10 June – 7 October 2020
Project description
Open Up consists of live interviews with artists in their studios, not only getting to know their daily routine and how it’s changed during the pandemic, but more so to explore the deeper side of their personalities. Through a series of probing questions, we explore what drives them, inspires them, terrifies them; and ultimately what is most important to them. Living through this incredible period of history, we want to take stock and ask artists to open up through this interview series led by our Head of Arts, Chelsea Pettitt and Project Manager, Alessandra Cianetti.
Every other week from 10 June 2020 we will speak with a different artist live, or pre-recorded, on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube.
10 June 2020 is Shezad Dawood, the London-based artist who works across the disciplines of film, performance, painting, neon, sculpture and virtual reality to ask key questions of narrative, history and embodiment.
24 June 2020 is Charwei Tsai, the Taipei-based artist whose highly personal yet universal concerns spur her multi-media practice. Geographical, social, and spiritual motifs inform a body of work, which encourages viewer participation outside the confines of complacent contemplation.
8 July 2020 is an interview with Timur Si-Qin. Based in Berlin and New York, Si-Qin is of German and Mongolian-Chinese descent, and his interests include contemporary philosophy, the evolution of culture, and the dynamics of cognition, which take form in branded ecosystems and installations of 3D printed sculptures, light-boxes, and VR.
22 July 2020 is an interview with Leelee Chan. Born in Hong Kong in 1984 where she still lives and works, Chan received her MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Chan’s sculptures reflect her experience with the extreme urbanisation in Hong Kong and are almost always comprised of dumpster detritus household ephemera, and mundane objects from her daily life not generally considered memorable or worth preserving.
7 August 2020 is an interview with Sahej Rahal. Sahej Rahal is primarily a storyteller. His sculptures, performances, films, paintings, installations, and AI programs, narrate an absurd counter-mythology that interrogates the narratives that shape our present. This myth-world draws upon archaeological records, conspiracies, science-fiction, and folklore, orchestrating scenarios where indeterminate beings cohabit the porous boundaries of history, myth and memory.
2 September 2020 is an interview with Boedi Widjaja. Born in Solo City, Indonesia, in 1975, Boedi’s practice draws on his own transmigrant lived experiences, researching diaspora and homelands; Indo-Asia-Pacific geopolitics; and cross-cultural hybridities. Trained as an architect and with a background in graphic design, the techniques, materials and tools of drawing have become a defining element of Widjaja’s artistic practice. This is expressed through a broad range of media, from photography and new media to architectural installations and Live Art, with an emphasis on process and bodily engagement.
16 September 2020 is an interview with Harminder Judge. Born in 1982, Rotherham, UK, Judge lives and works in London and Berlin. His practice – which spans object-making, performance and installation – engages with many subjects but frequently explores portals, be they spiritual, political or personal.
7 October 2020 is an interview with Rhine Bernardino. Rhine Bernardino is an artist, independent curator and researcher with a background in filmmaking. She’s been doing extensive field research and mapping of art collectives, alternative spaces and community-based projects across the globe. She further extends her art practice through _inventory, a collaboration-based platform that showcases artists’ works while aiding the co-creation of programmes to engage communities in the urban and rural contexts.
