Winter Screening | London — Tabula Rasa Gallery

I Could Not Recall How I Got Here
Musquiqui Chihying, Bo Choy, Lee Kai-Chung, Bo Wang, Chris Zhongtian Yuan
Nov 05 - Dec 20, 2021
London

BOOK HERE: On a first come first serve basis, visitors are invited to freely choose videos from the playlist.

Tabula Rasa Gallery is pleased to present its winter screening programme I Could Not Recall How I Got Here, that brings together works of five video artists, Musquiqui Chihying (born in Taiwan, lives in Berlin), Bo Choy (born in Hongkong, lives in London), Lee Kai Chung (born in Hongkong, lives in Guangzhou), Bo Wang (born in Chongqing, lives in Amsterdam), and Chris Zhongtian Yuan (born in Wuhan, lives in London).

I Could Not Recall How I Got Here, with its title borrowed from artist Lee Kai Chung’s recent work, presents works that continuously investigate some of the most topical, and highly debated issues in the cultural and political sphere of the East Asia Pacific region. With a focus on the social transformation of China in the past centuries, from being the victim of 20th century capitalistic imperialism to becoming the neo-colonial power that establishes its controlling power in lesser developed regions, each artist presents a unique body of works based on their different upbringing, professional path, and cinematic language. It is also because of this, these works excavate the deeply hidden social, political and cultural fabric that form the contemporary reality of each region in East Asia Pacific and as a collective whole.

Complete Playlist

[01] Lee Kai Chung, Retrieved, Restoration and Predicament Part 1, 21'46'', 2018
[02] Bo Wang & Pan Lu, Miasma, Plants, Export Paintings, 28’, 2017
[03] Bo Choy, War of Perception, 19'47'', 2020
[04] Chris Zhongtian Yuan, Wuhan Punk, 12’, 2020
[05] Bo Wang, China Concerto, 50’, 2012
[06] Bo Wang & Pan Lu, Traces of an Invisible City: Three Notes on Hong Kong, 70’, 2016
[07] Musquiqui Chihying, The sculpture, 28’,2020

On a first come first serve basis, visitors are invited to freely choose videos from the playlist. We propose the following terms: Objects, Myths and Memories, Institutions, that work as the search index for audience to better seek synergies among works by the five artists.

[01] Lee Kai Chung, Retrieved, Restoration and Predicament Part 1, 21'46'', 2018

[02] Bo Wang & Pan Lu, Miasma, Plants, Export Paintings, 28’, 2017

Works such as Retrieved, Restoration and Predicament Part 1 (Lee Kai Chung), or Miasma, Plants, Export Paintings (Bo Wang) are considered in the index of [Objects]. These video works revolve its narration around a specific object. Both focusing on the World Wars period, the places that the object once has been, meaning it was given, changes of ownership it experienced reveal the evolution of cityscape alongside the changing hand of political powers.

[03] Bo Choy, War of Perception, 19'47'', 2020

[04] Chris Zhongtian Yuan, Wuhan Punk, 12’, 2020

[05] Bo Wang, China Concerto, 50’, 2012

Video works categorised in [Myths and Memories] tell stories of individuals and myths existing in the collective memory of a society. In the War of Perception (Bo Choy), the spirit medium – a fictional figure reminiscent of the spiritual figure worshipped in the traditional Cantonese household – acts as the agent that searches “truth” within the entangled, complex political events in recent years Hongkong. Wuhan Punk (Chris Zhongtian-Yuan) attempts to seek truth in the disappearance of an underground musician, revealing to us how words and stories are retained or forgotten. Along the passage of time, myths and memories lead us to the present, a constructed reality.

[06] Bo Wang & Pan Lu, Traces of an Invisible City: Three Notes on Hong Kong, 70’, 2016

[07] Musquiqui Chihying, The sculpture, 28’,2020

Video works categorised in [Institutions] look at our society from the pyramid top of the social hierarchy. The construction of political rhetoric by the regeneration of historic buildings (Traces of an Invisible City, Bo Wang), the documentation of historic events by government bodies, the cultural policies set out in national museums (Sculptures, Musquiqui Chihying), all of which are deemed powerful tools in steering the boat of where a nation and its people are heading to.