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What struck me during the Radio Malaya: Abridged Conversations About Art exhibition was this series of photographs plastered in a line. I take interest in photography and seeing this juxtaposed against the sea of paintings, I had a calling to do a critique on this eccentric artwork. 

 

Response

 

The artwork comprises a string of photographs that was physically taken and features a white-masked man with sunglasses, decked in a full white attire along with his white dummy. When I first chanced upon one of the photos of this series, I was intrigued and interested to understand why this subject was framed in this particular way- his attire, his dummy and the way they appeared in different backgrounds. On first look, I thought the images were visually stimulating as the interaction of the subject in different environments looked unconventional and bizarre. When I saw more photos in the series, I felt even curious to learn more about the relationship between all the photos and to create my own meanings and interpretation of this artwork.

 

Description

 

The photos were pasted side-by-side on the wall in a uniform straight line, just below paintings and other forms of artworks. For this artwork, the medium used is photography and apart from the consistency in the size of the photos, there is a purple-reddish tint to it. The artist also took the shots at different angles but none revealed the identity of the masked man. All the photos contained the subject and his dummy engaging In different activities at several places such as museums and public areas. Some shots showed interaction between the man and the surrounding crowd while most merely showed him interacting with his dummy.

 

Out of all the shots in the photo series, I would be focusing on the first shot located at the top left corner of this page. It shows the man in white holding up his dummy while standing in the corner of an exhibition. The dummy is held facing the wall and both are not observing the artwork that is placed beside them. The displayed artwork looked like an abstract painting which has its art piece description located just beside it

 

Analysis and Interpretation

Based on my examination, I noticed a date print at the corner of the photo which states 31st of July 1993. This sets the context of when the photo was taken and it can be validated by the outfits and objects that were captured in other photos. The other shots gave hints of out-of-fashion clothings and even the camera found on a character in the background was evidently outdated. This shot that I chose to analyse is one out of a few other shots that represent the subject and his dummy in a museum, being the observer. It is interesting that as an observer, I am looking at the artwork of a subject looking at another object ie the wall. Basically, it is like an artwork in another artwork; an observer observing another observing observer. However, what is unique about the picture is the fact that the man and his dummy are not observing the painting. Instead, they look like they are putting their head against the wall to observe the surface of the wall. By overturning the conventions in an art exhibition, the artist is probably commenting on how artworks or any other object in the museum can be pieces of art. Therefore, by making the subject and his dummy look like they are statues or important artefacts, the artist is making the 'observer' the work of art himself. Another interesting point was how this photo series was placed in the midst of other artworks and paintings. The intention is to situate us directly where the other artworks are and to emphasise the idea that the observer can overlook its own importance while appreciating other works.

 

Evaluation and Judgement

After looking through the other photos, I have created my own interpretation and meanings out of the artwork. Curiosity made me question the intention of the artist and I can only think of why the subject was shot in that particular manner. Overall, the art work seemed like a performance where the man in white plays a role in each photo to tell a story. It could be the artist's way of expressing and commenting on public spaces and art exhibitions. For that particular photo, I think it has effectively made me think about the relationship between the observer and the observed- the onlooker and the artwork. The intention of making us reflect on our experiences in an art space has been achieved. It has also worked visually with the creation of unconventional posed shots that made us pause to reflect think. I think the artist is telling us about the culture of art appreciation where we can be too caught up with the artworks that we never notice how other objects and even ourselves are worthy of appreciation and self-reflection. One way I think can be improved would be by making this artwork more interactive and even digital such that the users can view the 360degrees view of the photos.