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Revision as of 05:23, 16 January 2024
Wen Yau is an artist, researcher, curator and writer. Her artworks and writings revolve around topics related to performance art in social and political discourses, public dimensions of art, especially in the context of Hong Kong.[1] [2] As a writer, she has contributed to various local and international publications, conferences and projects. In 2005-2006, she also conducted a research project called Hong Kong On The Move Performance Art Project that aims to document and archive Hong Kong performance art history.[3]
Notable work
I am a Grade D Artist (2013)
This exhibition features a collection of artworks that Wen Yau created over 2 years in preparation of the public art examinations in Hong Kong, and invites audience to reflect on Hong Kong's education system and whether it is possible for young artists to foster creativity within formal art training.
In 2011, the artist sat the Visual Arts exam for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE), which she received a Grade D after presenting an artwork that was unconventional to the examiners. After 2 years of formal training in painting to 'reestablish' her own sense of aesthetics and technical skills, the artist participated in another exam at the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE). In this exam, she attained a grade D again[4].
Art critic Dr. Ting Wing Yan Vivian gave remarks on Wen Yau's exhibition as an intervention that questions the absurdity of the art education system:
"Wen Yau extends exam-taking into an art making process. By participating in examinations, she has obtained first-hand experience on learning outcomes and assessment criterions...[Her work] poses questions about the examination system: why would an artist become a Grade "D" candidate? Visual arts cover the traditional art. forms, design, crafts, new media, etc. but why does the visual arts exam only emphasize on the painting techniques of candidates? Why are there continual regulations for art "creation"? Why would a subject that should embrace creativity and imagination subvert to technical training without individuality? "[5]
By setting one self up to failure in the system, through the process the artist also liberates herself and audiences from the system and reflect on the true values of art:
Within this struggle, she (Wen Yau) examines the dilemma between examination and art-making, and rethinks about the meaning of the visual arts... Wen Yau's actions that challenge the public exam system clearly reveals that the power of the arts lies in the reflective questioning process which invites the audience to both reorganise their understanding of the world and create the essence of life.[5]
Wish you were here (2015)
In 2015, Wen Yau carried out a 4 hours long performance at Venice International Performance Art Week, blindfolded with the national flag of the People’s Republic of China, as a response to the Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement that took place in 2014 in Hong Kong[6].During the performance, the artist wrote repetitively the quote "I want real universal suffrage" onto the walls of a room as a way for her to examine her relationship to the phrase under a time of tension in the city.[7]
References
- ^ Vigneron, Frank (2018). Hong Kong soft power: art practices in the special administrative region, 2005-2014. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-962-996-804-5.
- ^ "Wen Yau 魂游". www.arch.hku.hk. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
- ^ Archive, Asia Art. "Project File: Hong Kong Performance Art Research Project". aaa.org.hk. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
- ^ "Living out her art". South China Morning Post. 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ a b Vivian Wing Yan, Ting (2013). "A Grade U writing in response to a Grade D artist". I am a Grade D Artist. Hong Kong: C&G Artpartment. pp. 12–16.
- ^ Tsui, Enid (20 June 2017). "Art in post-handover Hong Kong: thriving or facing censorship?". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ veniceperformanceart (2015-01-14). "The Blindfolded Body in Wen Yau's "Wish You Were Here," Alice Vogler's "Liability of body. Language of liability" and Marilyn Arsem's "Marking Time."". Tumblr. Retrieved 2023-12-21.