Memory is an elusive thing that borders on the edge of reality -- was it a dream or was it for real? Even though it can be difficult to recall accurately, much less record, memory is a popular theme in all forms of art, literature and film. And like memory, conceptual art, too, straddles the realms of experienced life and imagined realities. Conceptual art requires effort by the viewer: It is a philosophical practice and requires contemplation to decode and understand it.
Artist Tang Huang-chen (
I Go Traveling V -- a Postcard with Scenery currently on view at IT Park until April 23.
The V is in the title because it's the fifth installment of Tang's long-term project in which she explores themes of travel, contact and communication.
For this project, she sent out an e-mail to artistic friends, inviting those interested to accompany her on a trip to the seaside, but because the trip was scheduled in March when the weather was cold and drizzly, it wasn't exactly to be a day at the beach.
Planning the itinerary, the number of traveling companions, arranging the transportation and collecting souvenirs were part of Tang's project. Once at the beach, Tang also photographed and videotaped the small gathering of friends. The documentation is not the main part of the exhibition but is rather a platform to help you think about why travel is such an important activity in this century. Tang questions why we expend so much of our energy to make travel convenient and fast, and why travel is such a coveted goal for many people.
Besides travel, Tang explores the constructs of memory and asks if memory can be fabricated and staged like in a script for theater. Can one's memory be constructed out of other people's experiences? Can we share other people's memories?
Upon entering the two-story exhibition space, the video that was shot at the beach of the eight people is projected on the wall. Tang frequently comes into view and like a movie director rearranges the people in the framed shot. There is no plot to the video, just the passage of real time. Some people stand, one smokes, a child waves his arms. The image seems grainy like an old home-movie and its large projection makes you feel like you are part of the scene; thus, this image becomes part of your memory.
Upstairs, eight folding chairs symbolizing the eight beach travelers are arranged on a blue photo backdrop. On each chair is a piece of paper, a recording of each participant's memory of the trip. At the opening, different people read from the paper as a way to question who owns memory. Is it possible to experience somebody else's memory?
This exploration of the specifics of travel is also a metaphorical musing on the passage of time. We've always so busy rushing about, having to be other places, or dreaming to be in other places that we overlook and under-appreciate the present moment. Tang delays that sense of travel through her work to help us slow down in our own frenetic activities.
In her previous work, Tang would set up mazes and games, all intended to frustrate and delay the viewer as there was often an obstacle in the way. And that is the biggest metaphor of her work. Like our individual lives, our paths are not so easily defined and we each have to forge our own ways in spite of all the overwhelming obstacles that lay ahead. Art can act as a detailed map to lead us in the right direction.
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