On November 4th, SinArts presents the second of two artists talks on the occasion of our exhibition "Our Gaze- a solo presentation by Tsou Yung-shan". After engaging with Rotterdam independant Publisher YinYin Wong about the Artist Book as object, Yung-Shan will now go into conversation with art historian Nancy Hoffmann about the changing boundaries between our public and private sphere.

The Crossroad Between Public and Private - Where I End and You Begin
Nancy Hoffmann in conversation with Tsou Yung-Shan

The art of Yung-shan Tsou hoovers silently between us. 
It is up-close and personal without being intrusive. It is familiar like a déjà-vu and homely like a tent. The space that her work occupies is the space we take and the space we leave behind us, once we walk outside our private residencies. That is where I end, and you begin. 

Yung-shan Tsou makes this space small so it could fit into our pockets. An entire world can evolve around a book. Beyond expectation. Sometimes she gives it in our hands to shape it every way we like. Just to give us the opportunity to be a little more aware of our own steps in life. And then she even shows us what we have been over-looking. Gently, modestly. By showing us little scraps and pieces we all leave trailing. Or by sharing the chaotic complexity of her world with us. Her work is mesmerizingly simple and imperceptibly complex. But completely recognizable. 

I can’t escape the western philosophical outlook on Yung-shan’s work, even if I tried. I go to De Certeau’s outlook on everyday life, tiptoe around Bachelards’ poetics of space, and then she bluntly confronts me with Walter Benjamin’s flâneur. I am left with an endless stream of questions that don’t need an answer. They just need to be asked. And I am sure Yung-shan Tsou will be inspiring company during our mental stroll.

We invite you to walk along.

In this conversation, artist Shen Wei and curator Thomas Berghuis will reflect on the role of photography in contemporary art today, and discuss what Shen Wei considers to be the ‘precious object of photography'.

Whereas photography, particularly in China, has long been printed in numerous editions and sizes, "For his most recent projects, Shen Wei has made the conscious decision to focus on carefully mastered small editions of a single size. Simultaneously raising the value of the work and the status of photography as art. 

Contemporary art is often valued in terms of its public access, keeping fast and extensive distribution and circulation amongst the broadest possible audience in mind. At the same time, there are many contemporary artists who consider the intrinsic value of an art object through its unique character and value. Sometimes this leads them to be criticized for their formalism. Especially by critics, who prefer seeing artists use wide distribution and public activism in their work, raised by the need for spectacle and the event.  However, can the precious object and some form of exclusiveness experience spearhead art’s objective as a unique and sometimes intimate, activist medium? Activating and connecting to people at their inner-most activist senses? How do we reconnect our senses to the precious object? Through devotion, spirituality, activism or through our intrinsic senses for art ? What is the role of photography now, in generating our senses towards seeking and finding intrinsic meaning and purpose in contemporary art?

SinArts Gallery will be present at ParisAsiaNow, from 18-22 october, both A200,  representing the works of ao Shen Wei and Chen Hangfeng. Please get in touch for the possibilities of complimentary tickets.