With the theme of “ Super conceptual”, 20 artists brainstormed together, aiming to present an exhibition in a conceptual way. But what is conceptual? According to Tate Art term, Conceptual art is art for which the idea (or concept) behind the work is more important than the finished art object. At the beginning, we followed the traditional rule/setting of a traditional gallery supposed to be, but it was BORING and it did not work well. We played with the moving walls, we tried to experiment the spacing. We moved the walls like puzzle game and accidentally created the smallest gallery inside the Triangle space right at the door. It might sound hilarious but we were all excited about it. At that moment, we realized that it might not be so important to figure out how to show all of our art pieces in the best way, but enjoy the process of exploring how we can play with the gallery space.
But is it too extreme? What is the concept of this smallest gallery? OK, let’s think it over again.
“Think about how to make a show interesting!”
“ What do you want to do?”
“ I don’t know……….. How about doing something different?”
“ What do you mean? Example?”
“ Um…ceremony? Or play sports!!!! Let’s play badminton together!”
“Sport? Can you talk more about it?”
“ I mean I seldom see artists playing sports in campus, they always hide in studio. It would be great if there’s opportunity for them to relax and exercise, and it is interesting to see artists playing sport too.”
“I love SPORT”
“Okay!!!! Good! Let’s do sport!!!!”
I admitted I suggested this idea and I was proud of it. While usually an art gallery is regarded as a holy place for artists, we conversely transformed it into the lowest-budget recreation ground for both artists and audience. Imagined that we artists collaboratively performing contemporary sport, we believed that it would be a fun and extraordinary show in the year. We redesigned the space, divided the courts and equipped the gallery with professional sport facilities. We had so much fun in the process; every students and staffs passing by were amazed how the triangle gallery can be functioned in an unexpected way. On the show day, it was a huge success because we enjoyed.
Despite having fun, we kept questioning what is our purpose? How does it relate to our individual practices? What do we want the audience to get from it? Shall we bring back our artworks in the gallery? Can we consider sport as art? Yes, we can. Sport performance is performing arts, similar to theatre drama, musical, the crucial point is that sport is created uniquely by the performance and the event itself, it does not follow from the implementation of a script. Sport is drama without a script. It creates its own drama. Sporting events act out most basic features of the human condition, and the way they do this is marvellously self-creative. [1]
Ka lan, one of our participating artists suddenly reminded us with a remarkable answer: “Instead of bringing artworks to an art space, we bring a gym into an art space.”
YES, this is our answer!! And don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the process.
[1] Sport — Viewed Aesthetically, and Even as Art? Wolfgang Welsch
Link for more photos:
Triangle Space @ Chelsea College of Arts