Drawings | Sculptures | Installations
1) In developmental psychology, “playing” could mean negotiating the perception of reality through the act of creating. 2) Creativity is an urgent inner desire adaptively met by an external reality immediately available, or made immediate available.
CV Education: Master Degree in Architecture, The Harvard Graduate School of Design, 2018 Bachelor Degree in Architectural Studies, The University of Hong Kong, 2012 Solo Exhibition: “The Study of Mundane” / NY, Gallery GAIA / 2020 Group Shows: Portrait of Draft / Art on Paper / NY / 2021 Portrait of Draft / New Collectors / NY / 2021 A Fountain Head / Art MORA Gallery / NJ / 2020 Pr0file Art Exhibition / NY, Come Back Daily / 2019 Double Decker Salon Show / NY, Greenpoint Gallery / 2018 First Fall Show / NY, Greenpoint Gallery / 2018 SeptemberFirst / NY, One Art Space / 2018 “Un-Scene” / MA, Harvard Graduate School of Design / 2017
Selected Press -
<Young Architect 2022 - Multidisciplinary Designer Paul Mok Revels In the InBetween>/ 2022 Feature, Cultured Mag <Interview with Paul Mok> / 2020 Interview, Whitehot Magazine <PAUL MOK | Q&A | ARCHITECTURAL VISIONS> / 2020 Interview, FLAUNT Magazine <The Essence of Making> / 2020 Interview, Ante Magazine <The Study of Mundane> / 2020 Interview, Art Spiel <Artist and architect. Paul Mok’s take on Design Theory> / 2020 Interview, FAD Magazine <Paul Mok In Conversation With Verity Babbs> / 2020 Interview, Art Plugged <Architectural Designer and Artist Paul Mok: Bringing Life to Intention> / 2020 Review, Cultbytes
Drafts There are many ways to explain the origin of the strokes: On the one hand, as I have only recently realized, the technique itself might have emerged from a rather violent experience - an incident that took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. The technique emerged because simple lineworks had failed to depict the intensity of the unfortunate event. On the other hand, in my last year at the Graduate School of Design, I started using stroking as a singular technique for an experiment, in which I suppressed, technically, the learned-desire for structure, clarity and concept. That was also the time when I came across the works of paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald W Winnicott and the notion of “playing”. In the experiment, I made myself stroke randomly on a piece of paper with no preconceived idea throughout the process. The only thing I allowed myself to do was to react to the strokes on paper with additional strokes, until a clear image emerged, at which point the drawing would be considered finished. It was as if I could not resist to be drawing “something”, many of the later drawings had clearer structure, background-foreground relationship, even geometries. The latest drawings are 26”x40” each.
Portrait of Draft 01 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2020
Portrait of Draft 02 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2020
Portrait of Draft 05 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2021
Portrait of Draft 09 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2021
Portrait of Draft 11 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2021
Portrait of Draft 12 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2021
Portrait of Draft 15 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2021
Portrait of Draft 16 marker on paper 26”x40”, 2021
<A Table, Roughly Two And A Half By Seven> 2021 Installation Design for WORM NY
<Foot Print> Ink drawing of the footings of <A Table, Roughly Two And A Half By Seven>, 4’-2”x6’-5”
2020 Solo Exhibition Gallery GAIA, New York
The mundane speaks in a language you don’t yet fully understand. But it does speak. Especially in the bathroom. Between the curtain. The bathtub. The lotion bottles. The sink. The faucet. The mirror. The toilet. The tissue paper. And sometimes the stairs. Sometimes the living room, when light is off and everybody goes to bed. It is trying to tell you something. In a loud whisper. So how do you decode that? How do you study a language? How does one study a language? It shouldn’t be a foreign language. It’s a native one. But may be a slang. How does one study a language? How does a field linguist study an undocumented language? You need to collect data. A substantial database of “this means that”.
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1-2: photographs of the working and living space in a basement in Brooklyn, NY, nailed to the wall of the gallery
Drawings, writings and a piece of modified furniture
<What Does Your Memory Say>, <The Town>, <A Small Collection of Awkwardness>, <Gaze> Samples of 29 pieces of short writings printed on A5 papers and nailed onto the wall
Sculptural Installation: <You Killed A Kiwi, A Situation Comedy For Those With Wounded Egos> Made between 2019-2020
Sculptural Installation: <A Fountain Head> Site Specific Installation, made in 2020
Others
<FLIP> Installation Design for WORM NY concrete, pipes, clay, switch, light fixture. 2019
<Gross Grows> Installation Design for WORM NY Insulating foam, wood, screws,. 2019
<To Set A Table> Unbuilt installation proposal for Sculpture Center, 2019