Lock Lo Chi Kit, work at the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Conceptual Art Exhibition, May 2009.


The C&G Artpartment

by Anthony Yung
source: Artforum website artforum.com.cn

C&G Artpartment is an independent art space founded in 2007 by two Hong Kong artists, Clara Cheung and Gum Cheng Yee Man. In their inaugural show Back to Basic (June 2007), they said, “This exhibit attempts to invite artists to make artworks based on their own understanding on the Basic Law, to use art to investigate its symbolic meanings, and to emotionally or rationally reveal the complex relationships between the Basic Law and themselves ever since the handover…Basically, the Basic Law will continue to rule over Hong Kong and let it remain 'unchanged' for another forty years.” (The "Basic Law" is the document which outlines how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is governed under the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China, a sort of post-handover constitution.) In this statement, it seems that C&G does not aim to fight against (not directly, at least) law or politicians, but more to show the response of art to social and political changes. In Carl Schmitt’s definition, politics is antagonism. It is the relationship of friends and foes. Classic political artists like Hans Haacke perfectly demonstrated how to use antagonistic methods to reveal the dark side of governments, large enterprises, and art institutions. As for C&G, although they also have intellectual consciousness and deep concern for social and political issues, I would say that they are using a new style that is completely different from Haacke’s. read more...