Gelassenheit: Letting It Be

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2P Contemporary Art is pleased to present ‘Gelassenheit: Letting It Be,’ a group exhibition featuring a site-specific installation, sculpture, mixed media and videos by Kwan Sheung Chi, Morgan Wong and Tang Kwok-Hin, opening on March 28 and running through May 2, 2012.

The title is borrowed from the concepts and language inherent in the cognitive philosophy of Martin Heidegger. The metaphysics of Gelassenheit means to let be, to care for the world by letting the world be, but simultaneously to also have the controlled intuitive power to let the world go. Taking the terminology from the perspective of its covert dual functionality as a point of departure, this exhibition exemplifies such a virtue is far-reaching, namely by challenging the ontological shift which art has undergone in recent times. This in turn allows us to display a new context by bringing together these three artists whose works collectively evoke the dichotomy between temporal and object as well as time and space. The selected works ripen, lose value, diminish, recompose and are spread throughout the gallery space, aiming to reveal a persistent questioning at the center of these artists’ practices, as well as to outline the fragility of the immaterial production, and the indeterminacy of the viewer’s experience of it. Whether primarily motivated by politics, the economy, or the intimate, these artworks literally present their temporal questioning of “existence” in the world.

Tang Kwok-Hin (b.1983), ‘Collector’ (2012); a site-specific installation consists of a stage-like platform comprising a variety of collected found objects including books, chairs, abandoned materials and squashed potatoes cover with dirt sit forlornly on the floor. A composition is contrasted with a pile of wood attached with recomposed objects, leaning against the wall. This metaphorical rearrangement of objects stems from Tang’s interest in reframing the way “things” gets mis/recognized in the context to the absence of a performance and the performer.

Kwan Sheung Chi (b.1980) reveals an on-going wrestle with the duality of success and failure along with achievement and defeat in his video works. For example, "Drinking a glass of hot chocolate with a fork" is a record of Kwan drinking a full glass of hot chocolate using a fork. In “Left vs. Right”, he counts a winning rate of "Rock, paper, scissors" using his left hand vs. right hand. Through his work that is seemingly not advancing, we are invited to be witnesses of a life and to come up with exit strategies out of our dualistic mind-set.

Morgan Wong (b.1984), 'Metro Series' (2011 – 2012) in his latest project, Wong spends hours defacing realistic images in daily newspaper attempting to conserve through erasure, to make meanings out of elimination, and to invert the imperative boundaries of facts and norms. Although unrecognizable from distance, one could see traces of the content when scrutinizing these ghostly images, which reveal various political or social incidents. Wong reinforces subjectivity in the representation of facts and the so-called truths in 'Metro Series' through instantaneous and preconceived messages.

About The Artists
Morgan Wong was born in Hong Kong in 1984 and received his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong in 2007. He is currently studying for a Master's Degree at Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK. His works have been exhibited extensively across Asia at the OYOYO Art Center, Sapporo, Japan; Videotage, Hong Kong; Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong. Winner of the 2008 Silver Award for Single Screen-based Interactive Media Category at the Hong Kong Independent Film & Video Awards, Wong also participates in major group shows, encompassing “No Soul For Sale” in the Tate Modern, London, UK; Turin Palace Museum (Palazzo Chiablese), Turin, Italy; Fremantle Art Centre, Perth, Australia; Mizuma & One Gallery, Beijing, China; Suwon Art Centre, Suwon, Korea; GalleryLOOP, Seoul, Korea; and Nanhai Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.
 
Tang Kwok Hin, is an independent curator, artist and writer, was born in 1983 and raised in Hong Kong. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2008 and Bachelor of Arts (major in Fine Arts) in 2006. His works has been show at the Hong Kong Museum of Art; Ice Palace, Miami, U.S.A.; Esplanade, Singapore; Venice Arsenale, Italy, etc. He was awarded the first prize at Hong Kong Biennale 2009; selected by Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2010; awarded the Special Award “Personal Exhibition” by the 5th International Arte Laguna Prize; awarded the Young Artist Award by Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2010.

Kwan Sheung Chi was born in Hong Kong in 1980. He graduated in 2003 with a BA in Fine Arts from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His work Teapoy was included in the Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition 2005. Kwan also staged EVERYTHING GOES WRONG FOR THE POOR COUPLE, a 34 hour-long performance over the course of 5 days at ART HK 2010. He is also a founding member of various advocacy groups, including hkPARTg (the Political Art Group) and Woofer Ten, which focuses on experimental art practices in relation to political, social and local community issues. Kwan was awarded the Starr Foundation Fellowship by the Asian Cultural Council in 2009 to participate in an international residency programme in New York City, USA.