Chalk Horse Art Center in Para/Site Art Space - The Horn of Plenty: Excess and Reversibility Leaflet

20 June - 2 August 09 二零零九年六月二十日至八月二日 Opening 開幕酒會 19 June (7pm) 六月十九日

Para/Site Art Space Para /Site 藝術空間

Chalk Horse Art Center in Para /Site Art Space Chalk Horse Art Center 在 Para /Site 藝術空間

聚寶盆 : 過剩 ．逆轉

The Horn of Plenty: excess and reversibility

Bababa International Marley Dawson Jasper Knight Julian Meagher Kate Mitchell Dougal Phillips Christian Thompson Oliver Watts

聚寶盆 : 過剩 ．逆轉

The Horn of Plenty: excess and reversibility

Participating artists 參與藝術家 :

Bababa International Marley Dawson Jasper Knight Julian Meagher Kate Mitchell Dougal Phillips Christian Thompson Oliver Watts

Curated by 策展人 :

Dougal Phillips

Opening 開幕酒會 :

19 June 09 (Fri 7pm) 二零零九年六月十九日 (星期五晚上七時正)

Para/Site Art Space is honored to present The Horn of Plenty: Excess and Reversibility, curated by Australian curator Dougal Phillips. The exhibition showcases a group of contemporary artists from Sydney, and is part of an exchange programme between Chalk Horse Art Center, a contemporary emerging art space based in Australia, and Para/Site Art Space in Hong Kong. This exhibition evaluates the meaning of contemporary life and economy through its metaphorical root in ancient mythology. The show includes video, performance, installation and wall drawings.

Since Antiquity the myth has existed of the Horn of Plenty; the cornu copiæ or cornucopia - the magical horn Zeus replaced for the goat Amalthea (who nurtured him), which endlessly overflowed with fruit, flowers and grain, and was forever full of whatever its owner wanted.

In 2009, we see a moment in which the bountiful and seemingly unending excess which has driven us for decades has flirted with the possibility of implosion under its own speculative gravity. Money, for a moment, has gone backwards, spiraling away as assets die and are black-balled or black-holed. Now and again we glimpse a kind of mythological zero point, where this excess is sucked back up into the Horn of Plenty. We see work disappearing: jobs evaporate, constructive labour disappears from sites all over, speculative gambits – architectural and game-based – empty out and are hushed. So what is the art (and the artwork) of disappearing capital? What has happened to work, and is there still room for play and for art?

In this exhibition project the artists jump into this reverse spin cycle: playing with, parodying, clowning and aping the hyperfast and hypertelic economies of labour and exchange. From installing a working nail service to acting as a human sundial, and from reinstating the logos of excess to reviving the icons of saving and spending from Antiquity, the objects and images in this exhibition look to collapsing the orders of work and play for an instant, so as to rethink labour, value and the reversibility of contemporary life.

For more details about the performance, please refer to further announcement on our website at www.para-site.org.hk.

Artists' talk 藝術家座談會 :

20 June 09 (Sat 2pm) 二零零九年六月二十日 (星期六下午二時正)

Oliver Watts: Song of the Pipa: Art away from the Capital Bababa International: Smooth Interpersonal Relationships & other Projects Oliver Watts:「 琵琶聲：遠離資本的藝術 」 Bababa International:「 Smooth Interpersonal Relationships 及 其他企劃 」

Para /Site 藝術空間將為大家呈獻「 聚寶盆 : 過剩 ．逆轉」。是次展覽由澳洲策展人 Dougal Phillips 策展 。展覽將展出一班悉尼當代藝術家的作 品 ，是澳洲新興的當代藝術館 Chalk Horse Art Center 跟 Para /Site 藝術空間交流計劃的一部份 。他們將於本空間舉辦一個以希臘神話作喻 」

來反思當代生活及經濟的展覽 ，當中作品麭括錄像 、表演 、裝置藝術以及壁畫 。

宙斯以裝滿花果及穀穗的聚寶盆接上哺育他的羊被折斷了的羊角 。傳說此聚寶盆盛載著其主人希望得到的任何東西 。 二零零九年 ，我們目睹於過去數十年看似過份充裕的經濟於自身投機性的重力下向內爆破 。資產被黑洞吞沒 ，金錢霎時倒退 。我們不時遇見非

真實的零點 ，而過剩的資產正被聚寶盆抽真空 。我們看見就業機會蒸發掉 、勞動人口消失 、投機性的交易倒空 。種種都令我們反思：消失資本的 藝術（及藝術品）是什麼？我們仍然有多餘的空間留給玩樂及藝術嗎？

Exhibition period 展覽日期 :

20 June - 2 August 09 二零零九年六月二十日至八月二日

藝術家們將透過是次展覽跳進此逆轉循還 ，玩味 、諷刺 、捉弄及模仿此過快的勞動及交易經濟模式 。藝術家們將提供修甲服務 、模仿日規 ，並回 復過剩的符號 、復甦古希臘儲存及花費的象徵 。他們以是次展覽的圖像及物件推倒工作與玩樂的秩序 ，反思工作 、價值與當代生活的可逆性 。 有關表演詳情 ，請留意本藝術空間稍後於網頁 www.para-site.org.hk 之通告 。

Venue 地點 :

Para/Site Art Space G/F, 4 Po Yan Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Para /Site 藝術空間 香港上環普仁街 4 號地下

Contact 聯絡 :

Dominique Chiu 趙小姐 / 2517-4620 / dominique@para-site.org.hk

Para/Site Art Space, Ground Floor, 4 Po Yan Street, Sheung Wan, HK / Open: Wednesday to Sunday 12-7pm. Closed on public holidays Para/Site 藝術空間 香港上環普仁街 4 號地下 / 開放時間：正午12 時至晚上7時 , 逢星期一、二及公眾假期休息 Tel +852 25174620 / Fax +852 25176850 / info@para-site.org.hk / http://www.para-site.org.hk Para/Site Art Space is generously supported by Hong Kong Arts Development Council and San Miguel