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FOLLOW US
2010
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Shaun Gladwell
(Australia), Martin Fengel
(Germany), Albrecht
Fuchs
(Germany), Nicola Meitzner
(Germany), Jay Yao
(Philippines), Yee
I-Lann (Malaysia)
Sensual,
sinister, satirical: photomedia reflecting a range
of creative connections with place made during
residencies in Sydney, Manila and Kuala Lumpur by
artists from Australia, Germany, Malaysia and the
Philippines.
Art ConneXions is a Goethe-Institut
project that connects German artists with
practitioners from Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The Sydney leg of the project was curated by the
Australian Centre for Photography with the
assistance of Sydney College of the Arts and
Sherman Galleries.
In February of this year, Australian artist Shaun
Gladwell worked alongside Nicola Meitzner (Germany)
and Jay Yao (Philippines) in Sydney in the first of
three residences during which the work in this
exhibition was created. Later, Shaun travelled to
Kuala Lumpur to work with the Malaysian artist Yee
I-Lann and the German artist Albrecht Fuchs, while
Jay returned to Manila to work with I-Lann and
German artist Martin Fengel. The artists were each
invited to explore contemporary manifestations of
connecting, mixing and hybridisation - responding
to a wide range of phenomena in new and, in some
cases familiar, environments.
Artist
Statements
Shaun
Gladwell (Sydney > Kuala Lumpur)
During
the Art ConneXions project, I took the opportunity
to continue working with Sydney's Central Business
District and inner suburbs. Through the editing
process, one photograph resonated - an image of a
shoe floating on top of a fountain in Martin Place.
I'm interested in the significance of Martin Place
for local skateboarders. It has been a popular spot
for almost 20 years and now severely policed. The
identity of the person who added their pro model
skateboarding sneaker to the contents of this
fountain remains a kind of casual, banal
mystery.
There are other (historical) facts that I like
about the site, but are not key to an
interpretation or understanding of this image (for
this is in no way limited or fixed!). In addition
to the significance of Martin Place to
skateboarders - there is the 'story' of the
fountain itself, donated to the city by prominent
Australian painter, the late Lloyd Rees.
My work in K.L. also explores locations and their
significance to subcultures. A specific corner in
Bukit Bintang is a well known session spot for
local Break Crews. I recorded a night Jam with the
Giller Battle Crew, and afternoon jam with
Predatorz Crew. The camera angle changes throughout
each video in order to describe the location that
surrounds these sessions. The slow motion
documentary of breakdancing is delivered on
Playstation gaming units, usually used to generate
incredibly fast-paced simulation.
In each work, I'm interested in finding
similarities but also variation within the
globalised practices of break dancing and
skateboarding. And whilst these practices draw upon
a globally transmitted and informed lexicon, they
are enacted locally, on street corners or public
squares, shopping centre car parks, etc. The jams
and sessions respond and adapt to very different
conditions existing within sites such as Martin
Place and Bukit Bintang.
Nicola
Meitzner (Germany > Sydney)
The
main focus of my work is the subject of the city
and the metropolis. Before I start to take pictures
I gather a variety of data taken from various
social aspects and architectural structures within
the city and use it as a foundation upon which to
create my work. My purpose is to be able to
identify certain specific elements and then see if
they can be transferred to other countries. I try
to investigate and observe specific themes of the
city I am working in.
Luckyland
Before arriving in Australia, I did some background
research on Sydney's culture and social make up.
Out of this came an idea to focus on outdoor-living
(which one could also describe as the natural area
of social interaction). I noticed that leisure time
and communication (or just spending time together)
has a very high status there.
Although there is some physical movement in the
active lives I wanted to portray, I also wanted to
observe these areas of recreation space in a calm
way. I was interested in the connection of the
activity itself and the people who are inhabit
these spaces - how do they move in this given
space, how is the communication between them? These
are the things - sometimes little "irritations" -
you discover by looking closely at each scene. For
example, I photographed a horserace that could only
be watched via a live video projection, but most of
the punters didn't seem to mind.
Newspace
While walking around in the suburbs of Sydney and
investigating these recreation areas I noticed
another very interesting point. The suburbs are
huge and what is unusual from my European point of
view is that there are still a lot of areas which
do not seem to have any function. They are empty
space in which you can see signs of civilization.
They are not landscapes anymore. Sometimes it is a
space between two bungalows that are already
surrounded by fences. It is just a question of time
before these areas might become recreation spaces
or sites for more bungalows.
Martin
Fengel (Germany > Manila)
My
time in Manila was brilliant. I can't say much
about the other two artists, both worked on
different projects, in different places, so we
didn't see each other very often. I didn't have the
feeling Manila was much of a place I would
recommend my parents to go to. There are probably
"nicer" places to visit. Three churches more, half
of the traffic - does that make it nice? More
appealing to tourists?
In my work I try not to make any promises I can't
keep. Masses of photographs circle the world...what
haven't we seen already? Sunsets, cars, toothpaste,
houses, we all know how it looks like, the purpose,
why these images were taken.... they are there to
tell you something, to sell you something, to
remind you of something or to inform you about
something.
The guns are obvious in Manila, you see them
everywhere - men in uniform guard insurance
companies, supermarkets, banks...they loved it when
I asked them if I could take a picture of their
gun. Now, there are 5 posters on the wall, printed
on cheap paper, lots of posters for everybody to
take home, men with gun, without a head.
Now if you want to, you can have your own guards at
home, they won't prevent any robbery, it's only
pictures. But your house will be different.
Albrecht
Fuchs (Germany > Kuala Lumpur)
I
had a very good time in Kuala Lumpur. I was
involved with a very nice group of artist and
curators that gave me a very good inside look of
the city and introduced me to the right places to
go for food and drinks. I shared a nice house-
actually one of the last ones from the 1940s in
central KL - with Shaun (Gladwell) in a big garden,
that unfortunately was home to lots of mosquitoes,
as well.
I was not that interested in modern KL, though I
liked the twin towers, as a very good point of
orientation within the city.
From the beginning I was rather impressed by the
intensity of the climate and rich vegetation in
combination with the older parts of this tropical
city. Buildings from the 1950s and 1960s for
example.
One night I was invited to a party in Ukay Heights,
a hill overlooking Kuala Lumpur. The party took
place in the last occupied apartment of a beautiful
building from the 1960s just one day before the
host had t move out and the building had to give
way to a (possibly ugly) new building.
My pictures of KL rather describe a specific mood
and atmosphere, than dealing with a special
subject. I love the rich colours, the dark green of
the leaves. How fast buildings are aging as a
result of the immense humidity, things like
that.
On the way from the airport into town, I noticed
these little repeating signs in the side of the
highway and on the bridges saying big tree.
I was very tired from my flight and thought they
were hints, indicating the location f the
particularly big trees. I very much liked the idea.
Later I found out, big tree is just the name
of a billboard company.
Yee
I-Lann (Kuala Lumpur > Manila)
Sulu
Stories
Whilst in the Philippines I was constantly
asked, "Where are you from?" "I am from Sabah." I
would answer. "Ah, a Filipina" was the common
response. I smile but I am thinking; difficult
surf, troubled waters, dive in the deep end, not
drowning, waving... But I am welcomed with a
knowing embrace; we know we are connected; our
histories, fate and horizon line is shared. A
Sabahan in the Philippines has no option but to
address Sulu, I just wasn't sure where to
begin.
My first memory related to Sulu was the story about
the dragon that lived on Mount Kinabalu in Sabah.
Its favourite plaything was a giant pearl 'the size
of a tennis ball' that came from the Sulu Sea. An
oyster had swallowed a tear from the moon thus
producing a pearl of extraordinary size and beauty.
Later whilst in Palawan I told this story to my
hostel host Majika. She proudly told me her brother
owns a pearl farm that trades pearls with the
Japanese jewelers Mikimoto, that the Sulu Sea
produces the highest quality pearls of the largest
size. I felt I had been given affirmation - stories
(histories), legend, memory (lane) would lead me
into Sulu and its unique landscape/ seascape/
memoryscape.
I would journey to the place and photograph the
physical vistas, the sea, the sky, and the islands.
The simultaneous journeys I would take would be as
a librarian, a collector, sorter of stories and as
a researcher using those libraries of information,
heavy with baggage, to find a temperament, tempest,
temple, template to address Sulu. I was attracted
by the idea of photographing 'empty'
land/seascapes, just to hold still the physical
space with my camera. My journeys as a librarian
and researcher would fill that space, that which
was not framed by time, with a mnemonic
database.
The
Sulu Sea, powered by the pull of the moon, filled
with her tears, becomes my vessel on which to
suture the dioramas I had found. It is a haunted
sea, barred to the world for over thirty years by
the currents of politics and prejudice and guarded
by the ancient Tausug 'People of the Current' and
Bajau 'Sea People' that turn to pray to the horizon
of Mecca. The sea is their life, land a graveyard.
The sea for a millennia brought with it empires,
traders from every corner of the world and yet the
peoples of Sulu ride the currents and hold their
frontiers. The sea is the constant backdrop to the
hundreds of stories I encountered, the subjects
tantalizing: pirates, slaves, opium, M16s, priests
Tau Taus, typhoons, shipwrecks, Boogey men and
Sultans.
I stand on the Malaysian Pulau Selingan off the
coast of Sandakan in Sabah. I see two islands in
front of me. On the left is Pulau Bakkungan,
Philippines, on my right Pulau Bakkungan Kecil,
Malaysia. The three islands form a triangle; I am
told we are all about 4 kilometers apart. Somewhere
between us is a watery formless border but I
neither see it nor sense it. We are in a zone not
quite Philippino, not quite Malaysian but very
aware of being Sulu. At night I see a giant green
back turtle lay her eggs. The guide tells me she
has not been previously tagged; she is probably
laying her first batch of eggs. He goes on to tell
me turtles return to their place of birth when it
is time for them to give birth. He estimates this
mother to be about thirty years old. I think to
myself, here is the communion of landscape and
memory, as I help release day old green back turtle
hatchlings into the Sulu Sea carrying with them the
genetic memory of their being and place.
Thanks to: Filipiniana Heritage Library, Manila,
Sabah State Museum, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah State
Archives, Kota Kinabalu
Jay
Yao (Manila > Sydney)
The
work is split into two different series.
The first project involves quiet and ordinary
spaces. The images are split into seven different
fictional days. Throughout my trip I was fascinated
with simple objects, and missed opportunities.
The second project is a series based on my idea of
"Phototag." Phototag consists of two photographers
photographing each other consecutively as they move
through a space. I shot the series with Runar
Petursson. Phototag reminds me that our perceptions
and ideologies are constantly being revised through
time.
Traveling in another country changes us. Being in a
foreign space reminds us of what we miss, and at
the same time offers us the opportunity to reflect
on our present and past situations. Phototag allows
us to compare and contrast the spaces we travel
through. It reminds us that the photographer isn't
a passive viewer in the world. He projects his own
aesthetic and prejudice.
Both series showcases my journey living in Sydney
and returning to Manila.
Image Credits:
• Yee I-Lann Sulu Stories: Map
2005
• Shaun Gladwell Predatorz Crew - Day
(Bukit Binyang) 2005
• Nicola Meitzner Luckyland
2005
• Martin Fengel Five Guns
2005
• Albrecht Fuchs Big Tree
2005
• Yee I-Lann Sulu Stories: The
Archipelago 2005
• Jay Yao Day 6 2005
This exhibition has been made possible through the
generous support of:
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