catan, katanya.

Seperti menonton filem asing tanpa sari kata, saya cuba menangkap butiran yang berulang di dalam karya-karya beliau. Ia seperti pengalaman memahami konteks perbualan bahasa asing, walaupun tidak mengetahui butirannya. Setiap objek di dalam studio ini mempunyai hubungan yang tersendiri walaupun tidak secara langsung. Terdapat suatu fetishism yang dapat dikesan dalam imej-imej yang dipaparkan. Bukan sahaja pada catan-catan beliau, malahan lebih terserlah di dalam karya-karya video beliau. Siong King gemar menggunakan mikroskopik dan close-up shot di dalam komposisi imej-imejnya. “Porno barang-barang mekanikal!” katanya berseloroh. Komposisi sebegini kadang-kala kelihatan abstrak, di sebaliknya ia membongkar sebuah proses.

Imej-imej di dalam karya catan Siong King mempamerkan pengaruh kuat tema sains dan sejarah. Kapsul besi berbentuk bulat, tengkorak, objek-objek permainan, potret tokoh berjanggut (kemungkinan tokoh sains), pegawai polis dari era lepas, haiwan — semuanya tampak abstrak dan tidak dirancang. Saya cuba mengaitkan konstelasi imej-imej ini dengan peribadi Gan Siong King. Saya percaya, setiap objek yang dihasilkan 15

Azzad Diah

Meeting People Is Easy: Nota Lawatan

oleh artis mempunyai sejarahnya yang tersendiri. Sejarah yang saya maksudkan ialah pertalian antara artis dan pemikiran yang dicerap di dalam karya-karya beliau — sejarah idea.

Apa yang mengujakan saya ialah bagaimana Siong King menggunakan struktur yang sama dan dipraktikkan dalam bentuk dan medium seni yang berbeza. Tiga komponen penting yang menterjemahkan visi Siong King istimewa program studio terbuka ini — objek, imej, dan pameran.

Beliau punyai tanggapan bahawa identiti sesuatu objek boleh dilentur dan dimaknai. Setiap satu komponen ini dibaca dari laluan masuk (entry point) yang berbeza.

Jadi saya membayangkan pintu masuknya disusun begini: OBJEK

(realiti fizikal)

IMEJ

(representasi naratif)

PAMERAN

(politik representasi)

Secara lahiriah apa sahaja benda adalah objek (penggunaan dua kata; benda dan objek, untuk memisahkan maksud pengkhususan antara duanya. Benda merujuk kepada fizikal, manakala objek difahami di dalam konteks teori). Misalnya, catan ialah objek — di dalam terdapat struktur kayu, kanvas dan cat warna (sama ada cat minyak atau akrilik). Di dalam catan terdapat imej. Bahasa imej di baca melalui pembentukan tanda dan makna, semiotik. Gabungan imej-imej ini pula diletakkan di dalam pameran, yang di baca melalui bahasa kuasa dan representasi. Ia juga diguna pakai di dalam proses penghasilan karya beliau: OBJEK

(fizikal)

WARNA

(teknikal)

IMEJ

(semiotik)

Ia sebuah strategi untuk pencarian bentuk dan makna yang konsisten, terpantul dari persoalan-persoalan episteme dan ontologi. Segala apa yang terdapat di dalam studio Gan Siong King adalah serpihan dari pemikiran sang artis. Yang pasti, ia adalah sebuah proses pembentukan.

“Jika hendak membentuk karier sebagai artis, perlunya sebuah strategi dan sentiasa konsisten di dalam pembikinan,” ujar Siong King.

Chaotic dan proses — dua elemen yang berlawanan di dalam tempat yang sama. Imej-imej yang abstrak, bentuk yang eksperimental, subjekMeeting People Is Easy: Nota Lawatan

Azzad Diah

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Examples of shots from homemade rig

subjek yang kadang-kala tidak masuk akal, diletakkan di dalam ruangan studio dengan susun atur yang menyelesakan pandangan. Perlawanan binary yang mengimbangi tenaga positif dan negatif, keduanya saling memerlukan untuk terus ‘hidup’. Sinergi di antara hubungan artis dan persekitarannya membentuk estetiknya yang tersendiri.

Program studio terbuka, seperti kata kerjanya — buka — membuka pelbagai kemungkinan baru. Setiap dialog membentuk makna baru. Setiap persoalan, mencipta peluang meneroka jawapan yang baru. Keterbukaan ini mendedahkan segala-galanya. Persoalan makna akan terus mekar menjadi perbualan lazim setiap kali berhadapan dengan objek-objek seni. Walaupun ada berpendapat karya seni itu subjektif kepada mata yang melihat, dari kaca mata artis ia adalah sebuah objektif. Setiap apa yang dihasilkan ada sebabnya, walaupun kadang-kala sukar untuk diungkapkan dengan kata-kata.

Artis, menurut Franz Kafka, adalah seorang yang tidak menyatakan apa-apa. Ini bermaksud, seni, lahiriah seni yang sebenar, tiada bermesej, tiada berpendapat, tidak cuba untuk meyakinkan, tapi — secara ringkasnya — sebagai saksi. Walaupun begitu, setiap apa yang tersaksi terkandung kenyataannya tersendiri. Sebagai pelawat yang menyaksikan objek-objek yang dipersembahkan di dalam program ini, terdetik untuk mengetahui latar belakang inspirasi sang artis. Mungkin ini juga tujuan Siong King mengadakan studio terbuka. Mendorong komunikasi. Bukan sahaja dengan objek-objek di dalam studionya, malahan untuk memulakan perbualan bersama artis. Meeting People is Easy — tetapi bukan mudah untuk bertemu dengan orang jika tiada apa yang mahu disembangkan.

—� English translation

Azzad Diah Ahmad Zabidi graduated from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in Degree of Fine Art. Worked as independent art writer before joining Galeri PETRONAS. Current affiliation with ILHAM Gallery as Assistant Curator. Writes and curate exhibition for various local galleries Including Zainal Abidin Musa’s Tengkujuh in 2014, also participated in local and international exhibitions including Bakat Muda Sezaman (Young Contemporary Art Award) finalist in 2013, Art-Chipelago at National Gallery of Indonesia and Yogyakarta Open Studios 2015, Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2015.

Meeting People Is Easy: Nota Lawatan

Azzad Diah

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Messing around in the studio

An imprecise re-creation of the conversation recording

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Four Rabbits Talking

On 20th August 2017, four friends, Wong Tay Sy (TS), Chang Yoong Chia (YC), Tan Sei Hon (SH), and Gan Siong King (G), came together to record a conversation about some of the art projects they collaborated on 15 years ago (circa 2000 – 2004). Below is an edited portion of that conversation.

On Encounters TS: When G talked about studios, other than a space you can see an artist’s artwork, what else is there? Then, I actually remembered how I met YC. Although the both of you (YC & G) studied in MIA (Malaysian Institute of Art), I didn’t meet you guys until…

YC: KBU (Kolej Bandar Utama).

TS: I met you (YC) in KBU, but I only saw you la. We “really” met through G’s studio. I think that was when we were forming SpaceKraft 1. I think G mentioned YC used to work in a gallery, so he’s (YC) got some experiences to share. With SH, I remembered very clearly. It was through Hoy Cheong.

G was helping Hoy Cheong, and you (SH) came because you wanted to assist Hoy Cheong right?

SH: Yes, that was actually very interesting.

G: Actually he (SH) just wanted to talk to Hoy Cheong and was forced to help as a precondition…

All: *Laugh* SH: No la, actually it’s like an industrial training, I did mine in Sarawak (Unimas), it was with an art teacher. Basically, I just didn’t want to do much la y’know. So, I followed this teacher, did a bit of mural painting and just enjoyed the whole period of industrial training la. And then my lecturer, Hasnul (Saidon) said, “Why not you do a short thing with Hoy Cheong?” and contacted him. Hoy Cheong said that he’s got a team of people working for him. So, he (Hoy Cheong) pointed me to your (G) place. That’s how I met the rest of you. What about you (YC)?

YC: We (YC & G) were classmates from MIA and I met you (SH) and TS at G’s studio.

TS: I remembered once, we (with SH) took a bus to G’s house. Do you know why I remember that journey till today?

SH: Why? TS: On the way, we talked and somehow we touched on our Chinese zodiac signs. So I said “Oh ya, G, YC and me are rabbits,” and then SH said 21

Four Rabbits Talking

1. Spacekraft: SpaceKraft is a Kuala Lumpur based multi arts collective that was active from 2001–2003.

he is also a rabbit. So I looked at him and thought, “You (SH) can’t be (born in the year of the) rabbit, you can’t be 12 years older than me !?”

All: *Laugh* TS: I thought he (SH) was older. Then he said he was born in 1975, and I was like, “You are same age with me?” That’s why I remembered that journey.

SH: That’s also what he (G) thought the first time he saw me, “Who is this old dude wearing teenager’s clothes?” and with that sideburns… (!)

On Spaces TS: Coming back to the idea of studio, I remember G intentionally opened up his studio for people to do things. So I thought that having a space without claiming it as a… common space for Spacekraft, it became that.

G: But I’m no longer interested in sharing my studio.

All: *Laugh* G: You can come hang out on weekends, but don’t come and work in my studio.

All: *Laugh* SH: A lot of stuff that I was involved in was through Spacekraft, through that studio. A lot of stuff also happened when you guys were doing your projects (Spacekraft), that’s where I met Joe Kidd…

TS: Chow Kit Fest! 2 G: The troubadour gang, right? But that’s the spirit of Spacekraft la, we try to create a platform and generate some hype and then anybody can come together and just do whatever they wanted. I think the genesis for Chow Kit was also like that. Because prior to that, we did more exhibitions, The Comic Show, In Limbo and some workshops and then I was like, “Ok la, let’s just do a multi-arts festival and have fun.”

TS: Actually, so how does a collective sustain itself when there’s no space? I felt like for us, in a way we already had a space in G’s studio.

Although we didn’t use this space for exhibitions but it was a meeting point. Because when you have a space, you need to fill the space with programs. That’s where members are forced to come out with ideas and be committed to it.

G: We had a space in Benteng (near Central Market), remember? We did one show there and “lost” that space, but, I was like, “Ya, we’ve been uprooted but we can still do things right?” Like what we call “pop-up” events nowadays, I remembered thinking this could work in our favour.

SH: Space-less kraft.

All: *Laugh* G: Maybe I’ve come a full circle. Prior to having that studio in OUG, I was cooped up in this house on a hill (Taman Zooview) and I was just doing my own stuff for three years. I wasn’t really interested in engaging Four Rabbits Talking

2. Chow Kit Fest: Chow Kit Fest is a five days multi-arts festival for young artists by young artist in Kuala Lumpur.

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Painting from 2001 titled Untitled

Tay Sy in a set-building workshop

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with anybody. I think a big part of moving (to OUG) was… I felt the need to change. I wanted to do things with (other) people, but engaging people is not my most natural instinct, half the time I’m very self-aware. But I thought it was important for my creative process. And through that studio in OUG, I did just that.

On Collaboration G: Obviously I’m biased, but I think Chow Kit Fest did inspire other multi-arts festival that came after it. I know Urbanscapes (art festival) is one such project that…

TS: NotThatBalai (art festival) definitely.

G: So that’s two big festivals in the art calendar.

SH: I think we made some prototypes. It’s still rough, not so tested, and when other people saw it, then they thought, “Oh, ok let’s do something better.” And the things they did grew to become something very polished like Urbanscapes.

G: Even Urbanscapes, when it first started wasn’t polished.

SH: Ya, I was involved and I exhibited my artworks in the toilet.

All: *Laugh* G: I think it’s the same with Art for Grabs, where it started as a small art flea market in Annexe. Now it’s an entity by itself. Consistency and sustaining something is important, but difficult.

SH: But I also think it has to do with our members la. We probably weren’t sharing the same vision. And our practices also… what we were doing were quite personal.

YC: About Chow Kit Fest, I thought perhaps at that time, there’s still this shadow about holding public events where if there’s a gathering of four people, the police can come arrest you for illegal gathering, which was a very prevalent fear at that time. But we did Chow Kit Fest anyway knowing it’s illegal and thinking the police might come. Maybe we were young enough or stupid enough to do it at that time, and I think it broke some kind of ground for other people to do their things as well.

SH: And we purposely sought out groups that were not mainstream.

I mean, if you look at Urbanscapes, the focus is more on popular or mainstream stuff.

TS: Like, we invited Anarki (Punk Collective), Joe Kidd… and then on the film side, I remember Kino-I did the film screening and I was like, “Wah! Actually, Malaysia has so many interesting young filmmakers.” And I think this trying to build platforms and connecting with people who may not be very popular in their own fields to see what each of us can do together… that is actually a very interesting spirit for me.

G: I think at the point Spacekraft was about two years old… when we 25

Four Rabbits Talking

graduated we didn’t have any regional network…and even within KL, the various art disciplines weren’t really connecting, and one of my desires was that, to connect y’know. Getting people to meet and hoping something will happen, and a lot of things did happen, like some of the projects you guys mentioned.

TS: I find that the process, in anything, are always these kinds of exploration... discovering, networking and then trying la.

SH: I think we did talk about getting someone who could write, meet people, which we were not interested in doing at that time, but then you need to pay these people. And what we were doing at that time was not very financially enticing. It was not sexy enough for funding.

G: I remembered thinking a lot about the idea of collaboration. I think most collaborations that worked were those that are sustained and when there are some kind of personal relationship between collaborators.

YC’s involvement in Mark’s Baling (Membaling) could be traced back to Chow Kit Fest in a way.

YC: Yes. TS: Ya. G: And your (TS) work with Mark and gang could also be traced back to Chow Kit Fest. I remembered right after Chow Kit Fest we did the Taman Medan project.

SH: For me the spin off was of course the music part. I met Joe Kidd, Pete Teo… then we had…

TS: KL Sing Song!

SH: I think we all got something from Spacekraft that drove us to do something else. That was probably a good thing, because if we kept on going as a collective, what would have happened?

G: But Spacekraft from its conception, wasn’t meant to last forever.

I remembered we had a meeting early on and decided to do this as best as we can for three years and that’s it.

SH: But I think we didn’t last three years.

G: We did, after Chow Kit Fest we did SENI: Homefront in Singapore, but you (SH) didn’t participate. I believe that was one of the last things we did. After that they (TS, YC) did the director’s workshop which became a Five Arts’ project. Actually I want to know, why did you guys join Spacekraft?

What was the motivation?

YC: I was bored working in a commercial gallery. I was doing archiving and hanging work.

All: *Laugh* YC: There’s a more selfish reason la. I wanted to exhibit, but I didn’t have opportunity. So, in order to do shows I have to be a part of a collective and do other things.

Four Rabbits Talking

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Yoong Chia in his studio

Sei Hon in his home office

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All: *Laugh* G: But we didn’t do your solo show though.

TS: There was the CTRL + ALT + DEL show.

G: That’s a three man show. But we did help organized Wall Lizard’s group show, which was your (YC) other art collective.

On Works YC: I always feel that the work I do, I need to work on it alone. Like, Spacekraft was a weird time for me. Because I felt like, ahmm… I don’t own it, it doesn’t belong to me. I’m just helping out, but I’m happy to help and happy to have helped. But it’s just not my work la. I still prefer to find a place and settle there, and just do my work on my own.

G: What about you SH? In regards to work, then and now. Because at that time we all just started our process.

SH: It’s very complicated.

All: *Laugh* SH: After Spacekraft, I went into music. So, it involved a totally different group of people. And we were not just organizing gigs, we were performing as well. There was a need to step up to do publicity work, and you have to approach people and there are egos involved. Then, there’s also pressure that when you perform in public, you might suck y’know. Actually my main issue is about control la. From a very fluid way of looking and working on things, it became more focused. I found it easier to work that way. I only work with a few people that I’m comfortable with and I trust can deliver. For example, when I curate a show, I have full control over the space, the catalogue, the people involved in the project and that is ideal to me. I get to say what I want to say. Writing is my way of having ownership.

G: When did you start writing? I don’t remember you doing that in Spacekraft.

SH: Ya, actually I was forced to write to make a living because you guys had technical skills and did freelance jobs. I don’t have the skills for those jobs. At that time there were people complaining about writers not writing correctly what the artist wanted to say. So I thought, ok la, I have training in fine arts, maybe I can be more emphatic towards artists, maybe I should try my luck and go into writing.

G: What about you TS, why did you stop making visual art stuff?

TS: I just don’t know how to find pleasure in showing works on a wall.

All: *Laugh* TS: When I say I don’t find pleasure in seeing my work hanging on a wall, ar…it’s because my relationship with my work becomes so different. I think I enjoy the process of making, whereas a finished piece of 29

Four Rabbits Talking

Gan in his studio

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artwork on a wall is so… fixed. I can appreciate other people’s artworks, paintings and all that. I can see growth and a lot of inspiration but for my own work, somehow, I can’t. If an artwork can somehow grow after it is done then maybe… I think theatre is like that, the work is finished by performing it, and every time you perform to a different audience, the energy is different. So it grows. This growing process in the work itself is important to me.

G: What about your organizing or producing work?

TS: I became interested in organizing art events. I really enjoy seeing how other people work and talking to them about it. I’ve always wondered if these artists’ processes could be shared in a show, this joy of learning and making. There’s all these people around with passion in making things, and I might not like all their works but I appreciate their efforts in facing themselves everyday, to come out with something, because that was so difficult for me. So I thought what I can do is to help get these works out into a show. Now, I’m clearer of my role. I actually really enjoy being in a group where people are working together towards something, a collective creative process. And I think the word “collective” is very important to me. I treat every art project as a learning process and… I really enjoy learning la. Anyway, I don’t know how to solve this problem of a fixed work on a wall, because I become very detached.

G: I was talking to a writer friend about drafts. If we look at the bigger picture, all our works can be seen as drafts. Like, Picasso’s early, more realistic works for example. They can be seen as drafts leading toward his later Cubist stuff. This whole…ways of working is something I’m interested in. Like, how do you let go and move forward? Accepting that this is the best that I can do at this moment. These are not my best works, as my best is still ahead of me.

On Money G: Artists have to make money because artists also need resources to sustain their practices. It’s kind of a contradiction because it comes from a good place. There’s... maybe self-loathing is too strong a word, it’s like deep down inside you feel that whatever you do, it’ll never be good enough to sell. I had that feeling when I was younger. My main concern for the last few years is to sustain the practice, everything else are just details. I think YC probably feels the same way?

YC: I completely agree with you.

G: When I was younger, I gave money too much power. The moment when money was involved, it meant something else, like I lost my integrity or something. But I have no regrets living that life for 15 years, not really caring about money… maybe it does mean something, 31

Four Rabbits Talking

I don’t know. But at the same time it was so difficult to work, I mean, it’s impossible for me to have an audio recording setup like this. Even this studio for us to have this conversation is something I have to work for, so there’s blood and sweat. It’s difficult to sustain my practice if I don’t have resources.

TS: I have that feeling too.

G: To be able to consistently practice every day makes a big, big difference.

TS: I think it’s important to be self-sustainable. To be free from money worries, to do what you want to do is a very important thing for an artist.

If you ask me today, I fully agree with this idea because for me, if there’s no freedom, there’s no art. Well, at least you try to push the boundaries to be as big as you can, right? So, to be financially self-sustainable in a capitalist world is very important. Unless, you have an inheritance then you don’t need to worry about this. But for someone like us, we’re from a working class background, where we have to work for everything in order to continue our work.

G: It’s either you make money and become a whore or don’t make money and become an artist.

All: *Laugh* G: It’s framed in simple binaries, very black and white. But actually, it’s complex and grey.

YC: I was recently invited for a show. So, I loaned a work for the exhibition. The truck came, a very nice truck with a few workers… with bubble wraps and a conservator. He was there to check the work. So I was thinking to myself, “For this show, the truck driver, the conservator, the people who does the packing, the people who sold the bubble wraps, the lighting, the stickers and all that, they all get paid…”

SH: Except the artist.

All: *Laugh* YC: Ya, except the artist. Eventually that work was sold but that should be a different thing because that’s for getting the work, the object.

G: I think when it comes to art exhibitions, an artist’s participation is usually considered free. What happens if the work wasn’t sold? You get nothing.

YC: I get “glory” lah, that’s all. Because art is about “passion”.

All: *Laugh* G: This idea of “passion”, if you have no passion then there is no point in doing anything! Because we’re not working towards attaining passion, passion is a prerequisite.

YC: As if you have to prove your passion by not taking the money.

All: *Laugh* Four Rabbits Talking

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Painting Room 33

Reverse shot of painting room

Painting from 2018

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On Process YC: As an artist, you have your work, your career and the selling.

Career and selling are two different things. It’s ok to separate that, even though sometimes it’s mixed together, and sometimes you do feel like you’re betraying one when you opt for the other. For me, I also felt whatever I do will never be good enough even till today. But that is in regards to my work, my art. It doesn’t have anything to do with the selling or my career.

Because I’m just responsible for creating that image, and once I bring the work out to an exhibition in public, it doesn’t belong to me anymore, it’ll move in any direction…

TS: The work will lead!

YC: I have no authority over it after I surrender the work out there.

That’s why I’m interested in doing solo shows more than anything else because right until the point the show starts, it’s still what I wanted, but once it’s opened to the public it’s not mine anymore. And I think it shouldn’t be mine anymore because I think my artworks should be whatever people want to get out of it, it shouldn’t be that you have to see it in a certain way.

When I’m making it, I have to have control the way they are presented, but after that it doesn’t belong to me anymore.

G: Maybe that’s why among us, you’re the earliest to have a more sustainable career.

YC: Maybe.

G: I struggled with this for a while, on hindsight.

YC: I think making art also takes such a tremendous effort that if you can just do that, it’s preferable.

SH: I’m quite lucky, because I don’t make art objects, so I don’t have to deal with this. But when it comes to my performances, then some issues come up because I feel like I have to be true to what I do. When I play music, some of the things I wrote are quite personal you see, so it’s like, “Can I be singing, feeling the same thing over and over again?” When it comes to writing essays I don’t have such problems because you can edit it. In a way it’s just information and we may disagree but it’s nothing personal.

TS: Actually my earlier works were a bit like that, it’s personal. That’s why it was strange to have to put a price on it. Because there’s some distance now, I can reflect and say this. But back then I couldn’t….

SH: Ya, if it’s too personal, it’s hard to resolve. However, is it true that we should feel this way? Or is it the romantic ideas we learnt from art historians, movies and popular culture towards the role of an artist? Because when we look at art we should always judge the artist’s intention. Is he doing it to be famous, is he doing it to make money or is he really sincere?

That’s where I started thinking about the role of an artist. Why do we take it so personally, why is the ego involved when art is also about ideas? If I 35

Four Rabbits Talking

were to critique your work from an idea’s point of view, it’s not a personal insult. But when you paint a picture of your dead cat and I say the work is not good enough, you might take it as a personal insult. So where do we draw the line? Should we be able to do something we like and sell? And make something political when the time calls for it? Will that be seen as not being a true artist? I look at our seniors and how they struggled with this over the years, I see that that is quite problematic, because we…

TS: We don’t really talk about it.

SH: We find it difficult to separate it or we don’t want to separate it.

Actually, why do you (G) continue to do what you do?

G: Well, in a way I have no choice.

SH: Wah, that’s a very saleable line!

All: *Laugh* G: I am still painting today because of a series of decisions I’ve made consciously or otherwise over the years, and reacting to circumstances that I put or found myself in. It’s a story of survival fuelled by passion, but people are fixated on the passion part. In a way, I learnt to love what I do, especially painting.

TS: Or people think of art as an instinct, instinctive love.

G: I was using this analogy when I was doing my ARCUS residency in Japan. I don’t know about you guys, but when I was younger and when talking about love, woah it’s the berkobar-kobar (passionate) kind of love.

As I grew older, I realized there are other kinds of love. I’ve seen older couples who are sometimes very annoyed with each other, but there’s a reason why they still stayed together.

SH: Ya, practical reasons la.

TS: They learnt how to stay together.

G: It’s not just about passion.… Process, history, habit, responsibility, respect…there’s all these things. Generally, people talk about passion, people talk about talent. People are fascinated with these things that exist in a rarefied place, away from the daily grind as we know it. Besides the artwork, looking at an artist’s process and history is also important.

That’s one of the reason I’m doing this Open Studio and recording this conversation… so you guys bila (when)?

All: *Laugh* SH: So anyway, have we got what we got?

G: Shit, it’s almost four hours.

All: *Laugh* SH: We’re gonna have a hard time editing this.

TS: As long as I’m not the one doing the transcribing.

All: *Laugh*

Four Rabbits Talking

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Paintings from 2017

Gan contemplates skulls, Han contemplates death

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Notes on GAN + HAN Tshiung Han See

When I think of a skull painting, I think of Holbein’s The Ambassadors, with the anamorphic skull at the bottom of the frame. At first, looking so out of place. But then, as you re-orient yourself and look again, it’s like the painting is teaching you how to look at it. As if the realization of your own mortality (literally) changes your perspective.

Gan has been asked similar questions in the past. He had sold two skull paintings before the open studio and he had two other paintings of skulls in the studio, behind him as we talked. But stronger significance came from his artistic training where he had to draw skulls to improve his skill. “Skull is the basic in drawing,” he said.

This was pretty much how all our conversations went. I would share an assumption about art and he would validate that assumption as well as expand it so that it held true for a greater number of experiences.

Questions ranged from the subject matter of his paintings to his daily routine. They were process questions and I knew Gan had a lot to say about process.

At our first sit-down, we talked for half an hour. This conversation was transcribed easily. Our second sit-down lasted for two hours. It would take me days to transcribe it. To this day, I still haven’t finished.

I don’t think I ever will.

Our conversations after that were more focused. We began to arrange our conversations around topics, no more than 5 to 10 minutes per topic.

I started to teach myself how to use a digital audio workstation to work more quickly. If him or I didn’t have anything interesting to say, then we would ditch that clip.

But there was always something interesting, some nugget of wisdom that could be expanded on. We left a lot of good stuff on the cutting room floor that would have worked in longer mediums.

Instagram itself is a medium known for brevity. You look at the photo, look at the text, tap to like (or don’t), move on. I am not a heavy user so I struggled to whittle the content down to something short enough.

When I first entered Gan’s studio, I was a little brief myself. A little tentative, a little unconfident, a little unsure of what I was doing. But as the collaboration went on, I began to trust him more with my ideas, just as he trusted me with his voice.

That trust, I hope, comes out in the writing.

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Tshiung Han See

Notes on GAN + HAN

GAN + HAN is a series of conversations between artist Gan Siong King and writer Tshiung Han See on @meeting. people.is.easy about artistic process, the nature of work and the importance of play.

Same-Same But Different

1 st September 2017

Gan starts to tell me about a work called “Painting Skull, Skull Painting” that is made of two paintings (a, b). The work isn’t in the studio, so he’s using another work, also made of two skull paintings (c, d) to talk about it. (a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Han: So one of the images is a skull with some paint information at the bottom.

Gan: O ne is a skull (b), one is a skull (a) with shit on it.

Han: O ne has shit on it.

Gan: Marks.

Han: Marks.

Gan: B ut this (d) is in the Venetian method.

Han: Chiaroscuro?

Gan: No, Venetian method. You deal with the tone (c) first then layer in the color (d).

Han: S o it’s different?

Gan: I t’s a classical way of painting, more systematic lah.

Han: N o, I mean this is different from the skull paintings.

Gan: Ah, different. But it’s the same in the sense that you can see outside the edge of the image.

Han: I t’s that much more obvious that this one (b) is a painting.

Gan: One is an action, one is an object. “Painting Skull, Skull Painting.”

Two different things.

GAN + HAN

Selected conversations, originally posted on @meeting.people.is.easy

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Hey! Mister Taboret Man!

9 th September 2017

Gan shows me the trolley that holds his brushes and palette. The paint brushes are split into two sections.

The section closest to the canvas contains the mostused brushes. The palette lies in between the two sections. The name for the trolley is an artist taboret.

Gan tells me he made his taboret himself.

Steadicam footage

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Han: I don’t make my own tools and my tools are all limited by what the market produces, and customization costs a lot of money.

Gan: Same here. Actually, I can go buy a taboret if I have the money, but I don’t have the money. I do have a lot of wood and some time, so I just make one myself lah. A clumsy version, but it’s good exercise. I also assembled my own double sided easel. A lot of pioneer filmmakers make their own tools.

Han: Yeah?

Gan: Steadicam.

Han: W hat do you mean?

Gan: You know those shots in The Shining (movie)? The kid cycling… the camera follows. It’s developed by a camera man.

Han: N o track, right? Trackless…

Gan: Yet it’s steady. New tools, more often than not, open up new possibilities. Movie camera used to be so big and noisy, most shots are stationary and dialogue is recorded later on.

Han: T hey develop the tools to solve the problem.

Gan: And those tool are used by other people in new ways to make stuff. So it’s not just problem solving, sometimes it expands the imagination.

Selected conversations, originally posted on @meeting.people.is.easy

GAN + HAN

East side of painting room

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For My Family & Tiger (the cat) Your quiet support gave me the space to grow both as a person and an artist.

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The Place Where The “Art” Stuffs are Made Tan Sei Hon

There is a line in a book written by one of our local pioneer abstract artists that was published more than ten years ago where he audaciously claimed that an artist without a studio is like a surgeon without an operating theatre.

Of course, on first reading, one may understandably be put off by the sheer arrogance of that statement, made by someone who, unsurprisingly is known for his haughty demeanour (still) and unsolicited scathing remarks. What gall to equate the ‘holy’ work done by a surgeon (even the plastic ones) to that of an artist (usually the stereotypical image of a lowly, emaciated, stinky, sweaty, unkempt, long haired, paint-smeared painter comes to mind!). However, upon further reflection, there may be some truth to it no matter how immodest such a thought. In a fair and sane world, these highly committed men of medicine who struggle daily to wrench patients from the greedy clutches of Death should be showered with praise, heaped with rewards or drowned in accolades.

Books and songs should be written and movies should be made about them. Alas, the world is neither fair nor sane. We have more monuments about dictators, actors and cartoon characters than we have of medical surgeons. The reality is that through the surgeon’s best efforts, a patient lives until he or she irredeemably expires but through a work of art, an artist, no matter how outstanding or mediocre, lives ‘forever’ even if he or she dies young, tragically or in grinding poverty (preferably from all three to make for great reading material or a movie script).

Whether poor, successful or struggling, it is almost every art practitioner’s dream to have their own studio or workshop. This is in anticipation of the great work that they’re about to produce or to at least have a decent place to work in private. Any ordinary person would find an empty room or large space too unnerving and would quickly proceed to fill it up with ‘stuff’. Not the artist though. The height and length of the studio increases in tandem with the artist’s aspirations and vision. Sometimes, it also coincides with their bulging ego and growing sense of self importance.

The studio is more than just a workroom to make objects which hopefully people with fine aesthetic sense, good taste and, more importantly, a sizeable disposable income will be inspired to acquire, it is also a space where artists would meet gallerists, curators, writers and related others to discuss creative, professional and business matters.

The idea of a privately run studio producing works for pleasure and The Place Where The “Art” Stuffs are Made

Tan Sei Hon

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Mahl stick, brush washer sitting on a taboret.

Tracing for a painting, circa 2007

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the open market, with the artist as an independent operator (or with support of a gallerist or several) has come a long way since the time when art practitioners were merely artisans regarded as on par with craftsmen, who labour in the service of the religious class, living and working in monasteries.

Later, they would branch out to serve other non-religious masters while living at their residences. For generations, the royalties, aristocracies and mercantile classes have been steady providers of stable employment and countless commission work. As artist in residence, they painted portraits of their patron’s family members, decorated the surroundings and whatever else that was expected of their artisanal skills, to bring joy and prestige to their patrons’ homes and standing in society. It wasn’t until the late 18th and early 19th century, the so-called age of revolutions, that the artist emerged as bohemian-rebel, anarchist-individualist type who, against tradition and industry, claims to make Art for its own sake.

‘The Painter’s Studio’ by Gustave Courbet exemplifies this new importance attached to the artist’s singular vision and ingenuity. In that painting, even the nude model, accustomed to countless male gazes, now casts her own gaze in the same direction as the painter’s, both in rapt admiration of his latest masterpiece, ironically, a landscape without humans.

Contemporary artist Chris Ofili, who incorporated elephant dung into his work once said that ‘the studio is a laboratory, not a factory. An exhibition is the results of your experiments, but the process is never ending. So an exhibition is not a conclusion.’ Indeed, the artist’s studio is where the action is. Think of the fantastic series of photos of Picasso, clad only in white shorts, playfully ‘light drawing’ in semi darkness surrounded by his ceramic pieces in his château in southern France, or Bacon in his anal-explusive mess of a studio in London. And there are the photographs and film of Pollock in action, all black and working feverishly as though under a spell, dripping and splashing paints with such cathartic urgency on unstretched canvases laid out on the floor. Pollock almost single-handedly created a new chapter in modern art history with those ‘drip’ paintings in some barn in rural Americana (thereon inspiring any parent into thinking that even their bratty little five year old could do that, and extending that ability to their pet monkey, elephant, pony, dog, cat etc).

Artists, historians and curators may get all hot and bothered about artist studios, yet there are many others in the art ecosystem who remain blissfully dry and unaware of what goes on in ‘there’. The struggles usually begin at conceptualising and extends to the production process. Framed or disassembled and bubble-wrapped, the works arrived in the gallery or 47

Tan Sei Hon

The Place Where The “Art” Stuffs are Made

an exhibition venue ready to be assembled or displayed and bought off the wall, floor or ceiling. On opening nights, pleasantries are exchanged, congratulatory wishes abound, the obligatory speeches on stage while below two cents worth are tossed about regarding the perceived merits and demerits of the works and whether they deserve the ridiculous prices they command. In between the buying and selling, bitching and back biting, the creative process goes unacknowledged, the struggles unappreciated nor the intentions behind the efforts illuminated. Of course, any good art piece should speak for itself, but most times it gets drowned by the noise generated from those who claim to know art (or the crowd that came for the free food and booze) or unamplified by those who claim to peddle it.

Usually, art writers and curators write not so much to report or echo the artist’s thoughts but to highlight their own readings of the works, which often times do not really reflect the artist’s intentions. Even art historians are no better. Think of Gerhard Richter’s slightly annoyed and confused look when listening to Benjamin HD Buchloh’s long intellectual-sounding verbiage (in German!) about his paintings.

Perhaps that’s why the idea of ‘open studio’ came about. It is not so much to share and expose one’s working environment, it is also in certain ways, wrestling back control the framing and contextualizing done by other actors in the art ecosystem on the artist’s position and outputs. Art making is usually a solitary endeavour with the artist spending many hours alone working in private. This makes the studio not just a creative space but also a deeply personal space that is not readily accessible to just anyone. By opening up the studio, one is given access to a side of the art-making business that is much hyped and glamorized but rarely experienced and seen unembellished. As the visitor steps into the studio, one could be entering a castle, a temple, a sanatorium, a laboratory, a factory or a playground. The surroundings reflects the artist’s temperament, tastes and interests, which in turn is reflected in their output. An open studio is an invitation to see, to get to know the artist beyond his or her professional façade or reputation.

An open studio is the artist’s way of saying “talk to me”.

Tan Sei Hon is a former institutional curator who co-curated the final exhibition of Malaya’s First National Painter Datuk Chuah Thean Teng (1914 – 2008) in 2008 and the design section of the retrospective of Malaysia’s Seniman Negara Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal (1929 – 2011)’s in 2009.

He was the guest curator of Tokoh Cetakan Long Thien Shih’s survey exhibition Man of the Times (2014) and self taught painter of Peranakan-themed subject matter, Sylvia Lee Goh’s Then And Now:The Enduring Heart (2015).

Seihon works as a freelance art writer and curator with a special interest in abstract and outsider art. He curated the exhibitions On the Corner (2008), Dengan Cara Kita (2011), We are Self Taught (2014) and SingulaRhapsody: A celebration of Malaysian Outsider, Naive and Self Taught Artistry (2015) He also curated MEAA 2013/14 winners Cheong Tuck Wai’s solo exhibition entitled Linger and Shafiq Nordin’s Imperium at HOM Art Trans (2016).

The Place Where The “Art” Stuffs are Made

Tan Sei Hon

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More messing around in the studio

Editing Room Artist taking photo for this publication?

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coming sometime soon-ish‌

Roy Voragen

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A notebook in the editing room

Storyboard inside a notebook in the editing room

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coming sometime soon-ish‌

Roy Voragen

Roy Voragen (Heerlen, the Netherlands, 1974) moved to Indonesia after receiving masters in philosophy and political science from the University of Amsterdam in 2003. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy and political science at universities in Bandung and Jakarta between 2003 and 2010. Since 2010, he works as a curator and writer. He has curated, organized and participated in projects, talks and seminars in Bandung, where he resides, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Singapore, Manila and Hong Kong. Beside his curatorial practice, he writes and publishes poetry. Some of his poetry: #superduperdecorativeart manifesto (Langgeng Art Foundation, 2016); Aleph’s permutations (published at the occasion of Syaiful Garibaldi’s solo exhibition Quiescent, ROH Projects, 2016); Your Lips Stutter (Gauss, 2016); Eulogy for K. (published at the occasion of Cinanti Astria Johansjah’s solo exhibition DOWN DOWN DOWN the rabbit hole at ROH Projects, 2017); Futile Erasure (forthcoming by P and not P, 2017); and Primal #m74207281 (a long-durational and still ongoing poem; a preview was published by SOd Press in 2016).

Roy Voragen

coming sometime soon-ish…

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Test shots based on storyboard inside a notebook in the editing room

Extreme close-up of CRT screen

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從畫框內景框外航向宇宙 文:張敏華

一場接連一場的熱鬧喧嘩，先是城內火紅畫展開幕禮，然後移到一像露天廣場的大炒

夜宵餐廳，酒足飯飽後的我載著章永佳及顏常慶回家。到了Gan家門口，鄰居5隻大小

狗的吠聲讓我覺得那一片鬧哄哄仍在延燒，他下車時對我倆說： 「要不要進來坐一下？」 Gan就是顏常慶，我從來沒聽過任何人用中文名字稱呼過他(後文繼續用「Gan」簡稱)， 我也從來沒有造訪過他的畫室。這是第一次。

尾隨Gan進入那幢單層排屋，剛踏入客廳，三面掛滿圖畫的白板牆就把我包圍

了，长方形的廳中央則被門板一樣大的木桌佔滿，桌邊還掛著一些攝錄影音器材。從客 廳左邊穿過拱形洞門，就是像長廊的封閉式天井，牆同樣被藝術家改造成白色的展示

區，對面放了一紅色長沙發。角落裏有木製畫架以及整齊擺放調色盤、顏料架及畫筆桶 的收納架，後來才得知全是他依自己的習性作了改裝。Gan及章永佳兩位96年畢業於 馬來西亞藝術學院美術系，主修油畫的同班同學很快就進入有關繪畫的對話，而我則

被這時而像「白立方」(White Cube) 時而像「珍奇閣」(Cabinet of Curiosity)的空間給

楞住了，搭不上話地在室內邊逛邊聽。Gan不斷提到不要Image Making，章永佳不斷 提到不要技術性地解決問題，我則跳躍、片段式地接受訊息。凌晨臨走時，我對Gan說: 你的「畫面/鏡頭」還不夠多，因此還不足夠給你去「剪輯」成新的排列組合。他們倆，都

以為我醉了…… 這篇文章的形成或許就是因為那個深夜的邀約，兩個月後Gan聯絡

我說能否為他9月即將開始的工作室開放(Open Studio)計劃寫一篇文章。那之後才 有第二次、第三次的造訪及漫談，我們展開了工作室開放的預先練習。 * * * * 我們看到的往往是我們想看到的？

那一夜，我在Gan工作室的油畫之間，看到了影像的語言，並啟動了我想進一步

對話的動機。創作過程中，他由始至終都沒有手執攝影機，可是我卻直指他沉浸於拍攝 (電影及照片)的創作思維裏。

或許，在踏入工作室之際會被裏面的种种表象所蠱惑，因為藝術家把他本來

的創作空間打造成一被最大程度地抽象化的現代展示空間(白牆及去生活細節的空

間);可是白牆上的油畫卻不是以現今熟悉的單排水平線對齊的方式來懸掛，而是以 巴洛克時期般隨意切割畫作後彼此毫無關聯地掛滿牆面。牆上掛著的有鳥喙、顏色

輪(Colour Wheel)、第一顆人造衛星「斯普特尼克1號」、孟德爾神父的豌豆及機械女

體等等，像是博物館雛形的「珍奇閣」。而藝術家對此娓娓道來的種種故事，往往也會 把人們牽引往另一條路徑上去。

那些尺寸不大有點像獵奇小收藏品的油畫，讓人不禁想起了德國藝術家格哈德·

李希特(Gerhard Richter)的「照片繪畫」(Photo-based Painting)。而Gan也如李希

特般一再地宣稱他從網際網路選取的照片沒有任何固定意義，畫面中之人、物、景也沒 有任何象徵意義(直到目前工作室開放時刻?)。現今是影像泛濫的時代，而Gan以一種 59

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自我挑戰的態度來叩問為何繪畫一定要繼續Image Making，他透過油彩重新臨摹照 片的方式來複製圖像的同時，也打破觀眾對於繪畫的慣性認知。

不過，無可否認的是，畫框內那近乎特寫的「圖像」 ，卻負荷著龐大現實世界裏

的許多重要訊息。藝術家所繪出的圖像都沒有所謂的不確定性，都有個別的背景，若

從達爾文至太空狗萊卡的半身肖像仔細追溯，觀者可察覺這都是一些促成科學演進 發展的重大發現事件。藝術家並不是從我們習以為常的真實世界框出甚麼來讓人們 去知覺。因為是科學場景，因為不是藝術家自創的圖像，看似客觀中立的客體及態 度，卻難掩藝術家的鮮明意志。

透過爬梳藝術家多次漫談中的想法，可發現Gan在網路上汰擇照片時，在工作室

擺放他的油畫時，眼睛是鏡頭，頭腦是剪輯機。工作室的種種可映出Gan如導演般對他

的拍攝及剪輯的掌控有著難以動搖的執念。而所完成的油畫，卻轉化成景框(Frame) 內的畫面。那繪畫本身這個過程對於他又是甚麼意義呢？

另一方面，Gan希望進入工作室的觀眾的眼睛能成為流動的攝影機，把他鏡頭所

「框」住的影像－－油畫，自行組織(排列)成各自的敘事。他表示： 「在工作室開放的期

間，我會不斷增加畫作，也會不斷改變畫作之間的排列法，我想聽來訪者不同的看法， 若在對話間、互動往返間演繹出令人驚喜的成果，就是最好玩的！」

有趣的是，在多次對談中Gan並沒有告訴我哪個藝術家對他影響最深，反而

提到他最喜歡的科學家理察·費曼(Richard Feynman)。他相信藝術家及科學家之

間有共通點，就是兩者都以意義的建構來理解世界，無論是通過觀察還是自我表達。 或許Gan看似恣意的挑釁，卻是想藉由手繪油畫的過程，緩緩「框」住那在景框

外的宇宙奧秘。 * * * *

我的見山不是山看法，從畫室跳躍到影像剪輯並騰空往宇宙去了，這早已超過Gan要

求的文長800字。連參考文獻都省掉的文章，且把它看作是Gan給我練習題的小成果。

—� English Translation

张敏华毕业於台湾大学社会系且不断跨界的文字工作者，曾任职为专题记者、助理编辑、社区公共(空间)艺术 专案筹划人员;以文史出发，参与多项社区艺术计划以及视觉、表演艺术创作计划。

從畫框內景框外航向宇宙

張敏華

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This book is published in conjunction with Gan Siong King’s open studio project Meeting People Is Easy held in the artist’s studio in Kuala Lumpur from 1st to 30th September 2017.

Editors Gan Siong King Lyn Ong Tshiung Han See Contributors Azzad Diah Roy Voragen Tan Sei Hon Teoh Ming Wah Tshiung Han See Proofreader Tshiung Han See Lyn Ong Designer nowornever.my Printer

Unico Services

Published by A+ WORKS of ART (JL Contemporary Art Sdn Bhd) d6 - G - 8, d6 Trade Centre 801 Jalan Sentul 51000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia +60 18 333 3399 info@aplusart.asia www.aplusart.asia

All articles and illustrations contained in this catalogue are subject to copyright law. Any use beyond the narrow limits defined by copyright law, and without the expressed permission of the publisher, is forbidden and will be prosecuted. © 2018 A+ WORKS of ART, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the artist Gan Siong King.

ISBN 978 967 15431 3 9 Edition of 500 Printed in Malaysia