Installation

Paul Thek – ‘If you don’t like this book you don’t like me.’

As part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, approaches to translate the subjective experience into the artistic process were explored in In the Shadow of the Hand and Back to the Things Themselves. Questions were raised on the nuances and distinctions between notions of the subjective, personal and self-indulgent. These borders disintegrate in the exhibition Paul Thek – ‘If you don’t like this[…..]

Secret gardens: the truth revealed

I used to have a secret garden. Even though it was technically communal (which slightly undermines the essence of secrecy) it was rarely visited by anyone and wildly overgrown. Especially in summer you could get lost between the ancient trees and unkept rosebushes and safely hide from the perils of the outside world. I occasionally invited someone around for a midnight picnic, and often spent lazy[…..]

Love and Rockets in Los Angeles: An Interview with Cai Guo-Qiang

Computer rendering for Mystery Circle: Explosion Event for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2012, courtesy Cai Studio

40,000 bottle rockets make for a lot of noise and a lot of glare. Especially when they come hurtling toward your face. On April 7, 2012, artist Cai Guo-Qiang — known for his gunpowder drawings and performative “explosion events” — opened Sky Ladder at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary location with just such an experience. Called Mystery Circle, the event was pure spectacle. Over a thousand people[…..]

Louise Bourgeois: A Dangerous Obsession

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Louise Bourgeois’ life is not just any open book – it more resembles a multi-volume anthology with pages torn out, chapters re-written, and notes cryptically hidden in the margins. While Bourgeois spoke openly about many of the subjects which infiltrate in her work, including the difficult relationship she had with her adulterous father and her traumatising childhood, she did not share unconditionally, and as we[…..]

In the Shadow of the Hand

In the Shadow of the Hand and Back to the Things Themselves are two exhibitions presented as part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art that runs till 7 May 2012. The process of collaboration between two artists and an exploration of a subjective experience are central issues in both exhibitions. Magdalen Chua (MC) interviewed the artists behind the exhibitions to find out about[…..]

Marking Time at the MCA

The revamped Museum of Contemporary Art Australia opened its doors with Marking Time, an exhibition exploring time, duration and mortality. Jim Campbell’s ‘Last Day in the Beginning of March 2003’, a reimagining of the last 24 hours in his brother’s life, is a transfixing experience. One enters the dark space into the sound of rain.  Pools of flickering light illuminate wall texts identifying single moments such as[…..]

Engaging a Community with Public Art on The High Line

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Running alongside Tenth Avenue for approximately twenty blocks in Chelsea, The High Line has become a household term amongst Manhattanites since 2009 when it first became accessible as a public park. Since then – and especially within the last year – The High Line has ignited widespread murmur relating to its breathtaking architecture, imaginative urban integration and more recently its emergence as the local gallery[…..]