About PLACE The aim of the exhibition was to bring together a collective of artists on a journey of exploration, and the rediscovery of art making as a shared process within a community, rather than as an individual endeavour – a nostalgic re-living of our art making experiences in junior college. This was an opportunity for us to continue our artistic explorations with what would be our virgin experience of curating an exhibition in an atypical gallery space.
The theme of ‘Place’ was approached in many ways by the different artists involved, some dealt with the physical and formalistic aspects of the site of our exhibition, while others, the definitions of a place and the memories and feelings that would constitute its existence. As we all turn 21, finding ourselves on the threshold of adulthood, the sense of place and belonging is an issue that many of us are encountering in this period of our lives. For those of us studying abroad, ‘Home’ has become an increasingly elusive concept while we divide our lives across continents and we are confronted with the reality of the widening distance between self and the illusion of the past. It seems that this is the best time to struggle with the overlapping places and spaces in our lives.
“Shu Han Likes This” It just takes one click these days to show your friends and family that you are in touch with their lives. It is a sad exchange for the physical act of communication, back in the days where Internet was new and Facebook didn’t exist and people had to drop a note or meet up to share their thoughts. These inefficient one-stick ‘like’ stamps stuck on postcards and air-mailed to 49 friends, form an unabashed statement against the virtual ‘like’ that has become too easy and convenient to mean anything. Upon reaching back, I physically collected the postcards from all these people, many of whom I have not met up with in years, which makes this project an especially meaningful one. The gaps in the display are honest reflections of the meetings I did not manage to hold with some of these old friends.
shu han lee 