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M+, Hong Kong. Gift of Guan Yi, 2013, © Luo Qingmin, Estate of Chen Shaoxiong
Chen Shaoxiong 陳劭雄
Figure Anti-Terrorism 花樣反恐
2002
The 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 in the U.S. completely changed the global political order. The two hijacked airplanes that crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York became an iconic image of the twenty-first century. Due to its dissemination in the mass media, the event also resonated with all global metropolises. Chen combined animation and video footage to present an image of the skyscrapers of Guangzhou and Shanghai ducking and evading airplane attacks in a humorous way. The work also features a chessboard with skyscrapers and airplanes as opposing game pieces. To Chen, the experiences of the city encompass all local events, as well as international events that are experienced via the global mass media. His work mixes these two types of experience together. Even more thought-provoking is the idea that the skyscrapers and the airplanes are both symbols of advanced technology and modern life, but after 9/11, they have also become weapons for conflict between two sides. For Chen, this can be expressed as: ‘one symbol and one thought-provoking revelation: our greatest enemy is ourselves’.
The earliest work of the Figure Anti-Terrorism series used the images of the skyscrapers of Guangzhou.
Another work, using the image of the skyscrapers of Shanghai’s Pudong district, was made for the Shanghai Biennale in 2002. Both videos were shown together at the 2003 Canton Express, complete with a pair of chairs and a wooden chess set with pieces resembling skyscrapers and airplanes. Chen completed several sets of carved wooden chess pieces during his career. The one on display in this exhibition is the first set he made. Multiple chess pieces were damaged on their way back from Venice. For this 2017 iteration, conservation treatment was carried out, including dry surface cleaning and restoring missing components, such as small parts from the airplanes.
Another work, using the image of the skyscrapers of Shanghai’s Pudong district, was made for the Shanghai Biennale in 2002. Both videos were shown together at the 2003 Canton Express, complete with a pair of chairs and a wooden chess set with pieces resembling skyscrapers and airplanes. Chen completed several sets of carved wooden chess pieces during his career. The one on display in this exhibition is the first set he made. Multiple chess pieces were damaged on their way back from Venice. For this 2017 iteration, conservation treatment was carried out, including dry surface cleaning and restoring missing components, such as small parts from the airplanes.
Canton Express: Art from the Pearl River Delta. M+ Pavilion, Hong Kong, 23 June–10 September 2017
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