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Solo Exhibition – The Dashes; The Laughter; The Reservoirs, 2016

Artist Statement

 

The Dashes; The Laughter; The Reservoirs  

Morgan Wong’s interest in the notion of time has developed into two intertwining directions — micro and macro perspectives of comprehension. The personal perception, or micro narrative, is woven into the bigger narrative of social changes in history. Through contemplation of three individual incidents, which are nevertheless connected with each other, this exhibition examines the temporality of sovereignty.

 

The Dashes

 

Dash Series looks into the historical context of the South China Sea dispute in which China and Taiwan are internationally recognised as claimants for the area. Both hold on to their claims with a U-shaped line, consisting of either nine or eleven dashes respectively. The difference of these two dashes unfolds the problematic definition of what constitutes “China,” which is a core issue in Cross-Strait Relations. The dashes are significant not only when considered as a continuous line, as such giving testimony to ever growing issues of international reach, but individually they are also worthy of attention.

 

The Laughter

 

In The Laughter, the ambivalence of the audible laughter is startling: we cannot immediately identify if we are in presence of a genuinely joyful laughter, or if we are are listening to the kind of laughter which is meant to be sarcastic. This indecisiveness hints to the historical context to which The Laughter relates. In 1971, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed Resolution 2758 which explicitly recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as “the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations”. During this crucial vote, a laughter occurred when the vote of the United States of America was incorrectly announced. Useless to mention that America’s stance has always been influential and significant for Cross-Strait Relations. In The Laughter, we cannot figure out who is laughing? Whom are they laughing at? And what are they laughing at? All we know is this happened, both the laughter and the resolution.

 

The Reservoirs

 

“92 Consensus” is a term coined long after a meeting was held in Hong Kong between semi-official bodies from both China and Taiwan in 1992. The Consensus supposedly marks an understanding that both sides had reached a common ground of an “One China” concept. However, it seems that a consensus of what this Consensus means has yet to be reached. Both Tai Tam Series and the video work Not a Century; Not a Millennium; Just Five More Years are based on a seemingly futile gesture to revisit the location of the meeting in order to unearth hidden knowledge on the Consensus. In Tai Tam Series, the work reveals not only the conference room, Tai Tam, of the meeting, but also a group of four reservoirs which the conference room is named after. This leads to the review of what the 92 Consensus is emblematic of. Not a Century; Not a Millennium; Just Five More Years depicts what would have been the sight of the mainland Chinese delegates from the conference room. Not only the setting in the room or the scenery outside have changed over time, but questions around the status and the sovereignty of Hong Kong have also altered.

 

Dash Series (I – XI)
2016
Oil on linen
150×150cm

The Laughter

2016
Mixed media (Sound, engraved brass plague)
Dimensions variable

 

Tai Tam Series ( 1 -3)

2016
Digital print
60×60cm

Not a Century; Not a Millennium; Just Five More Years

2016
Single channel video
HD, color, silent
2’26”

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Dash Series on view at Asia Art Center II

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Dash Series on view at Asia Art Center II

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Dash Series on view at Asia Art Center II

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Dash Series on view at Asia Art Center II

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Tai Tam Series on view at Asia Art Center II_DSC3525

Tai Tam Series on view at Asia Art Center II

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The Laughter on view at Asia Art Center II

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The Laughter on view at Asia Art Center II_DSC3528

Not a Century; Not a Millennium; Just Five More Years on view at Asia Art Center II