'It depends...': An exhibition of sight and sound in Penang that asks you to explore with all your senses

GEORGE TOWN, June 1 ― What roles do entanglements, societal hierarchy, mortality and the microcosm of our daily lives play?

Will a walk in the half-light amplified by the soothing sounds of Nature help us explore the depth of the human experience through conceptual artworks encased within an art gallery?

This is what Blank Canvas' latest exhibition, “It depends...”, hopes you will find out.

Unlike conventional art exhibitions where each artwork is spotlighted to draw viewers' attention, the whole exhibition space is darkened to a dim half-light environment so that the first thing visitors will encounter is what appears to be a shadowy cube floating in the middle of a spacious gallery at eye-level.

Upon closer inspection, the cube contains a taxidermied bird that is engulfed by a criss-cross thread sculpture by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota.

Titled “State of Being (Bird)”, this is the artist's exploration of the sensations of intangible emotions around a bird preserved to last forever

Exhibition co-curator and gallery owner, Leong Kwong Yee, said this is one of the smaller works by Shiota as her works often fill up an entire space.

“I acquired this into my collection as it is small enough to fit into my home,” he said as he did a walk-through of the exhibition before it opens tonight (June 1).

Leong, who is also an avid art collector, is showcasing five artworks from his collection in this exhibition.

“I am co-curating this with Sputnikforest because I want to add the element of the outdoors to the exhibition,” he said.

He had approached spatial and landscape botanical design consultant Tan Wei Ming of Sputnikforest about six months ago to collaborate and put together an experience that transcends mere visual aesthetics.

“I want to link the five artworks in this exhibition to become part of a story and to see how we can bring the outdoors indoors and this was how we came up with the idea of a senses and sounds exhibition,” he said.

Tan said he imagined what it would be like if he was visually impaired and added elements that could amplify other senses.

“This is where I came up with the idea of recording sounds of an evening hike in Botanic Gardens,” he said.

Instead of bringing in plants or a tree into the space, Tan introduced the auditory installation that is juxtaposed against the artworks on display.

Leong said visitors are encouraged to turn on the light on their phones to scrutinise each artwork.

He shone a light on Shiota's “State of Being (Bird)” sculpture in demonstration, thus adding another dimension to the sculpture, highlighting details on the feathers of the bird.

“I want visitors to experience this in their own way, to shine a light and explore the artworks to gain their own insights and understanding on what it means,” he said.

“We do not want to tell visitors what to feel when viewing the artworks, we want them to arrive at their own conclusions,” he added.

Set against the pristine white wall of the gallery, just to the left of Shiota's suspended sculpture, is a row of 30 small squares of mysterious images of shapes and shadows that look almost alien-like.

The series, by Malaysian artist Tan Zi Hao, titled “Friction: An Entomology of Global Connection”, consists of electron microscopic images of casebearers, also known as plaster bagworms.

Leong said casebearers are worm-like insects that spin their flat, grey cases by collecting small particles such as sand, dust, hair, fur and debris from their surrounds.

“These images show the details of the environment in which these casebearers lived, bringing to light the little things of our homes into stark relief,” he said.

Far in the corner on the right of the gallery, lying flat on the floor and almost indiscernible in the dim light is a large copper sheet.

To the naked eye, it may look liked a piece of cardboard but if a light is shone on it, the gloss of the copper is apparent.

Leong said it is one of the most important works by Vietnamese artist, Danh Vo, titled “We the People (detail)”.

“He created an exact copper replica of the Statue of Liberty and cut it into 300 pieces where 150 pieces were sold around the world... this is one of the pieces, which is the base of the statue,” he said.

He said the work is Danh Vo's commentary on immigration by deconstructing the symbol of freedom to distribute it all around the world.

“I acquired this piece because I had to, I don't think there is one in Malaysia, I know Hong Kong had a few pieces, Japan has one and Singapore too but not Malaysia so I wanted to have one here,” he said.

Moving on from Vo's work, set against a wall is a section of a rusted spiral staircase.

Titled “spilled out of my head head was spinning” by Ser Serpas, Leong said the sculpture is found trash that the artist picks up from the streets in France that was then repurposed into her artwork.

“As a gender fluid person, in which she now identifies as female, her works are very much about the in-betweenness of two things,” he said.

Finally, the last piece of artwork that hung like a spectral form at the back portion of the gallery is one that deals with death and grieving.

Leong Kwong Yee shines a light on the fabric artwork by Dan Lie that represents death and grief. ― Picture by Opalyn Mok

Brazilian artist of Indonesian descent, Dan Lie, created the artwork titled “Member 6” from the remnants of an art installation that focused on the process of death, grieving and rotting.

“This fabric had a previous life before it was turned into this work where he dyed it with turmeric to signify healing and that even in death, it is not permanent,” he said.

“It depends...” at Blank Canvas, in 2, Argus Lane, opens to the public on June 1.

Leong, Zi Hao and Wei Ming of Sputnikforest will be conducting a sharing session at 2pm on June 2. To attend, register at 016-2466814.

The exhibition is open to the public from 12pm to 7pm on Fridays to Sundays until August 18. Entrance is free.