Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial

Yet another success, the sixth Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane has again brought together a diversity of artists throughout the region to showcase what is contemporary, inspiring, conflicting and breathtaking in art. This time the Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Art Gallery’s water mall were completely given to the event, which added to its scale and success. By giving over 100 artists all that space organisers of the APT ensured that each artist and their work were given sufficient breathing room, which they appear to have taken in earnest. With works ranging from the monumental, such as New Zealand artist Reuben Paterson’s huge glitter and paint on canvas, to a tiny hole-in-the-wall video that you have to bend to see, the walls and floors of the GoMA were enveloped by some of the most compelling works I’ve ever seen.

One of my favourites is Tibetan artist Gonkar Gyatso’s sticker works; the biggest being a large image of Buddah reclining on a pencil-drawn railway from Shangai to Lhasa. Evoking, what I believe to be, a Monet-sensibility Gyatso’s Buddha appears as a seamless whole image until one gets up close and is inundated by a barrage of mass-media images on stickers. And then comes the realisation that this beautiful reclining Buddha is made entirely out of stickers of Hello Kitty, the ubiquitous McDonalds, Chinese Communism, etc, etc, etc.

Also note-worthy is Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s exquisite ‘Lightning for Neda’ – six large mirror mosaic panels inspired by Islamic patterns and Sufi symbolism. To look at this work is to not only be awestruck by the delicate intricacies of the way in which the shards of mirror have been ingeniously patterned; rather, to look at this work is to also look upon your own image – jarred, disfigured and disjointed, reflected back at you.

Finally, one work in which I took great enjoyment was Shinji Ohmaki’s ‘Liminal air – descend’, an interactive installation which included the arrangement of a mass of threads into a fluid form in a single white room with a mirrored wall. The audience was invited to walk through this form which was supposed to “produce dramatic, immersive encounters.” For me personally, walking through this endless curtain of white string just took me to a magical place – it reminded me of those enchanting scenes in movies where the girl walks through a heavily-leafed forest or a succession of those psychedelic beaded curtains and has something revealed to her at the end of that short journey. It’s hard to explain, but needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I could go on for several more paragraphs just about the amazing works I saw, but I shan’t. Overall the APT should be commended not only for its diverse, eclectic and inspiring selection of artists and artworks – covering a wide range of countries and media – but also for the way in which the exhibition itself has been curated and put together. To be able to arrange that many works in that large a space without, on the one hand, the appearance of having just put stuff wherever there’s room, and on the other, overwhelming the audience is a monumental task. According to me, it has been achieved with dignity and inventiveness. I can’t wait for APT7! [Image from gonkargyatso.com]

Take your time - Olafur Eliasson

More than just what curator Rachel Kent calls a “visual journey”, ‘Take your time: Olafur Eliasson’ is an exploration into and manipulation of ways of seeing. The manipulation begins early, in a room situated to the side of the exhibition’s entrance, which bathes the viewer in a jarring yellow glow emitted from a succession of lights placed in the ceiling. The visual effect of this single work remains as a “retinal after-effect” (Kent, MCA) which causes a subtle disorientation which, for me, did not go away until well after I left the MCA.

Eliasson’s exhibition, as suggested by its title and manifested in the arrangement of works, encourages the audience to carefully and methodically explore the kaleidoscope of the artist’s body of work – which ranges from simple “chromatic investigations” (Kent) on large paper, to photographs, sculptures and intricate and interactive installations which encompass an entire room. One such work is ‘Beauty’, which consists of a light mist of water coming from the ceiling, a single spotlight and a dark room. As the rays of the spotlight shine on the delicately falling mist, they bounce off the water particles to create a rainbow sequence which, for every viewer, is unique depending on all those subtle contingencies which make every experience slightly different.

Another impressive work is the ‘360° room for all colours’ which, as the title suggests, encompasses the viewer in a large enclosure of continually-changing hues. One is engulfed, bathed in the visual sensuality of colour. Another similar work is ‘One-way colour tunnel’ an arrangement of colour-effect acrylic and mirrors which bounce reflections, colour and light from all sides as you walk through. It is quite literally a kaleidoscope walk-way. Both works are magnificent!

These are only three of the 30 works displayed in the exhibition. Aside from the theoretical/academic investigations into ways of seeing, and the continued debate surrounding the way audience participation shapes and transforms a work, Elisasson’s works are simply great to look at and look through. They achieve that rare quality of good art which can be experienced at different levels – from the simply visual, to the potently theoretical – without bombarding the audience with esotericism, but instead allowing them to simply feel. [Image from http://www.mca.com.au/]

Mamma Mia

‘Mamma Mia’ the movie is nothing more than a high-budget song-and-dance routine that has nothing to offer, and nothing meaningful to say (or sing). Not only did I have to sit through Pierce Brosnan’s terrible ‘singing’, and Christine Baranski and Julie Waters’ cringe-worthy displays of stunted adolescence, there was also Amanda Seyfried’s over-over acting to contend with. Yes, there is such a thing, the experience of which leaves one exhausted, uncomfortable and feeling slightly ripped-off for having to watch a performance that was simply trying too hard without actually achieving anything. Such is the case with Seyfried who plays the naive, soon-to-be-married Sophie who sets out to discover who her real father is so that he can walk her down the aisle. Her face literally goes red as a tomato during the over-over acting of a ‘confrontation scene’ that, in any other half-decent movie, would have been nothing more than a heated discussion.

Try-hard acting and terrible vocals aside, the actual movie adaptation of the Broadway musical added nothing to the original show. Though I have not watched the musical myself, the movie played like a direct copy of a live performance – just stick these people on a stage and nothing would have been different. This may be sufficient for some viewers, but to my understanding one of the purposes of adapting a story from one format to another is to add something new to the narrative – another element, a deeper layer of meaning, another way of seeing the story even. Otherwise, what’s the point? Nothing of the sort was achieved in this movie. The performances were shallow, the characters were shallow, the storyline was shallow. The only depth was in the ocean surrounding the Greek island setting.

The single saving grace of the film is Meryl Streep, whose role as mother-of-the-bride Donna was engaging, sincere and humorous without the pitfalls of amateur try-hard acting. Streep’s climactic solo, singing ‘The Winner Takes It All’, was superb and is the only moment of dignity in an otherwise obnoxiously-melodramatic film. That was two hours that would have been better spent playing Scrabble, which at least would have required some depth of thought.

Mao's Last Dancer

I finally watched ‘Mao’s Last Dancer’ and am happy to report that it is actually quite true to the book and does not take too many liberties with the story. I am even happier to report that the creators did not do that silly thing where the provincial Chinese people speak English. Instead, they have given viewers a little more credit and decided that it wouldn’t be too hard for us to read subtitles, and have therefore put all the relevant dialogue in actual Chinese – adding that extra bit of authenticity.

As for the storyline itself, screenwriter Jan Sardi has thankfully not veered too far from Li Cunxin’s original autobiography. Instead, Sardi has focused on what, I think, are the most important themes, issues and events of the book. As mentioned in a previous blog, the story is underpinned by Li’s constant love and devotion to his family. This universal theme has been successfully transferred onto the screen, as has Li’s quiet determination in his dancing, his awe at Western culture and his dramatic deflection from China; and of course the background of oppression shrouded under the incessant mechanisms of political propaganda.

As the adult Li, Chi Cao plays the role just as I had imagined it would be played; with a telling display of humility, humble resolve, inner strength and that sense of tortured freedom which comes when it is gained at such a high price. Considering Cao is a professionally-trained ballet dancer, his acting is superb as he is able to subtly demonstrate Li’s emotional turmoil, and joy, beneath the mask of staunch masculinity that pervades Chinese tradition. Even at the most emotional moment in the film, when Li breaks down in tears of joy, that stern detachment that has been indoctrinated in him from childhood is still present along with the overwhelming happiness at being reunited with his parents. It is a juxtaposition of emotions that is more difficult to portray than it is to explain, and yet, Cao has done it with ease and realism.

Only one other book-to-film adaptation, that I know of, has stayed so true to the story – that is the ‘Godfather’ in which Mario Puzo, the author of the book, is also the screenwriter of the three films. ‘Mao’s Last Dancer’, the film, is a great companion to the book and only adds another layer of understanding to Li’s story, instead of confusing and undermining the events of the book, as so many film adaptations have done. This is a great film! [image from http://blogs.smh.com.au/]

This Is It

‘This Is It’ the movie is the closest any of us are ever going to get to seeing the concert, and after watching it, I am extremely disappointed that I will never have the opportunity to see the live performance.

I must admit, I had quite a cynical approach to the movie, thinking that it was just a way for the organisers of the concert to recoup some of their losses. But having watched it I can see why the movie was made. Not only did it show MJ in his final days, but the movie also promised what would have been the greatest live performance ever! And it is understandable for those involved, who had invested so much time, energy and passion into the project, to want to share it in some way with the world. It would have been a waste to have let so much work just be buried in masses of MJ archive. The movie gave a peek into what would have been an elaborate, hi-tech, boundary-breaking show in which meticulously-staged 3D vignettes transformed seamlessly onto the stage, and the man himself would be dressed in millions of dollars of Swarovski gems ornately woven into specially-designed costumes. These, of course, are just two of the impressive features of the show that will never be.

Beyond simply showing what the performance would have been, the movie also systematically works to not only restore MJ to his superstar status, but also to add a deeper, more meaningful, layer to his public persona. ‘This Is It’ revealed the portrait of a man who was so immersed in his work, and so dedicated and invested in every facet of his art. Watching the movie, I could practically see the processes of creativity emanating from MJ; I could certainly see the genuine respect and appreciation his peers had for his knowledge of every part of the stage and sound. Beside Jackson, Kenny Ortega was more a personal assistant than the director of the show.

Whatever controversies that have surrounded his life cannot diminish the fact that MJ was a true artist of the highest calibre; ‘This Is It’ has simply cemented that fact.
[Image from http://au.movies.yahoo.com/]