CONTENTS 4 3
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to the experiential world of Nick Dong.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST: Meet Taiwanese artist, Nick Dong.
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FROM THE DIRECTOR
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DIVINE MOMENTS: This series explores the concepts of gravity and perception.
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MENDSMITH PROJECT: A live-crafting social service project to bring positivity to grief.
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HEAVEN: Transport yourself into Heaven.
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IMMERSION: Listening is about letting go and making connections
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BECOMING HORIZON: Experience kinetic sculpture, dancing light, and music.
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CONTRIBUTERS
Nick Dong (b. 1973), Spacetime, free standing sculpture, wood, glass, LED filament, electronic component
Divine Immersion: The Experiential Art of Nick Dong July 8, 2021 – October 3, 2021 Living through a global pandemic, we all experienced an overwhelming amount of disorder and confusion. We carry it with us. It weighs heavy in our present and the unknowable future. To help us lay our burden down, artist Nick Dong extends an invitation to visitors which is perfectly suited for this moment: Bring all your chaos to this exhibition. 4
His artwork will meet you in the middle with ordering principles and the philosophy of art as a healing force. Oakland, California-based artist Nick Dong (b. 1973 in Taipei, Taiwan), identifies as a 21st-century continuation of Wenren, the Chinese cultural lineage of intellect-scholars who saw art as an escape to contemplate the forces that connect everything in nature. Each work is a quest of self-evolution and a vehicle for sharing that philosophy. By carefully integrating scientific and handcrafted components, supernatural movements, light, sound, and interactive strategies, Dong’s artwork produces a fully immersive event, only complete when the viewer activates it with their energy. Converging his training as an artist and engineer with over two thousand years of Buddhist tradition, and all the imperfect energy we can muster; Dong’s work expands our sense of our capacity – summoning us to show up whole and be delighted by the possibility of what our imperfect energy can create. Welcome to Divine Immersion: The Experiential Art of Nick Dong. 5
about the artist Nick Dong 董承濂 was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and resides in Oakland, California. He is a conceptual metalsmith, mixedmedia sculptor, and sociocommodity engineer. His artistic practice rests at the intersection of spiritual inquiry, social healing, science, and a myriad of arts media. He received his BFA from Tung-Hai University in Taiwan and his MFA in metalsmithing and jewelry from the University of Oregon. He has taught at California College of the Arts in Oakland, Musée Tomo in Tokyo,
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HMart Tiller in Taipei, Gallery FLUX in San Francisco, and the University of Oregon in Eugene. Dong’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design, Kunstbanken Museum, Norway, and MOCA Taipei, Taiwan, among others. In 2012, Nick Dong presented a site-specific installation at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2016, Dong completed a large-scale installation for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
from the director
Rarely there comes along an exhibition that captures a timely and unique collective feeling: the yearning for personal and collective healing. That is "Divine Immersion: The Experiential Art of Nick Dong". Dong’s practice examines the conditions of perception within different spaces and fosters immersion situations that invite the intimacy of discovery and reignite our sense of wonder. His interests are linked to the transformation of space through natural phenomena such as the movements of light, sound and the dynamics of kinetic forces. Uniquely resting at the intersection of art, Buddhism and science this exhibition provides a rich platform to explore the passage of time, the random rhythms of nature and how rediscovering our own sense of creativity can unlock the resources we need to heal. It is the absolute pleasure of the USC Pacific Asia Museum to host this exhibition; commemorated with the catalogue herein.
Dr. Bethany Montagano DIRECTOR, USC PACIFIC ASIA MUSEUM
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SECTION 1
DIVINE MOMENTS
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DIVINE MOMENTS
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xploring the concept of gravity and playing with perception and reality are themes in Dong’s sculpture from his Divine Moments series. For this body of work, he collaborates with composers to create original soundtracks for each object. With the help of engineers, he incorporates levitation technology, programming the sculptures to create a choreographed performance. Dong is intensely interested in how we shape and share values through human connections, and the spaces that are familiar: a table, a clock, a vanity, and a rocking chair. 9
DIVINE MOMENTS
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DIVINE MOMENTS
Nick Dong (b. 1973), Divine Moments - Rocking chair Free standing sculpture, Found furniture, motorized, and electronic components
DIVINE MOMENTS
Nick Dong (b. 1973), Divine Moments - Vanity Free standing sculpture, Found furniture, motorized, and electronic components
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DIVINE MOMENTS
Nick Dong (b. 1973), Divine Moments - Time Tower Free standing sculpture, Found furniture, motorized, and electronic components
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DIVINE MOMENTS
Nick Dong (b. 1973), Divine Moments - Round Table Free standing sculpture, Found furniture, motorized, and electronic components
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SECTION 2
THE MENDSMITH PROJECT
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THE MENDSMITH PROJECT
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hose of us who have lost someone elemental to our life understand all too well that our grief becomes lodged within us. Nick Dong’s Mendsmith Project is an instrument of power for flourishing beyond grief marking each of our lives and those of our families and communities. Dong asks selected visitors recovering from a loss, to bring two jewelry pieces or other small objects of personal significance to be “mended” one belonging to the visitor and one belonging to the visitor’s loved one. 17
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uring the scheduled consultation, Dong asked visitors to share their story. Through his artistic metalsmithing process, Dong drew the beauty and joy out of the object representative of the visitor’s memories as a means of embracing new possibilities. The community member leaves with a new mended piece to remember their loved one going forward, free of charge.
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THE MENDSMITH PROJECT
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SECTION 3
HEAVEN
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HEAVEN
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n his work, Heaven, Nick Dong transports visitors to a place where their earthly accomplishments, fears, pressures, and material belongings fall away. As you step into Heaven those things no longer matter. This is a Heaven that welcomes all, and all are welcome. Heaven asks visitors to not ponder this as a place, but to reflect on it as a heavenly state of being, a state of the heart.
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HEAVEN
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Nick Dong (b. 1973), Heaven, One-person-at-a-time installation Aluminum, mirror, musical and kinetic components 14’ x 14’ x 10’H
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SECTION 4
IMMERSION
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IMMERSION
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he singing bowls above your head help to remove the outside world from your exhibition experience, while focusing your ears and mind. Listening as a means of gaining tangible peace is an everyday method of mindful existence, but something we regularly lose and must learn anew. Nick Dong’s Immersion installation reminds us that listening is about letting go and making connections. Real listening is powered by curiosity. It involves vulnerability: a willingness to be present, be surprised, let go of assumptions and take in ambiguity. We welcome you to take a seat on one of the meditation mats provided here and listen. 31
IMMERSION
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Nick Dong (b. 1973) Immersion Hanging singing bowl installation Bell bronze, aluminum, and kinetic components
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SECTION 5
BECOMING HORIZON
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BECOMING HORIZON B
ecoming Horizon immerses the visitor in an experience of kinetic sculpture, dancing light, and music. Dong is inspired by the ethereal events that created the universe: from its beginning as a small, hot, dense point to the explosion and rapid expansion of space, and ultimately, the formation of matter making up our current galaxies, 13.8 billion years later. Becoming Horizon invites visitors to celebrate and find solace in the unpredictable and incalculable events that so often redeem our lives and renew our hope. 35
BECOMING HORIZON
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Nick Dong (b. 1973) Becoming Horizon Hanging installation Aluminum, acrylic mirror, musical, and kinetic component
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CONTRIBUTERS Dr. Bethany Montagano, USC Pacific Asia Museum Nick Dong, Artist
EDITORS
Courtney Crane, Nathalia Morales-Evanks
ARTWORK PHOTOGRAPHY All artwork photography by Peter Perigo Additional photography by: Nick Dong, (pages 6, 14-22, background images) Vanessa Perziose (page 7) Cristina Hernandez-Guerrero (pages 14-22, foreground images)
VIDEOS
All videos produced by De La Parra Productions, LLC
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2021, USC Pacific Asia Museum. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Cover artwork: Closeup of Becoming Horizon, page 37.
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