Artist and filmmaker James T. Hong's first solo exhibition in Europe opens at Ikon

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


Artist and filmmaker James T. Hong's first solo exhibition in Europe opens at Ikon
James T. Hong, De Anima (video still) (2021) 2-channel video installation, colour, sound, 19:26 minutes © Courtesy the artist and Empty Gallery, Hong Kong.



BIRMINGHAM.- Ikon presents the first solo exhibition in Europe by Taiwanese-American artist and filmmaker James T. Hong (3 December 2021 – 13 February 2022).

Hong (b. 1970) has been making provocative films for over twenty years. Focusing on ideas of morality, his work prompts viewers to question their own biases through confronting and often humorous philosophical narratives. For Ikon’s exhibition he shows two films, made 10 years apart, each with animals as protagonists. Seamlessly interwoven, humans and animals in the artist’s work are one and the same: adaptable species that are equally capable of good and evil acts in given circumstances.

Hong’s work The Duck of Nature/The Duck of God (2010) is presented as a large-scale projection and was originally made as an educational video commissioned by the Dutch government for children from migrant communities. The five-minute video imagines the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza as a mechanical duck who is snubbed by other birds on the canals of Amsterdam. The scenario reflects the experience of Spinoza himself, who was excommunicated by the Jewish community for his humanist beliefs. The film’s rousing score, an excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers (1892), lends pathos and absurdity to the motorised bird’s futile attempts to merge with different flocks. At the heart of this light-hearted work is the question of authenticity – whether a robot qualifies as a ‘real’ duck – and the discrimination faced by migrant and so-called ‘minority’ populations within mainstream society (an experience Hong identifies with as a first-generation East Asian growing up in the United States).

To access Hong’s second film, visitors to the gallery must move through a set of transparent PVC curtains which recall the plastic barriers used in hospitals and abattoirs to prevent contamination. De Anima (2021) is a two-channel video installation adapted by Hong for Ikon. Filmed in Taiwan, the first channel presents three points of view: the artist’s, that of the “enemy” virus (Covid-19), and a dog’s. The voice of the narrator from the American anti-Japanese propaganda film My Japan (1945) provides the voice of the virus, echoing the anti-Chinese sentiment that surfaced at the beginning of the C-19 pandemic. The second channel, shot in India at the historical location where the Buddha gained enlightenment, reinterprets the first channel and represents the artist’s quest for insight during the pandemic. In both elements, animals provide this perspective with witty observations on human behaviour.

Who are these people? They smell old and weak.
I like walkies with less people around. No scooters, nice.
These people walking, where are they going?
I don’t trust these people.

The two video channels of De Anima embody “two sides of the same coin”, sharing the same soundtrack yet offering viewers different viewpoints. Hong’s voice and electronic score amplify the work’s ominous narrative. De Anima is a development of Hong’s video submission to CC:World, an online project organised by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, to explore the “racism, social and economic injustices” that the spread of the pandemic made apparent.

Both of Hong’s films exemplify his interest in ‘biomorality’, a system of ethics inspired by Aristotle’s History of Animals, which is shaped by organic processes and the interrelationship between humans and animals. In De Anima, immorality is as easily detectable as a bad smell; a form of biological essentialism that moves away from the western idea of the human soul as the ultimate arbiter of moral judgment and towards nature as a source of ethics. The title of De Anima references the Latin for ‘soul’. Whilst Hong’s Buddhist beliefs maintain that neither humans nor animals have individual eternal souls, animals are also seen as sentient beings, capable of reaching enlightenment. In many of his works, animals feature in cutaways (shots that lead in or out of a film’s main narrative), acting as allegories for human emotions.

James T. Hong is one of Taiwan’s most distinctive filmmakers. Often addressing taboo subjects, his smart scripts and immersive visuals invite much-needed reflection about the state of human ethics in today’s society. This exhibition gives Birmingham and UK audiences the chance to discover his unique voice and vision through two key works, selected from more than 20 years’ oeuvre. Melanie Pocock, Ikon Curator

The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of public events and a digital publication, including an essay by Melanie Pocock, Ikon Curator and excerpts of other films by James T. Hong.

A trailer for Animal, made by James T. Hong is available here:










Today's News

December 5, 2021

Signs of sea change at Art Basel Miami: More galleries of color

The confounding lightness of Helen Pashgian

New exhibition exploring Beethoven's creative imagination and determination opens at the British Library

Galerie Templon announces representation of Michael Ray Charles

Ketterer Kunst announces results of its Rare Books Auction

Las Vegas man sells "$1.15" of old coins to GreatCollections for record $13.35 million

Historic donation worth over $120 million to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec

'The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art' opens at the Queensland Art Gallery

Almine Rech opens an exhibition of paintings by American artist John McAllister.

Art Gallery of Ontario opens a major retrospective of Saulteaux artist Robert Houle

Athena Arts Foundation launch the Living Portraits series

Deborah Kruger's inaugural solo exhibition in Mexico City on view at Proyectos Galería

aA29 Project Room presents a double solo exhibition by Isabella Pers and Nada Prlja

Landmark exhibition curated by Peter Lindbergh opens in Spain

Exhibition at Richard Saltoun Gallery brings together works by Ulay, Allan Sekula, and Aleksandra Domanović

Collect and gift singular works of art, design, and jewelry at Freeman's 2021 Holiday Sales

Lara Schnitger's first solo exhibition at Annet Gelink Gallery on view in Amsterdam

Artist and filmmaker James T. Hong's first solo exhibition in Europe opens at Ikon

Football jerseys worn by Manchester United legends Cantona and Giggs attract a lot of interest

Spectra, Scotland's festival of light, returns to Aberdeen in 2022

Auction features sought-after comics, video games, Pokémon & other unique items

American Bottle Auctions will offer Part 1 of the Mel Hammer Bottle Collection

SONG 1 opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, as part of the Doug Aitken: New Era exhibition

Ryan Gander appointed to create new public artwork for London

A new vision for Edinburgh's iconic Observatory House revealed

Tips & Tricks for Keeping Your Floor Clean

Do Longer Youtube Videos Get More Views?

Can I Use A Smartphone After LASIK Surgery?




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful