By Iona Whittaker
Hugo Boss Asia Art Inaugural winner Kwan Sheung Chi's 'Water Barrier (Maotai-Water 1:999)', 2013
Not to be outdone by the slew of new prizes appearing in the region, this year the Hugo Boss Prize donned new clothes as the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award for Emerging Chinese Artists; this new outfit was inaugurated in Shanghai in September, with partner institution the Rockbund Art Museum.
The original Hugo Boss award began in 1996, and continues at its host institution, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. That Boss would think of extending its activities in this vein to emerging Asian artists (starting with Chinese), and at this particular moment, requires little explanation. Nonetheless, the award positions itself as a free platform showcasing artistic experimentation, with artists who ‘risk offering unexpected forms,’ in the words of Larys Fogier, Rockbund’s Director and Chair of the Asia Art Prize jury. The prize will take place every two years; the award this time is RMB 300,000 (or USD 49,000 – though the value of the award for everyone else has yet to become apparent), bestowed by a jury of 14 on one of seven finalists whose work is now on show at Rockbund. On 31 October 2013, the inaugural winner – Kwan Sheung Chi – was announced.
Hsu Chia Wei, ‘Huei-Mo Village’, 2013
The selection of artists here is not entirely surprising, nor completely obvious. Perhaps the most predictable inclusion is biennale favourite Lee Kit, a selection of whose works, so quiet as to be barely discernible (Lee recreates ordinary, everyday objects – perhaps poetic, or perhaps forgettable), languish on the top floor of the museum in This Is It (2013). Building up to this distinct anti-climax are, at the entrance, a mixed media crime scene by Li Wei – something of a departure from the figures of children, busts and patients in beds she has sculpted and shocked with before.
Lee Kit, ‘This is it.’, 2013
Birdhead – the Shanghai duo who take photographs of anything and everything in daily life and present them en masse, have created a face-off between a wall of such shots and images of placid natural scenery, the idea being to juxtapose different sensations of time passing (Light of a Thousand Autumns, 2013).
Birdhead, ‘Light of a Thousand Autumns’, 2013
In the days leading up to the announcement, the favourite for the award was Li Liao. His performative work Consumption (2012), in which he worked at a Foxconn factory until he had sufficient money to buy an iPad (his uniform and the gadget are displayed as evidence) is seen again now at the Rockbund Museum, having made an appearance also at UCCA in Beijing at the start of the year. More engagingly, Li created a simple but attractive light piece – bulbs in different glass shades mounted on the floor, with visitors invited to turn them on and off (Illumination, 2013). Another work, Art is Vacuum (2013), surrounds the experience of not being accepted by his now-wife’s family: ‘You’re living in a vacuum […] We’re too common.’ A sound recording and a piece of clothing furnish the work.
Li Liao, ‘Consumption’, 2012
Surprisingly political and sardonic (a rare thing) are the works on show by Kwan Sheung Chi – one of the more unexpected choices of nominees before winning the award. As well as spoof cookery programme videos not unlike those shown on public buses in China (one is called Doing It With Mrs. Kwan…Making Pepper Spray, 2012), the artist has placed a barrier across the room that we are invited to push on. It is in fact an anti-riot barrier filled with a ratio of Maotai (the most costly rice wine)-water: 1:999. Intended as a comment on disparity, the work does need an explanation, but is nonetheless an imaginative remark.
Kwan Sheung Chi, ‘Doing It With Mts. Kwan…Making Pepper Spray’, 2012
The other two artists are seasoned performer Hu Xiangqian, whose self/art-world mocking work Acting out Artist _(2012) may or may not have conveyed its critique to the audience. Hsu Chia Wei’s work occupies a whole floor of the museum with expansive and complex video and installation work. In the words of the press text, ‘_Huei-Mo Village (2013) relates the story of remnant troops on the border regions of Thailand and Burma who face the intersection of multiple cultural identities and an unrecognised identity.’ This and further works Hsu deliver a clear impression of his anthropological and curious approach to historical tributaries that one otherwise might not be made aware of, let alone via artistic expression.
Hu Xiangqian, ‘Acting out Artist’, 2012
These, and further works by these artists at Rockbund Art Museum make for an engaging and varied show this month. It remains to be seen how and if the prize will transcend the trends that have spurned its Asian edition, generating an active and lasting impact.
Iona Whittaker is a critic and editor based in Beijing, China.