RUBEN PANG

RUBEN PANG @MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

RUBEN PANG @MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

Catalogo edito da / Catalogue published by

STELVA Artist in Residence Via Calgari, 2 - 6900 Lugano (CH)

CATALOGUE

EXHIBITION

Testi / Texts Gianvirgilio Cugini Francesco Sala Camilla Mira

Ruben Pang@Meccaniche della Meraviglia 12 MO.CA - Centro per le nuove culture Via Moretto, 78, Brescia Opening: 24th February 2018

Opere / Artworks Ruben Pang

Stampa / Print CPZ S.p.A. (cpzgroup.com)

Catalogue concept, layout and editing

www.shots.it info@shots.it

INDICE

Introduzione Introduction

pag. 07

di/by Gianvirgilio Cugini

Ruben Pang

pag. 13

di/by Francesco Sala

Intervista a Ruben Pang/Albano Morandi Interview with Ruben Pang/Albano Morandi

pag. 21

di/by Camilla Mira

Intervista a Ruben Pang/Renato Corsini Interview with Ruben Pang/Renato Corsini

pag. 26

di/by Camilla Mira

Intervista a Ruben Pang/Roberto Cammarata Interview with Ruben Pang/Roberto Cammarata

pag. 28

di/by Camilla Mira

Lettera di Ruben Pang Letter by Ruben Pang

pag. 30

Studio di “The Totalitarian Sun” Study of “The Totalitarian Sun”

pag. 32

The Totalitarian Sun

pag. 34

Meccaniche della Meraviglia 12 The Mechanics of Wonder Show

pag. 42

Ruben Pang

pag. 46

RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

STELVA ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2018: RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA di Gianvirgilio Cugini

Quando Albano Morandi ci ha chiesto di collaborare nuovamente alla manifestazione “Meccaniche della Meraviglia ed.12”, abbiamo aderito con grande piacere e rispetto alla precedente edizione, dove ci eravamo adoperati per far partecipare il Vietnamita La Huy con le sue installazioni scultoree realizzate in cera con le vesti di monaci buddisti, abbiamo affidato a Ruben Pang, artista di Singapore che aveva partecipato alla prima edizione del nostro Artist in Residence, un tema libero da sviluppare appositamente per questa Mostra.

Ruben, fin dalla sua progettazione, ha inteso realizzare un’opera che affrontasse le domande toccanti dei nostri tempi: immigrazione, globalizzazione, “altro” e “prossimo”. Le domande del futuro: futurismo, immaginazione, fede, speranza, tecnologia come nostro unico salvatore?

Le previsioni del passato: autoritarismo, paura della libertà.

Riporto di seguito virgolettato parte della corrispondenza intrattenuta con Ruben nel momento in cui ha iniziato a riflettere sul progetto pittorico.

“Uso i testi e la filosofia psicoanalitica come punto di partenza per la mia narrativa visiva poiché credo fortemente nell’imbrigliare il subconscio come fonte creativa; è un’energia costantemente potente, e in questo senso sono in grado di creare liberamente, utilizzando le competenze a mia disposizione (pittura, disegno, scultura e sviluppo di installazioni) per essere un canale per la materializzazione dell’opera d’arte. È stata la forma più affidabile in cui condurre la mia

pratica, in particolare perché è organica e ci sono pochissime allusioni verso l’ego o il sé.”

Nella mia condotta personale, credo anche profondamente nella divinazione. E penso che la pittura sia anche una forma di divinazione.

Il lignaggio della divinazione che pratico è al centro della filosofia taoista, che è mettere da parte la coscienza, la razionalità e i calcoli, ma tenere la mente sola intenzionata e consapevole dell’intenzione.

Trovo che in tutti gli artisti che ho ammirato, il processo di creazione artistica inizi senza dubbio con un’intenzione autodiretta (al contrario di egoismo), che è spesso quella di nutrire se stessi. È questa assunzione di responsabilità che in seguito può essere interpretata e modellata in un messaggio.

Tuttavia, deve cominciare con la cognizione di un “sé”. Il “Sé” è racchiuso tra virgolette perché la mia esperienza personale e la mia fede (fede), è che l’ansia di un artista deriva da una parte della sua psiche che si muove più velocemente della coscienza. E così si fa musica, si dipinge e si disegna per fare domande e vedere se stessi.

Spesso viene posta la domanda: “Come fai a sapere quando un’opera d’arte è completa?” C’è una risposta chiara per me, che non è semplicemente “intuizione”. Si sente fisicamente prima, come sensazione di apertura nel petto, e l’intuizione arriva quando ironicamente, anche se la composizione o lo scenario sulla superficie dipinta è nuova, viene anche riconosciuta.

La mia intenzione di intraprendere questo progetto è di raggiungere alcuni obiettivi, che sono i seguenti: Il dipinto deve essere speculativo. In questo senso intendo che PAGE 8

dovrebbe essere un’aspirazione, perché il suo punto di partenza è stato preso dalle fondamenta che l’arte, la psicoanalisi e la filosofia hanno stabilito; se dovesse servire qualsiasi contributo al pubblico, il suo ago della bussola dovrebbe puntare verso il futuro o forse riflettono una prospettiva diversa del presente.

Nell’essere aspirazionale, la mia sfida personale è che l’opera d’arte non deve essere solo una critica cinica, ma nel processo di dipingerla, devo rispondere o illustrare le domande che sorgono. Queste possono includere i miei pregiudizi personali, i miei sentimenti di impotenza e ansia. E avere la capacità di capire che l’autoritarismo, il fascismo, l’estremismo non sono caratteristiche dei mostri, ma degli umani. È confortante demonizzare il nemico, o persino un male storico, come il nazismo. Ma il fatto è che le atrocità non sono state fatte da alieni o mostri, ma da uomini, vicini e famigliari.

Il motivo per cui trovo un trittico come formato appropriato è dovuto al fatto che divide la scena e la prospettiva in 3 dimensioni simultanee.

La composizione non rimane più una singola narrativa lineare. Ogni pannello può essere visto come uno spazio simile in 3 diversi punti di tempo o 3 spazi esistenti in un’unica volta. Dal punto di vista del processo, mi consente anche una grande flessibilità nello scegliere chi integrare e separare gli elementi, consentendo anche la coesistenza di figurazione, simbolismo e astrazione.

Trovo che l’opera di Ruben ci consenta di fare un’esperienza profonda, introducendoci alla filosofia orientale del Tao invitandoci ad indagare le nozioni di interiorità e spiritualità.

Un concetto chiave del taoismo è quello della trasformazione e del mutamento di tutte le cose. Esso si collega all’idea dell’opposizione e della complementarietà di Yin e Yang. Il saggio Taoista si sforza di mantenere un equilibrio dinamico tra il bene il male, consapevole del fatto che nessuno dei due puo’ essere ignorato, cancellato o rimosso. Il

pensiero cinese tende quindi a non sposare mai le posizioni estreme. La polarità dello Yin e dello Yang si ritrova ovunque.

Tutto il nostro ragionamento europeo si basa sulla legge di causa ed effetto, che opera come una successione. Qualcosa accade ora, perché qualcos’altro è accaduto allora. Ma gli asiatici non ragionano tanto secondo questa linea orizzontale, che va dal passato al futuro, attraverso il presente. Ragionano verticalmente, da ciò che è in un posto ora a ciò che è in un altro posto ora. In altre parole non si chiedono perché, o per quali cause passate, un certo ordine di cose avvenga ora; si chiedono: Qual è il significato delle cose che avvengono insieme in questo momento? - La parola Tao è la risposta a questa domanda.

L’arte deve illustrare le pluralità del nostro mondo attuale e fornire spunti di discussione. Lo scambio tra le persone amplia gli orizzonti, schiude nuove prospettive ed è spesso alla base dell’innovazione e del progresso.

Come Stelva siamo fieri di aver contribuito alla partecipazione di Ruben Pang alla Meccaniche della Meraviglia. Il nostro impegno per l’arte è una passione che condividiamo con i nostri clienti.

A testimonianza dello sforzo artistico realizzato da Ruben, nella presente pubblicazione abbiamo raccolto l’introduzione di Francesco Sala e le interviste che Camilla Mira ha realizzato con l’Artista e tra l’artista ed Albano Morandi e Renato Corsini, rispettivamente Direttore Artistico di Meccaniche della Meraviglia e Direttore Artistico del MA.C.OF., che ospita il trittico di Ruben nella sua sede presso il MO.CA Centro per le nuove culture di Brescia.

STELVA ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2018: RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

by Gianvirgilio Cugini In my personal conduct I also believe deeply in divination. And I think that painting is also a form of divination. The lineage of divination I practice is at the heart of the Taoist philosophy, which is to set aside consciousness, rationality and calculations, but to keep the mind alone intent and aware of intention.

When Albano Morandi asked us to collaborate again on the 12th edition of The Mechanics of Wonder Show, we joined it with great pleasure and compared to the previous edition, where we had managed to involve the Vietnamese La Huy with his sculptural installations made of wax with clothes of Buddhist monks, we entrusted Ruben Pang, an artist from Singapore who had participated in the first edition of our Artist in Residence, with a free theme to be developed specifically for this exhibition.

Since planning, Ruben has intended to create a work that would address the poignant questions of our times: immigration, globalization, the “other” and the “neighbour”. The questions of the future: futurism, imagination, faith, hope, technology as our only savior? The predictions of the past: authoritarianism, fear of freedom.

I reproduce here below quoted part of the correspondence with Ruben when he started to reflect on the pictorial project.

“I use psychoanalytic texts and philosophy as a point of departure for my visual narrative as I strongly believe in harnessing the subconscious as a creative source; it is a consistently potent energy, and in this sense I am able to create freely, using the skillsets at my disposal (painting, drawing, sculpture and development of installations) to be a channel for the materialization of the artwork.

It has been the most reliable form in which to conduct my practice, particularly because it is organic and there is very little allusions towards the ego or the self.”

I find that in all artists that I have admired, the art making process begins without doubt with a self-directed (as opposed to selfcentered) intention, which is often about nurturing oneself. It is this taking on of responsibility which later can be interpreted and molded into a message.

However it must begin with the cognition of a “self”. “Self” is enclosed in quotation marks because my personal experience and belief (faith), is that an artist’s anxiety comes from a part of his/ her psyche moving faster than the consciousness. And so ones make music, paint and draw in order to ask questions, and to see themselves.

A question is often asked: “How do you know when an artwork is complete?” There is a clear answer for me, which is not simply “intuition”. It is felt physically first, as an opening sensation in the chest, and the intuition comes when ironically, although the composition or scenario on the painted surface is new, it is also recognized.

My intention in embarking on this project is to fulfil a few goals, which are the following: The painting must be speculative. In this sense I mean that it should be aspirational, because its point of departure has been taken from the groundwork which art, psychoanalysis and philosophy has laid down; if it were to serve any contribution to the audience, its compass

needle should point towards the future or perhaps reflect a different perspective of the present.

In being aspirational, my personal challenge is that the artwork must not merely be a cynical critique, but in the process of painting it, I must either answer, or illustrate the questions which arise.

These may include my own personal prejudices, my own feelings of powerlessness and anxiety. And having the ability to understand that the authoritarianism, fascism, extremism are not characteristics of monsters, but of humans. It is comforting to demonize the enemy, or even a historical evil, such as Nazism. But the fact is that atrocities were made not by aliens or monsters but by humans, neighbors and family.

The reason why I find a Triptych to be an appropriate format is because of the fact that it splits the scene and perspective into 3 simultaneous dimensions. The composition no longer remains a single linear narrative. Each panel can be seen as a similar space in 3 different points of time, or 3 spaces existing within one time.

From the process point of view, it also allows me great flexibility in choosing who to integrate and in separating elements, also allowing figuration, symbolism and abstraction to coexist.

I find that the work of Ruben allows us to make a profound experience, introducing us to the oriental philosophy of the Tao, he invites us to investigate the notions of interiority and spirituality.

A key concept of Taoism is that of transformation and change of all things. It is linked to the idea of opposition and complementarity of Yin and Yang. The wise Taoist strives to maintain a dynamic balance between good and evil, aware of the fact that neither can be ignored, canceled nor removed. Chinese thought therefore tends to never marry extreme positions. The polarity of Yin and Yang is found everywhere.

All our European reasoning is based on the law of cause and effect, which operates as a succession. Something happens now, because

something else happened then. But Asians do not reason so much according to this horizontal line, which goes from the past to the future, through the present. They reason vertically, from what is in one place now to what is in another place now. In other words, they do not ask why, or for what causes, a certain order of things happens now; they ask themselves: What is the meaning of the things that happen together at this time? - The word Tao is the answer to this question.

Art shines a light o the diversity of our world today and sparks debate and discussion. Exchanges between people broaden horizons, open up new perspectives and are often what triggers innovation and progress.

As Stelva we are proud to have contributed to the participation of Ruben Pang in The Mechanics of Wonder Show. Our commitment to art is a passion that we share with our customers.

As a testimony of the artistic effort made by Ruben, in this publication we have collected the introduction of Francesco Sala and the interviews that Camilla Mira made with the Artist and between the artist and Albano Morandi and Renato Corsini, respectively Artistic Director of The Mechanics of Wonder Show and Artistic Director of MA.C.OF., which hosts the triptych of Ruben in its headquarters at the MO.CA Center for New Cultures in Brescia.

RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

STELVA ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2018: RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA di Francesco Sala

Hannah Arendt usa un’immagine benché umile molto calzante, efficace, per spiegare la capacità pervasiva del male, apparentemente invece incomprensibile. Scrive infatti che questo è come un fungo: qualcosa cioè che vive sulla superficie e non scende in profondità, non ha radici.

Da qui, allora, la sua banalità, intesa come disarmante semplicità, generosamente nutrita da quella pausa del pensiero critico che diventa sospensione della morale, tradimento della coscienza.

Pensare, insomma, significa andare a fondo, in un luogo così denso di contenuti da non concedere aria e spazio al male, condannato invece a ristagnare, a galleggiare come una macchia d’olio sul pelo dell’acqua. Ma, come tale, capace di inquinare la realtà.

Ruben Pang ha fatto propri i capisaldi concettuali di un altro grande filosofo del Novecento, ovvero Enrich Fromm, per molti aspetti così vicino ad Arendt. Perché lui pure si è speso nell’analisi puntuale dei meccanismi psicologici e sociali che portano al successo dei totalitarismi, esperienza della Storia che – in ogni tempo, anche i più vicini a noi – sperimenta in modo tanto drammatico il cortocircuito tra bene e male.

Il lavoro che Pang propone per Meccaniche della Meraviglia parte proprio da uno dai testi più significativi di Fromm, il suo “Fuga dalla Libertà” – edito anche con il titolo, forse più riuscito, di “Paura della Libertà”. Un saggio intenso, pubblicato nel 1941 e, quindi, in un periodo storico che lo ha reso di stringente e drammatica attualità. Una riflessione che – viene da dire: purtroppo – non sente il peso del tempo e offre spunti tutt’altro che obsoleti per una lettura della civiltà nella quale oggi viviamo.

Cosa ci spaventa dell’idea di libertà?

Per Fromm è forse la sua stessa natura, ovvero la condizione che ci mette nella necessità di prendere decisioni e, pertanto, correre rischi.

Essere liberi significa avere la stessa probabilità di essere nel giusto o nel torto, di agire correttamente o meno.

Ma nel giusto o nel torto rispetto a cosa?

Quali sono i parametri per stabilire cosa è bene e cosa no?

Bene per chi, poi?

Questo uno dei dilemmi laceranti dell’uomo moderno e contemporaneo, che ci appare allora – paradossalmente – come “troppo libero”, almeno se paragonato a quello dell’antichità. Una distinzione, quest’ultima, messa nero su bianco da Benjamin Costant, che solo quattro anni dopo la battaglia di Waterloo, in una Francia memore del trapasso dell’idea rivoluzionaria nella dittatura imperialista di Napoleone, definisce la distanza tra una libertà basata sulla partecipazione collettiva alla vita politica e un’altra invece di natura prettamente individualistica e privata.

Ecco, dunque, che, tornando a Fromm, “l’uomo moderno, liberato dalle costrizioni della società preindividualistica, che al tempo stesso gli dava sicurezza e lo limitava, non ha raggiunto la libertà nel senso positivo di realizzazione del proprio essere: cioè di espressione delle sue potenzialità intellettuali emotive e sensuali. Pur avendogli portato indipendenza e razionalità, la libertà lo ha reso isolato e, pertanto, ansioso e impotente”.

Il nostro partecipare a un gruppo, il nostro essere parte di una società, è insomma fonte di una incontrollabile angoscia, qualcosa di istintivo.

Potremmo quasi arrivare a dire animale. Diversi i meccanismi inconsci che esercitiamo per controllare questa forma di terrore: Wilfred Bion parla, tra gli altri, del concetto di dipendenza. Ovvero di come, più o meno coscientemente, deleghiamo alcune tra le nostre libertà individuali a soggetti altri, che possono essere sia reali (come lo Stato e quindi, tornando a Fromm, anche quello totalitario) sia intangibili. Come la Fede.

Con “The Totalitarism of the Sun” Ruben Pang compie un’azione importante, perché affronta un tema così caldo e violento come quello PAGE 14

della percezione e considerazione che la società di oggi ha della libertà. Lo fa considerando di fatto insuperate posizioni maturate negli anni in cui si sono espressi i grandi regimi totalitari del Novecento e, pertanto, dando del nostro presente una lettura forse più inquieta che propriamente inquietante, capace di trasmettere il senso di volatilità e incertezza che è proprio di questo particolare momento storico.

Tutto ruota attorno all’immagine del sole, caricata di un valore simbolico che accomuna ogni civiltà, per quanto lontana nel tempo e nelle tradizioni: l’astro è, da sempre, assimilato all’idea del divino, dell’eterno, al punto da essere spesso diretto oggetto di venerazione. È quindi il feticcio perfetto per incarnare quel delegato della libertà individuale che l’uomo moderno sembra da secoli cercare, e con il quale da sempre intrattiene un perverso rapporto di sudditanza, un doloroso regime di amore e odio, di dipendenza e successiva crisi di astinenza.

Pang considera il ruolo dell’artista come una posizione di grande responsabilità, per la sua capacità e volontà di offrire una lettura appassionata del presente. Da qui la sfida di tradurre in immagine una serie di teorie dalla profondità concettuale tanto carica di significato; una sfida percepita fin da subito come probante, minata dal rischio che il risultato apparisse didascalico oppure – al contrario – difficilmente leggibile. La parola chiave che ha quindi condotto la mano dell’artista è stata “energia”, intesa come forza propulsiva che ispira e guida alla creazione; ma anche come elemento che esemplifica il rapporto di forza, di azione e reazione, che è alla base dell’opera.

Se molteplici sono i referenti concettuali di “The Totalitarism of the Sun”, altrettanti sono quelli prettamente visuali.

Si parte, allora, dalla scelta del trittico, con la scena scomposta in tre diversi pannelli proprio per aumentarne l’impatto narrativo e accelerare l’impressione di movimento e vitalità dell’opera stessa, quasi si trattasse dei fotogrammi di un film. E non può essere un caso, allora, scoprire che, tra i registi che l’artista più apprezza, c’è Terrence Malick, di cui pare condividere il senso mistico di una natura quasi divinizzata, che tutto permea in un sublime e delicato mistero (basti pensare alle riprese cosmiche delle nebulose e delle galassie che irrompono in “The

Tree of Life”). Per quanto il riferimento più immediato resta quello a Francis Bacon, autore che Pang ha studiato con la stessa reverenza che questi ha avuto per grandi maestri dell’arte moderna, e a cui si riconosce il merito di aver accompagnato il formato del trittico nella contemporaneità.

La grande energia evocata da Pang prorompe in modo devastante nel pannello centrale, là dove sceglie di affrontare i propri timori e le proprie più intime riflessioni come individuo, convinto – crediamo a ragione – di dare così voce a un sentire generale, universale.

Fondamentale il periodo di leva (in Singapore, dove Pang è nato, è tuttora obbligatorio e dura ben 24 mesi), durante il quale l’artista ha potuto confrontarsi con il tragico aggiornarsi delle paure più ataviche: con il progressivo scetticismo nei confronti della possibilità di nuove guerre combattute secondo schemi tradizionali, con il coinvolgimento di eserciti contrapposti, e piuttosto l’affermarsi di un’idea che potremmo quasi definire di “conflitto liquido”, apparentemente impalpabile e invece irrefrenabile, che passa dall’attività degli hacker allo spauracchio atomico, per arrivare alla minaccia del terrorismo.

Proprio l’esorcismo di questi due ultimi fenomeni trova sintesi nel pannello centrale del trittico, maturato come un’altra opera recente dello stesso Pang (“No vacancy”) grazie alla fascinazione per “La caduta dei dannati nell’Inferno” di Rubens. Il caos disperato dei corpi che precipitano nelle fiamme eterne viene letto dall’artista di oggi come una “nuvola di carne”, con effetti cromatici e drammatici che possono tranquillamente riportarci all’immagine di un’esplosione nucleare, e quindi a un nuovo aggiornamento del concetto di apocalisse.

Un’apocalisse alla quale forse non sapremo sottrarci, vedendo sprofondare la nostra civiltà in un abisso che però non sembra essere senza ritorno. A prescindere da tutto il disastro che saremo capaci di architettare, costruendo con le nostre mani la nostra dannazione, il Sole continuerà a danzare magnifico e armonioso, illuminando un nuovo giorno. Che ci spetterà di riconoscere e onorare.

Francesco Sala , 30 ottobre 2017

RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

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STELVA ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2018: RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

by Francesco Sala

Hannah Arendt uses a humble yet fitting image which is effective in explaining the pervasive capacity of evil, which would otherwise appear incomprehensible. She writes that it is like a mushroom: something that lives on the surface and does not drop in depth, it has no roots. From this derives its triviality, seen as disarming simplicity, generously nurtured by a pause in critical thinking that becomes suspension of morality, a betrayal of conscience. Thinking, in short, means going deep, to a place so dense in content that it does not grant air and space to evil, and is sentenced instead to stagnation, to floating like a puddle of oil on the surface of water. But, as such, able to contaminate reality.

Ruben Pang has made his own the conceptual cornerstones of another great philosopher of the Twentieth Century, namely Erich Fromm, in many aspects so close to Arendt. Because he too spent himself in the careful analysis of the psychological and social mechanisms that lead to the success of totalitarianism, a historical experience that - in all periods, even those closest to us - experiments so dramatically the short circuit between good and evil.

The work that Pang proposes for “Meccaniche della Meraviglia” starts exactly from one of Fromm’s most important texts, “Escape from Freedom” - also published with the perhaps more fitting title “The Fear of Freedom”. An intense essay, published in 1941, therefore in a historical period that made it cogent in dramatic events. A reflection that - one might say: - unfortunately - does not feel the weight of time and offers far from obsolete ideas for an analysis of the civilisation in which we live today.

What really frightens us in the idea of freedom?

According to Fromm it is perhaps its very nature, in other words the condition that puts us in the need of making decisions and therefore, of taking risks. Being free means having an equal probability of being right or wrong, of acting correctly or not. But right or wrong with respect to what? What are the parameters needed to determine what is good and what is not? Good for whom? This is one of the dilemmas of modern man, who appears to us as being - paradoxically - “too free”, at least if compared to men of ancient times. A distinction which has been put in writing by Benjamin Costant, only four years after the battle of Waterloo, in a France which was mindful of the demise of the revolutionary idea in the imperialist dictatorship of Napoleon, he defined the distance between a freedom based on collective participation in political life and another, instead, of a purely individualistic and private nature. Here, therefore, returning to Fromm, “the modern man, freed from the constraints of pre-individualistic society , which at the same time gave him security and limited him, has not reached the freedom in the positive sense of fulfillment of his being: i.e. expression of his intellectual, emotional and sensual potential. Although it has brought him independence and rationality, freedom has made him isolated and therefore anxious and powerless”.

Our participation in groups, our being part of a society is therefore a source of uncontrollable anxiety, something instinctive. We could almost say animal-like. Various unconscious mechanisms are employed to keep this form of terror in check: Wilfred Bion speaks, among others, about

PAGE 18

the concept of dependence. Namely of how, more or less consciously, we delegate some of our individual freedoms to others, who can be both real (such as the State and so returning to Fromm, also a totalitarian one) or intangible. Such as Faith.

With “The Totalitarism of the Sun” Ruben Pang performs an important action, because it deals with a theme so hot and violent as that of perception and the consideration that society today has of freedom.

He does it by considering unsurpassed positions gained over the years in which the great totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century have expressed themselves and therefore giving our present a reading which is perhaps more restless than actually disturbing, capable of conveying the sense of volatility and uncertainty that belongs to this particular historical moment.

Everything revolves around the image of the sun, loaded with a symbolic value that unites every civilisation, however far in time and in its traditions: stars have always been considered related to the idea of the divine, of eternity to the point of being often a direct object of veneration. It is therefore the perfect fetish in order to embody that delegation of individual freedom that modern man seems to have been searching for centuries, and with which he always maintains a perverse relationship of subjection, a painful regime of love and hate, dependency and successive crises of abstinence.

Pang considers the role of the artist as a position of great responsibility for his ability and willingness to offer a passionate reading of the present. From here comes the challenge to translate into images a series of theories of a conceptual depth so full of significance; a challenge perceived immediately as probative, undermined by the risk that the result may appear to be overly didactic or - on the contrary - hardly legible. The key word that has then led the hand of the artist is “energy”, understood as a driving force that inspires and guides creation; but also

as an element that exemplifies the relationship of force, of action and reaction, which is at the base of the work.

If there are many conceptual referents to “The Totalitarianism of the Sun”, just as many are those which are purely visual. One must then begin from the choice of the triptych, with the scene broken up into three different panels to increase the narrative impact and accelerate the impression of movement and vitality of the work itself, as though they were frames from a film. And it may not be coincidental then to discover that, among the directors who the artist most appreciates, there is Terrence Malick, with whom he seems to share the mystical sense of an almost deified nature, which permeates everything in a sublime and delicate mystery (think about the filming of cosmic nebulae and galaxies that appear in “The Tree of Life”). But the more immediate reference remains that to Francis Bacon, an author that Pang has studied with the same reverence that he had for the great masters of modern art, and to whom is recognised the merit of having accompanied the format of the triptych in contemporary times.

The great energy evoked by Pang bursts devastatingly in the central panel, where he chooses to address his own concerns and most intimate thoughts as an individual, as he is convinced - we believe with good reason - to give voice to a general, universal feeling. The crucial period in the military (in Singapore, where Pang is born, it is still required and lasts 24 months), during which the artist was able to deal with the tragic unfolding of the most atavistic fears: with the progressive scepticism towards the possibility of new wars fought according to traditional schemes, with the involvement of opposing armies, and the emergence of an idea that we could almost define as “liquid conflict”, apparently

impalpable and yet irrepressible, that goes from the activity of hackers to the atomic threat, arriving to the threat of terrorism. The exorcism of the last two phenomena finds its synthesis in the central panel of the triptych, which matured like another recent work by Pang (“No vacancy”) thanks to a fascination for “The hell fall of the damned” by Rubens. The desperate chaos of bodies which precipitate into the eternal flame is read by the artist today as a “cloud of flesh”, with chromatic and dramatic effects that easily remind us of the image of a nuclear explosion, and so to a renewed concept of apocalypse.

An apocalypse from which perhaps we would not know how to shirk, watching our civilisation sink into an abyss which however does not seem to be without return. Quite apart from the disaster that we would be able to architect, building our damnation with our own hands , the Sun will continue to dance, magnificent and harmonious, illuminating a new day. That we will be called to recognise and honour.

Francesco Sala , 30 october 2017

RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

INTERVIEW WITH RUBEN PANG / ALBANO MORANDI

by Camilla Mira

C: Good afternoon and welcome to MoCa Centre in Brescia, Italy.

Today we’re interviewing 27-year-old Singapore artist Ruben Pang to find out more about his artistic practice and stint as one of the participants in the Mechanics of Wonder show, which is coming up in Brescia in February 2018. Hello Ruben!

And besides Ruben Pang, today I’m here with another most welcome guests: Albano Morandi, hello Albano! Albano Morandi is a conceptual artist and “the brains” behind the Mechanics of Wonder show, which has now reached its 12th edition.

Ruben, we would like to find out something more about how you got involved in the Mechanics of Wonder Show, so can you tell us a little bit about it?

R: Sure. So, I got involved with the Mechanics of Wonder through Stelva Artists in Residence and my first time in Italy was in 2015 to do an Artist in Residence and I got to see the Renaissance Art and the Mannerist Art in the flesh. GianVirgilio, who was my host with Stelva Artist in Residence would introduce me to different people and see what I’m most receptive with and one of them was Franco Piavoli two years ago and this year earlier he’s introduced me to this project with Albano. It really struck me, I think, the theme of the Mechanics of Wonder, because it’s trying to figure out the physics of something that’s so intangible and I think that’s the great challenge, it’s certainly interested me and I’m glad we have this affinity.

C: And can you tell us something about the triptych that you have made for the Show?

that’s something an artist I admire greatly, Francis Bacon, he always talked about, preserving the vitality of each stroke and for me, I think my paintings start off very dread...

R: Right. I think the first thing I’d like to talk about with regard to the triptych was that it made me confront something that I was selfconscious about and that’s the idea that when I create a painting there is the need to be impressive so there’s this ego involved and I’ve always regarded that with a degree of ambivalence. There’s this ego and also the positive aspect of creating something impressive for lack of better words, which is an internal empowerment and so I was looking for a sort of energetics, an idea of being ridiculously pure as if the painting was really being projected out of your psyche that’s something I try to put into the painting process.

The work itself I think, it’s very much about the physicality of painting and I think that the narrative is a physical narrative going out and in because I paint and I send things down and it’s a negotiation with the ambivalences, with the tensions that come with any creative work. I think the point is that I try to make my process clear in some ways, but also obscure in other ways, so it is a game about dualities, it is a game about tensions.

C: Okay. And are you pleased with your work, with what you have made for the Show?

R: Jeah. I think it’s a strange thing: a month ago I was unhappy with it, okay and I managed to revise the final surface tension and it’s mostly a varnish thing so now I’m especially happy, small wins!

C: On a more general level, could you give us some insight into your creative process?

R: Yeah. I paint on aluminum. I think that’s something I take for granted and I forget about. I paint on aluminum and I think for the first two or three layers everything looks like a stain and so I think the game that I play with myself is that there’s a late return on investment so unlike canvas where if you paint early on, the nuances start to be captured and then you want to preserve the vitality of the work PAGE 22

C: What do you mean by “dread”?

R: Everything looks like a stain, you know, it doesn’t feel artistic even to me, it feels like I’m dealing with an industrial product and it feels like it’s a very “faith driven” process, that you’re going to build up several layers without overloading the material to the point where it falls off the metal. So you have to paint thin and yet you’re trying to create depth, so there’s always this in the material sense, there is this tension, this thing you want that’s not going to happen unless you believe in it and that’s something that I think now I have the technical ability to capitalize on that but when I began it was just a hunch that I thought it was possible, yeah...

C: Are there any circumstances that allow you to develop brighter ideas, you know, or maybe are more conducive to inspiration?

R: Yeah, absolutely. I think going into the studio I have a set of rules it’s probably a little bit superstitious so I tell myself you don’t yawn in the studio, you don’t complain ever, you don’t sigh in the studio so the studio is a place where if I go in there, I know even if things go well yeah that I’ve made good memories there. In that sense I hope I could create something where it’s like a fountain of ectoplasmic energy in the studio as if I left that energy there every time I go in there I just pick something up even if I don’t feel like working in a particular way, something will happen so that’s the attitude that I try to keep in the studio. And then the attitude that I have towards art in general, especially art history, would be that instead of this, I think from an egoistic point, instead of thinking like how do I set myself a part or how do I find something original I think of myself always as a student or almost everything that I do almost as if they were fan art of musicians or fan art of these heroes in history so the way I take it is like you know these gifts because these artists give of themselves what is alive in them. These gifts

that they’ve made they give us what they’re obsessed with, they give us what they sacrificed for. And some of them are unfinished stories, some of them are waiting to be built upon even further so that’s my approach towards the development of my practice. I think there’s a lot of imitation when I first began and it’s not up to me to say whether I’ve transcended that but I hope that that would be the case.

C: That’s very interesting. And as an artist, do you feel your work has a responsibility towards the wider context where you work and live and the world in general ?

R: An artist told me that the fact that you choose to devote your life or a significant amount of your time to a physical act like painting or to be a writer that’s a moral act in and of itself and that’s something I found comforting and of course I was willing to, you know, to get on with that program. The other thing that I think is important is that, as an artist, I should never try to posture myself as more perfect than what I am and so that’s something I try and put in the work. I think I have to be responsible in the sense that what are my vulnerabilities, what are my weaknesses, these things I have to consider and not conceal...

C: So, how has travelling and doing residencies abroad impacted you as an artist?

R: It’s made me, you know, confront my assumptions, you know, break stereotypes...

R: Well, I’ve always been quite escapist, I’ve always taken the painting as a means to “avoid” this reality. The travelling made me more comfortable with being uncomfortable, comfortable with being the other, more comfortable with being answered by and I think in that sense there’s a breaking down of any glass ceilings or glass walls between people. I try my best to learn the languages or learn the customs. I don’t know if integrate’s the word because I think it implies that we are already separate which we are not but I try to connect, I try a bit harder to connect but I’ve always been shy. It’s made me a bit less shy.

C: Okay, so Ruben you must know that the Mechanics of Wonder Show is really Albano’s own baby, he conceived it and has been running it since its very beginning in 2003, am I right? I know he has some reflections on your work that he would like to share with us and possibly hear your take on it so now we’re going to hear Albano first in Italian and then I will try to summarize his reflections to you in English.

A: Thank you. Recently I’ve been reading some of your reflections and I’ve made some reflections myself about the creative process. So my first question is whether you agree that Art cannot be born but of Art because basically the creative process stems from the social context and it’s the cultural humus where you’ve been brought up that really shapes your projects?

R: Mostly Italy, I love coming back to Italy, I do. Israel, Australia, Seattle, a bit of the US, I’m trying to remember...it’s more than I ever dreamed of actually.

R: It’s a Yes and No question, isn’t it? For me, I would say when I started from a very arrogant place as a sixteen-year-old, I thought that there weren’t many good paintings in the world and I think, you know, as you keep doing these paintings with every year you find out how much you’re horrible at it so in a sense when I started I would look at the, at 16 years old please pardon me, I would look at these paintings of the books of old masters right or modern masters and I thought I could fix that.

C: And how has it impacted your work, what have you learnt from this experience?

A: Clearly the more you learn and the more you realize how little you know, that’s the problem. So, freedom has brought about

C: Where exactly have you been?

independence but it has also turned us into “islands”, we are therefore more fragile and at risk of new dependencies (i.e. the market!). These new forms of dependencies which, from a certain standpoint, the artist has reached, might be related to market issues. I mean, the artist is more free in his mind, with less “political” problems globally, but this freedom of thought has been curbed by the market itself.

What’s your view on this?

R: The Sunday painter is the most free, I like to think that the hobby painter is like that.

C: Is that how you see yourself?

R: I think right now, the fact that it’s so surreal that people buy my paintings but for me when I paint something I do want to paint something, a part of it is something that I want to covet, that is a fetish for its smooth surface and it’s a fetish for its punchy colours and this might change but I do acknowledge that Art in the form that I express is an object and there is a part of me that wants this object to be coveted...

C: What do you mean coveted?

R: Wanted or eaten...

A: Yes, the point is that when an artist wants to convey a “pathos” or an idea, very often a commission helps you to express this idea. I’m absolutely aware of the fact that when I was commissioned a specific art work, in the end I created something I probably would never have made on my own but this helped me to develop my creative practise.

Therefore, when a Commission is taken seriously, it is just as well a very significant form of artistic development for an artist.

C: Do you agree with that, to a certain extent?

R: Yeah, absolutely, one hundred percent.

PAGE 24

A: So, Surrealism is surely an element of the western culture which has influenced your creative thinking, with literary resonances, both of a philosophical and psychoanalytical character, which bring us back to the works of André Masson or Roberto Mata. Can you tell us which Surrealist artists have you looked at with more interest, which have particularly inspired you?

R: Personally, I try to avoid categorizations. Except when I do see it as a lineage, when someone declares himself a painter, then that’s a strong category. I think if Frances Beacon was accepted to be part of the Surrealists we would be calling him a Surrealist. And so I would say, for me not just the Surrealists but I would look at the work of Roberto Mata and for me personally it greatly recalls the Abstract Expressionists, it greatly recalls also De Kooning. And, you know, these guys, like the line between these people and hyper figuration, for me it’s a very blurred line...

A: Well, no doubt all post war Art such as Action painting and Informal art in Europe stems from the Surrealist lymph so your own way of looking at Surrealism is “filtered” by these trends. I think that currently Surrealism as an artistic trend - which has always been criticised, particularly during the ‘70s and ‘80s - is witnessing a rebirth in the works of many young and important artists who have no idea that Surrealism could be part of their background. There has been a comeback and a revamping in recent years...

R: Yeah, in school and in museums, for a while it’s been considered a stuff that teenagers like. Not sophisticated. For me it’s important not to be bothered whether it’s, you know, trendy or not, but it’s healthy for me. The part that’s most healthy, is for example when you look at Dali’s work: you have great sophistication in his stream of consciousness, it’s really a stream of consciousness because he’s not afraid to put his sexual tensions in there, he’s not afraid to put scatology in there. It’s real. It’s not a “curated” sense of stream of consciousness, it’s visceral.

A: Of course, you can see that. Let me just add that when he says that he regards himself as a painter, it’s one of the most amazing things an artist could say, especially when we think that one of the most significant artists in Europe and Italy, even though he had Greek origins, such as the recently departed Jannis Kounellis, had never or rarely touched a single canvas in his life but still regarded himself as a painter.

A: I was particularly struck by your definition of painting as “a form of divination”. Again, this falls from a certain point of view into the Surreal-Dadaist concept of “giving shape to chance” - something I’m particularly keen on myself - and inside this line of reasoning how can we not mention John Cage’s works on I-Ching Chance Operations. I don’t know whether you use I-Ching in your works but I’d be interested to know how you incorporate divination into your paintings and if this goes into your work at all.

when you want to have power over the viewer. And for me, I had to confront this within myself in terms of politics: what are my internal politics? As a young artist or as a child I personally had a lot of problems with not being taken seriously, of being dismissed, of feeling as if I’d been on the bullied end of the stick and so I’m in the perfect position to be a very fascist, right wing kind of painter, you know, my personal politics seems to be ripe for being power hungry. I feel like as human beings, you know, we cannot demonize the Right, these are people who could be your neighbours, they could be anybody. It’s important to recognize that it’s inherent in everybody, out of ignorance, out of lack of culture. But also to recognize within myself that should I have been ignorant or should I have made wrong decisions I could be at the bullying end of the stick. And so, when I make a painting like this, I have to take the parts of compassion and the parts of hatred and I want to put them next to each other. I think that’s the responsibility because this way I’m not propaganda.

R: I do consult the I-Ching...

A: Thank you.

C: So you see, Albano you’ve unravelled something of Ruben’s.

A: I really fancy that, I really do. And I believe that your use of forms which apparently have nothing to do with our practice is one of the elements that can create Wonder in our work.

R: Thank you very much!

A: You’re welcome! And finally, a reflexion on your use of polyptyc formats, a practice which has run through my work too: looking at the triptych you’ve created for the Mechanics of Wonder show, I cannot help recalling Grünewald’s Crucifixion or Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, two masterpieces which have always been a great inspiration for my art making. I wonder if you can share these reflections...

R: Absolutely, yes. When we consider a triptych, I thought that it was the most power hungry format, initially. It’s a format that you use

C: Well, thank you very much Ruben. So, I have one last trivial questions now, what are your plans for the future? Do you have any exhibitions coming up? I know you’re very busy...

R: I’ll be part of a group show in Prime Noctis Gallery, this Friday in Lugano Switzerland. I’ll be touring some works in Brisbane, in late October and in November I’ll launch a solo show in Singapore.

C: Ok, excellent! Well, thank you very much for being with us Ruben, thank you very much Albano, it’s been a pleasure and you’ve been fantastic! Thank you!

INTERVIEW WITH RUBEN PANG / RENATO CORSINI

by Camilla Mira

C: Good afternoon and welcome to MoCa Centre in Brescia, Italy. Today we’re interviewing Singapore artist Ruben Pang, hello Ruben!

C: Ruben is one of the participants in the Mechanics of Wonder show, which is coming up in Brescia in February 2018. But we also have a welcome guest: Renato Corsini, hello Renato! Renato is a photographer and also the director of Macof, the Italian Centre of Photography which is based at Moca Centre, which is where we are right now.

Renato, could you tell us something about Macof, what exactly is it?

Re: Macof stands for Palazzo Martinengo Colleoni, which is the venue that is hosting us and where we are right now.

Macof is the Museum of Italian Photography. In Italy, there are many museums and centres of photography, we purposely decided to pinpoint and underline the word “Italian” in the sense that we deal mostly with photography and photographers from Italy. And this not just for a trivially nationalistic view but simply because photography is such a broad discipline that in order to be as comprehensive as possible we decided to identify and limit our scope to Italian photography.

We strongly believe that Italian photography has full right and merit to play a leading role both at world and European level. At Macof, we’ve set up a permanent

R: It’s a serious hobby. exhibition on the historical protagonists from late XX century photography and thanks to the endorsements of some of our leading artists, we’ve reached our goal which is to educate and tell the story of what Italian photography has represented since the second half of the last century.

C: I see, thank you very much. And how does Macof’s planning fit into Moca’s complex calendar of activities and events, because it’s two things in the same centre, basically...

Re: Moca is a large hub of different activities which range from photography to drama and innovation and inside this hub we share the privilege and responsibility of setting up shows specifically targeted on photography. Some of them are permanent but in other areas of the venue we have the opportunity of setting up about three temporary shows a year, some of which deal with a specific theme and some dedicated to a single artist.

C: Ruben, have you ever used photography in your art pieces? Are you in any way familiar with this kind of Art? R: Actually when I was at Art school, the one aspect of photography that really, that I had fun with was the long exposure of light drawings and I thought, you know, it’s very much like painting...

Re: It’s painting with light.

R: And also photography is a medium itself. I think the more you use it, the more you know it’s not reality.

C: It’s true. He is a very versatile artist and in fact besides being a painter, a sculpture, he’s also a musician, I read somewhere that you’re a musician, is that right? Do you still play music and what kind of music do you play?

Re: After all what really matters is to have ideas, to have a project. The medium you use to carry out your project is another story. It can be a photograph, it can be an installation, it can be any other medium as long as it allows you to fulfill your project. Obviously, each medium has its own language...

C. And what exactly do you mean by “music is a serious hobby”?

R: I think I don’t want to be erroneous in the sense that I declare myself an installation artist, I declare myself a photographer because when you say you are an artist of a specific medium I think that the kind of conviction that you go into is important because you’re paying respect to the people who do it with absolute conviction so if I double it’s something....

C: So you’re not a musician?

R: It’s serious and I love it.

C: And what instruments do you play?

R: I play the guitar and I’ve started learning to play the bass and started learning the drums and I did a bit of music production.

Re: He’s a complete artist.

C: Thank you very much. Renato, thank you for being with us and thank you Ruben.

INTERVIEW WITH RUBEN PANG / ROBERTO CAMMARATA

by Camilla Mira

C: Good afternoon everyone and welcome to MoCa Centre in Brescia, Italy.

Today we’re interviewing Singapore artist Ruben Pang, hello Ruben! Ruben is one of the participants in the Mechanics of Wonder show, which is coming up in Brescia in February 2018. But we are also here with another most welcome guest: Mr Roberto Cammarata, hello Roberto! Roberto is the President of Fondazione ASM, basically the foundation that runs MoCa, where we are right now. Could you please tell us exactly what MoCa is and when did this amazing project all start?

Ro: Yes, well first of all thank you very much for this opportunity.

MoCa was a project regarded as top priority by the City Administration of Brescia which gathered together a few private and public parties in order to create a hub-like venue, meant as a crossover experiment on Art, Culture and Business. MoCa formally opened by this name exactly a year ago and it actually took over the city court house, which had previously been hosted inside these premises. It became a culture and exhibition area in 2015, during Milan’s International Expo Show. We nicknamed it Brescia’s “Off Milan”, as it displayed some of the “excellencies” from our city, province and territory as a way to step into the logic of internationalization.

When Expo was over, we decided to convert this exhibition area - formally known as BREND Brescia Nuove Direzioni (New Directions) - into a location that could host artistic PAGE 28

productions and residencies of some of the most significant cultural expressions in our city which eventually found their home here.

For example, today we can boast a small repertory theatre hosting avant-garde plays, the Museum of Italian photography Macof and, here and there, a few town hall offices which deal with artistic production and events such as urban shows, as well as areas more dedicated to socializing and getting together.

C: I know MoCa also serves as a kind of incubator...

Ro: Yes, in fact the four Craft Associations in Brescia are partners of MoCa and thanks to a special funding from Brescia Province and the Region of Lombardy, they gave life to a project called “Makers Hub” which looks at new forms of craft design from 2.0 to 4.0, in other words how craftsmanship meets innovation. We actually dedicated a whole wing of this historic building to thirteen groups of young artisans who set up their ateliers and laboratories to produce their handicrafts. Again, always trying to blend new entrepreneurship with culture and artistic and exhibition areas in a logic of innovation.

C: Thank you very much. Now Ruben. talking about young people, you’re 27, you’re very young but you seem to be so much absorbed and - you know - involved in what you’re doing. When do you ever relax and what do you do to chill out, do you go to movies, what do you do, do you go to discos?

R: Yeah, I enjoy movies and music, unfortunately the season about these is long but I end up...

C: But you don’t have much time, do you?

R: I think I feel I don’t work as much as other people, that motivates me to work long hours in the studio..

C: How many hours do you work?

R: Well not that much because even if you’re in the studio for, let’s say, ten hours, you’re just using your eyes for seven so I feel like I’m not doing much, not much actual painting, it’s always looking... so, I mean, I know it is necessary for my process but at the end of the day I feel a lot of people work harder than I do.

C: Well, that’s a very interesting point of view. Ok, thank you very much Ruben and thank you Roberto.

Ro: Ciao!

PAGE 30

Dearest Albano,

Carissimo Albano,

Your reflections have made me consider more carefully my words on the divination, on the inner mirror. How can I say that this is the stream of consciousness if it comes out only pretty? Where is the defilement?

Where are the parts of me that I hide from the public? From myself?

Surely, I cannot resist the urge to do as an artist must do, to shape the physicality and the aesthetics of my composition in the formal sense.

But I feel it is my responsibility to pull some of this skin back, some of the gestures of finesse, to present, at least in some small suggestions: that I am human, that I am imperfect, that I failed to “transcend”, that I still negotiate ambivalence, tensions, self-consciousness, anxiety, and finally that my work is not done. Only in this way have I been truly honest.

Thank you for this opportunity, for this project: Meccaniche della Meraviglia, which aspires to the most challenging attempts for an artist: to understand the physics of themselves. Your faith in my work, and this chance you have offered has pushed me to consider a deeper dimension in my practice.

Le tue riflessioni mi hanno portato a considerare con maggiore attenzione le mie parole sulla divinazione, sullo specchio interiore.

Come posso io dire che questo è il flusso dei miei pensieri se esce fuori appena decente? Dov’è la profanazione? Dove sono quelle parti di me che nascondo al pubblico? E a me stesso? Certamente, non posso resistere all’impulso di fare ciò che un’artista deve fare, plasmare la fisicità e l’estetica della mia composizione in senso formale. Ma sento la responsabilità di rimuovere parte della pelle, con gesti di delicatezza per affermare, almeno per dare piccoli suggerimenti, che io sono umano, che sono imperfetto, che non sono riuscito a “trascendere”, che sto ancora cercando di superare ambivalenza,tensioni, consapevolezza e ansia e che alla fine il mio lavoro non è terminato. Solo in questo modo, sono stato veramente onesto.

Grazie per questa opportunità, per questo progetto Meccaniche della Meraviglia, che aspira alle sfide più stimolanti per un artista: comprendere la fisica di sé stessi. La tua fiducia nel mio lavoro e l’opportunità che mi hai offerto mi hanno spinto a considerare una dimensione più profonda del mio operato.

With love, Ruben

Con affetto, Ruben

*side notes: The triptych has to be accommodative of its on counterpoints. It cannot be 3 pieces that reinforce the same idea. This is the only way it can bend around the path of becoming propaganda. I do not seek only for the center piece to be impressive as a spectacle. But its vibrancy is used as a power-jolt for me to awaken something within myself-to remind myself of my own potency before embarking on a difficult task. It is only with this that I found myself able to let the other panels breathe with negative space with confidence.

*note a margine Il trittico deve essere funzionante nei suoi tre contrappunti. Non possono essere tre pezzi che rinforzano la stessa idea. Questo è l’unico modo per aggirare l’ostacolo del diventare propaganda. Non ricerco solo nel pezzo centrale un risultato spettacolare e di effetto. Ma la sua vitalità per me funge da scossa per risvegliare qualcosa dentro di me, per ricordarmi della mia forza prima di imbarcarmi in un lavoro complicato. Solo così sono riuscito a lasciar respirare gli altri pannelli con lo spazio negativo, in maniera sicura

Triptych Format Study Example Proposed Size: 220 cm x 450 (150 each, 3 panels) PAGE 32

RUBEN PANG The Totalitarian Sun In his practice Ruben Pang plays with the movement and smoothness of the surface. The metal surface he chooses as medium is not approached with a classic preconceived visualization of the finished work, nor the colour coat is given with traditional tools: he does use paint brushes, but also his hands, without any mediation between colour and aluminium, his body, his emotions and a variety of diverse devices. He layers paint and alkyd on aluminium; in this way chance become an important part of creation. He embraces processes that accommodate spontaneity, accidents and conflict: for this reason he strongly believes in harnessing the subconscious as a creative fountain, a consistently potent energy.

As Ruben meaningfully explains: “I believe that the artist’s psyche is always ahead of the consciousness and that my most honest paintings aren’t afraid to show my vulnerabilities alongside my strengths. […] The need to lose self-created barriers between introversion and extroversion, self-consciousness and self-awareness, fast and slow thinking recently became the most poignant to me. I paint what I walk into within my life, and believe that no subject matter should be taboo if there is genuine fascination for it”.

In this triptych the artist employs a cloud of flesh format, whose most recognized examples in the history of art is Fall of the Damned by Peter Paul Rubens. In the central panel, Ruben Pang wants to address great fears vexing the human-being (as opposed to Rubens’ great apocalypse), and he needs to confront his personal distress as individual, as a representation of his own region, and as a citizen of the world. The supporting panels must address the supplements, the attenuations and the reaching out towards faith and trust, the need for moral connections and relationships in our society. The purpose of the piece is not to merely be a cynical critique, but in the process of painting it, he must answer or illustrate those questions which arise: these may include his personal prejudices and his own feelings of powerlessness and anxiety.

The resulting three-simultaneous-dimensions transforms the composition from a single linear narrative to a multi-layered time dimension.

Nei suoi lavori, Ruben Pang gioca con il movimento e con la levigatezza della superficie pittorica. La superficie da lui scelta come punto di partenza dell’opera, infatti, consente un approccio volutamente anti-classico, dove l’artista né interviene avendo ben chiara sin da principio la visualizzazione finale del soggetto dipinto, né utilizza strumenti tradizionali per stendere il colore: non solo il pennello, dunque, ma anche le mani a diretto contatto con il colore e l’alluminio, il suo corpo, le sue emozioni e tutta una serie di espedienti non convenzionali. La scelta di applicare strati di pittura alchidica su alluminio pone così il caso al centro del processo creativo, un processo non forzatamente scientifico ma che, anzi, sposa la spontaneità, l’imprevisto, il conflitto. Per questo motivo Ruben crede fortemente nello sfruttamento del subconscio come una preziosa miniera creativa, continua e potente fonte di energia. Come egli significativamente afferma “credo che la psiche dell’artista anticipi sempre la coscienza e che i miei dipinti più riusciti non si preoccupino di palesare le mie debolezze al fianco delle mie certezze.

L’esigenza di perdere barriere autoimposte tra estroversione e introversione, tra autoconsapevolezza e autocoscienza, tra pensiero lento e veloce è diventata, per me, la più rilevante delle questioni. Dipingo ciò che mi succede nella vita e penso che nessun soggetto debba essere tabù, a patto che si provi un’autentica attrazione per esso”.

Nell’opera in mostra, Ruben Pang si affida ad una struttura compositiva a vortice, il cui più illustre precedente nella storia dell’arte è rintracciabile ne La Caduta dei Dannati di Peter Paul Rubens. Nel pannello centrale, Pang rappresenta le grandi paure che affliggono l’uomo (in opposizione all’apocalisse dipinta da Rubens), e avverte l’esigenza di affrontare, con l’arma dell’arte, le sue angosce personali, sia come individuo che come cittadino nel mondo. I pannelli laterali attenuano ed esaltano il cuore del dipinto, ponendosi come supporti – anche morali – nella ricerca di quella fedeltà e fiducia fondamentali per stabilire connessioni e relazioni nel mondo.

L’obiettivo dell’opera è di non limitarsi ad essere una critica cinica, piuttosto una risposta complessa alle continue domande che sorgono di pari passo alla sua realizzazione: domande che possono includere condizionamenti personali e sentimenti di impotenza, ansia e frustrazione. Ne scaturisce un’azione articolata su tre dimensioni simultanee, dove la singola linea narrativa si dissolve in un racconto stratificato nel tempo e nello spazio.

RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

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Private collection

Cm 220 x 450 (triptych, each panel 220 x 150 cm)

The Totalitarian Sun, 2017 RUBEN PANG Oil, alkyd and synthetic varnish on aluminum composite panel

RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

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Private collection

Cm 220 x 450 (triptych, each panel 220 x 150 cm)

The Totalitarian Sun, 2017 RUBEN PANG Oil, alkyd and synthetic varnish on aluminum composite panel

RUBEN PANG@MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA

PAGE 38

Private collection

Cm 220 x 450 (triptych, each panel 220 x 150 cm)

The Totalitarian Sun, 2017 RUBEN PANG Oil, alkyd and synthetic varnish on aluminum composite panel

THE TOTALITARIAN SUN

MECCANICHE DELLA MERAVIGLIA 12TH - IN THE CITY

SABATO 24 FEBBRAIO 2018 fino al 25 Marzo Gabriele Picco Crocera di San Luca.

Laura Renna Palazzo Averoldi Ruben Pang, mostra in collaborazione con la Galleria Primae Noctis di Lugano Palazzo Martinengo Colleoni MO.CA

SABATO 3 MARZO 2018 CArME Centro per le Arti Multiculturali Etnosociali (in collaborazione con le città gemellate di Darmstad, Logroño e Troyes) Karwath+Todisko (Darmstadt) José Antonio Olarte (Logroño) Anna Madia (Troyes)

Giunte alla loro dodicesima edizione, le Meccaniche della Meraviglia rassegna di mostre d’arte contemporanea allestite in spazi architettonici di particolare pregio, quali castelli, palazzi, chiese e siti di archeologia industriale o siti archeologici – approdano, per il secondo anno consecutivo, a Brescia, in una significativa partnership tra l’Assessorato alla Cultura del Comune e MO.CA. Nate nel 2003, concepite e organizzate come un percorso itinerante, con lo scopo di far conoscere e valorizzare alcuni luoghi emblematici del territorio in cui la manifestazione si svolge, le Meccaniche della Meraviglia hanno già avuto modo di “abitare” il Vittoriale degli Italiani a Gardone Riviera o Villa Zanardelli a Toscolano Maderno, le strutture del Castello di Desenzano del Garda, la chiesa Romanica di Santa Lucia di Balbiana a Manerba del Garda, lo storico Palazzo Leonesio di Puegnago del Garda, il Grand Hotel di Gardone Riviera e, in particolar modo, le incantate architetture del Lazzaretto di Salò, aperte per la prima volta al pubblico.

Nel 2013 si è intervenuti con progetti Site Specific in alcuni siti archeologici del comprensorio Gardesano, come Le Grotte di Catullo a Sirmione, la villa romana di Toscolano Maderno e il parco archeologico di Manerba del Garda, inoltre sono stati coinvolti l’Hotel Laurin a Salò, la Fondazione Vittorio Leonesio a Puegnago, i giardini e la cappella dell’Isola del Garda nel comune di San Felice del Benaco e villa Mirabella a Gardone Riviera, sede della Comunità del Garda.

Negli anni precedenti dal Castello Quistini di Rovato alle Terme di Boario, dal Castello di Montichiari all’antica Filanda di Gambara, fino alla vecchia fabbrica di reti da pesca di Marone o l’ex Cotonificio De Angeli Frua di Roè Volciano. È ripensando alla figura di Joseph Beuys e alla sua concezione artistica, in particolare al concetto che sottolinea come la più grande opera d’arte sia la realizzazione della “scultura sociale”, che questo progetto si sviluppa. Per tornare ad avere una funzione sociale, l’artista deve trovare il modo di dedicarsi anche a quest’opera. Il progetto Meccaniche della meraviglia vuole inserirsi in questa forma di pensiero artistico.

Attraverso il meccanismo eterotopico della “duplice entrata”, ovvero, sottolineando la medesima importanza tra luogo che la ospita e opera che ingloba in se stessa lo spazio, si vuole garantire la cattura dello

spettatore nella maniera in cui il solo spazio o la sola opera non ne sono capaci. Lo spaesamento dello sguardo, il creare l’abitudine a cambiare il punto di vista. Uscire dallo stereotipo e vedere le cose nella loro essenza.

L’opera, che si presenta come una cosa sola con lo spazio reale che la contiene, obbliga chi la guarda a entrare in contatto fisico con la realtà e dunque con l’opera stessa. Questo permette di abolire quelle barriere di scetticismo che oltre un secolo di avanguardie hanno contribuito a costruire creando un sempre maggior distacco tra cultura artistica e società civile.

Intervenire in alcuni contesti della città significa continuare il processo di partecipazione che in 15 anni ha visto il territorio provinciale aprirsi al confronto passato/presente, ponendo l’Amministrazione Comunale cittadina quale nuovo punto di riferimento culturale per il territorio tutto.

Interessante notare, come tutte le sedi di questa edizione gravitino attorno al percorso che da piazza Moretto si sviluppa per tutta la via Moretto, una scelta fatta per affiancare un percorso legato al contemporaneo, all’apertura della Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo che, dopo oltre 10 anni di lavori, riapre le sua porte alla città.

Regia: Albano Morandi Comitato scientifico: Bruno Corà, Elena Di Raddo, Ilaria Bignotti, Julia Reichelt

THE MECHANICS OF WONDER SHOW 12TH EDITION - IN THE CITY

FROM SATURDAY 24TH FEBRUARY 2018 until Saturday 25th March 2018 Gabriele Picco Crocera di San Luca.

Laura Renna Palazzo Averoldi Ruben Pang, exhibition in collaboration with Primae Noctis Gallery of Lugano Palazzo Martinengo Colleoni MO.CA

SATURDAY 3RD MARCH 2018 CArME Centro per le Arti Multiculturali Etnosociali (in collaboration with the twin cities of Darmstad, Logroño y Troyes) Karwath+Todisko (Darmstadt) José Antonio Olarte (Logroño) Anna Madia (Troyes)

Having reached its twelfth edition, the Mechanics of Wonder exhibitions of contemporary art in architectural spaces of great value, such as castles, palaces, churches and industrial archaeological sites or archaeological sites - arrive, for the second year in a row, in Brescia, in a significant association between the Department of Culture of the Municipality and MO.CA. Born in 2003, elaborated and organized as an itinerant route, in order to make known and promote some emblematic places in the area where the event takes place, the Mechanics of Wonder have already had the opportunity to “live” the Vittoriale of the Italians in Gardone Riviera or Villa Zanardelli in Toscolano Maderno, the structures of the castle of Desenzano del Garda, the Romanesque church of Santa Lucia di Balbiana in Manerba del Garda, the historic Leonesio Palace in Puegnago del Garda, the Grand Hotel in Gardone Riviera and, in particular, the enchanted architectures of the Lazzareto in Saló, opened for the first time to the public.

In 2013 there were interventions with Site Specific projects in some archaeological sites of the Gardesano territory, such as The Caves of Catullo in Sirmione, the Roman Villa of Toscolano Maderno and the archaeological park of Manerba del Garda, also the Hotel Laurin in Saló, the Vittorio Leonesio Foundation in Pugnago, the gardens and chapel of the Isle of Garda in the municipality of San Felice del Benaco and Villa Mirabella to Gadone Riviera, home of the Community of Garda were involved.

In the previous years from the Quistini Castle in Rovato to the Baths of Boario, from the Castle of Montichiari to the old Filanda of Gambara, to the old fishing nets factory of Marone or the ex Cotton Mill Angeli Frua of Roè Volciano.

It is by rethinking to the figure of Joseph Beuys and his artistic conception, in particular to the concept that emphasizes how the greatest work of art is the realization of the “social sculpture” that this project develops. In order to have a social function again, the artist must find a way to dedicate himself to this work as well. The project Mechanics of Wonder aims to fit into this form of artistic thought.

Through the heterotopic mechanism of the “double entry “, that is, emphasizing the same importance between the place that houses it and the work that incorporates space in itself, we want to guarantee the capture of the spectator in the way in which only the space or the single work are not capable of. The disorientation of the gaze, the creation of the habit to change the point of view. To leave the stereotype and see things in their essence.

The work, which is presented as a single thing with the real space that contains it, forces the viewer to enter into physical contact with reality and therefore with the work itself. This allows us to abolish those skeptical barriers that for more than a century avant-garde have helped to build by creating a growing separation between artistic culture and civil society.

Intervening in some contexts of the city means continuing the participation process that in 15 years has seen the provincial territory open to the past / present comparison, placing the Municipal Administration of the city as a new cultural reference point for the whole territory.

Interestingly, as all the places in this edition gravitate around the path that from Moretto Square develops along all via Moretto, a choice made to complement a path associated with the contemporary, the opening of the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo that, after more than 10 years of work, reopens its doors to the city.

Directed by: Albano Morandi Scientific Committee: Bruno Cora, Elena Di Raddo, Ilaria Bignotti, Julia Reichelt

Ruben Pang Bio and CV Born 1990 Singapore.

Lives and works in Singapore.

Education: Lasalle College of the Arts, Diploma Fine Arts Website: www.rubenpangstudio.com

Artist Statement: Chance is an important part of creation. I embrace processes which accommodate spontaneity, accidents and conflict. I recognize that all artists are multidimensional, and that we will go through phases where we work in distilled, capillaric ways and other times rhizomatic. I am drawn to the extremes of the spectrums within painting, to use the medium to its strengths and take it to places it doesn’t want to go, be it abstract or figurative.

Painting is the mirror and agent of metamorphosis. To me, any resonance beneath the surface of a painting that is developed over a series of choices is naturally autobiographical. I also believe that the artist’s psyche is always ahead of the consciousness and that my most honest paintings aren’t afraid to show my vulnerabilities alongside my strengths. The anxiety this results in is what I tap into to synthesize into potency and use to overcome the inertia of the blank surface.

I walk into within my life, and believe that no subject matter should be taboo if there is a genuine fascination for it. I subscribe to the metaphor of harmony and dissonance; harmony aspires to the divine but could be authoritarian, while dissonance can be unnerving while it celebrates the grit of humanity. Underneath these dualities, art is always optimistic by opposing adamantine logic; that one can behold the universe by going within.

Solo Exhibitions: 2017 Swallow Shadow, Chan + Hori Contemporary, Singapore 2017 The Glass Eye Opens, Noosa Regional Gallery, Queensland, Australia 2017 A Totem for Your Genuine Internals, Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore 2016 Zwitterion, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy 2015 Transfiguration, START and the Tiroche DeLeon Collection, Tel

Aviv-Yafo, Israel 2015 Solo presentation, Bazaar Art Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia 2015 Ataraxy, Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore

I am driven by that which is always slightly out of reach. Everything that I’ve painted has always been fueled by an ironic mix of a great feeling of technical inadequacy and a certainty that I have the will to power through with what I have at my disposal.

2014 Intravenous Picture Show, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland

What has become most poignant to me recently is the need to lose self-created barriers between introversion and extroversion, selfconsciousness and self-awareness, fast and slow thinking. I paint what

2013 New Energetics: Inverting the Process, Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore

2014 Selected Portraits, Art Stage, Singapore

2013 Aetheric Portraiture, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland 2011 Angels, Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore

2010 Is that a Temple?, Evil Empire, Singapore 2010 Winston Oh Travelogue Award Exhibition, Praxis Space, Lasalle

College of the Arts, Singapore 2010 Strobe like a Butterfly, The Substation Theater, Singapore

Group Exhibitions: 2017 Supernatural, Yogja Art Lab, Yogjakarta, Indonesia

2009 Art Buffet, Singapore Art Show, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

2016 Petrichor, Shophouse 5, Singapore

2008 The Artificial Landscape, Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore

2015 The Figure in Process, From De Kooning to Kapoor, Paul Allen

Brain Institute, Seattle, United States

2008 Such a Lovely Place, Such a Lovely Face, Project Space, Lasalle

College of the Arts, Singapore

2015 Common Ground, Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore 2015 Rendez-vous, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore

Prizes Awards and Residencies:

2014 Modern Love, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore

2015 START International Artist Residency Program,

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

2014 Bright Spores, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy 2012 Deep SEA, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy

2014 Stelvia Artist in Residence, Residency Program in Desenzano del

Garda, Italy and Lugano, Switzerland

2012 The Singapore Show: Future Proof, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

2011 Sovereign Asia Art Prize Finalist for Across the Universe,

Singapore and Hong Kong

2011 Sovereign Asian Art Prize Exhibition, Marina Bay Sands,

Singapore, The Rotunda, Hong Kong

2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize Finalist for First Born, Singapore 2010 LaSalle Award for Academic Excellence, Singapore

2010 Take-Aways, Sambanci University, Istanbul, Turkey 2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize Exhibition, Helutrans Arts Space,

Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore

2010 Full venue sponsorship by Substation for Strobe like a Butterfly, Singapore

2010 Winston Oh Travelogue Award 2009 Georgette Chen Arts

Scholarship, Singapore

Chan, Michelle. “Ataray: Singaporean painter Ruben Pang and the art of introspection – in pictures.” artradarjournal.com (Art Radar Journal) (January 18, 2015) [online]

2008 Creative Community Singapore Ideas @ Work, Singapore 2008 Youth Festival Arts and Craft Exhibition Gold Award, Singapore Collections: Tiroche DeLeon Collection Singapore Art Museum

Shetty, Deepika.“Artist Ruben Pang wraps up fifth straight sell-out solo show.” The Straits Times (January 27, 2015) “Art as a universal language: an interview with Ruben Pang.” AMA (Art Media Agency) (June 1, 2015) [online] Manion, Ruth. “Arriving at Ataraxy.” The Muse (January 4, 2015) [online] Lee, Jian Xuan. “30 of Singapore’s rising stars under 30.” Asia One (July 1, 2015) [online]

Publications: Paparoni, Demetrio. The Devil (Milan: 24 Ore Cultura, 2017): 263 Nobili, Alessandra Alliata. “Zwitterion Ruben Pang” Art Asia Pacific (November 2016) [online] “A Bountiful Era for Singapore Art,” Christies.com, (January 16, 2015) [online]

沈舒诗.“Ruben Pang 解除封锁.” pinprestige.com (Pin Prestige) (November 2014) [online] Leong, Jonathan. “Paint on Metal.” The Luxury (September 5, 2014) [online]

“Exclusive Interview with Ruben Pang,” artling.com (The Artling), (October 2, 2015) [online]

“Ruben Pang Interview” Bizarre Beyond Belief Issue 8 (April 2013): 80 91 Shetty, Deepika. “Europe Solo Debut for Singapore Artist.” Asia One (February 14, 2013) [online]

Morelli, Naima. “Singaporean Contemporary Art in Milan and a Mysterious Lady.” Naimamorelli.com (January 6, 2015) [online]

Shetty, Deepkia. “Singapore painter Ruben Pang opens solo exhibition in Lugano, Switzerland.” The Straits Times (February 11, 2013) [online]

Silvam, Prabhu. “The State of the Singaporean Man.” Esquire (August 2015): 55.

Shetty, Deepika. “Watch This Face.” Life! The Straits Times (January 1, 2013): C3

Gerard, Clarabelle. “The 10 art pieces by Singapore artists which broke their $ records.” themiddleground.sg (The Middle Ground, (November 30, 2015) [online]

Shetty, Deepika. “Taking a hands-on approach.” Life! The Straits Times (March 8, 2012): D9 Nobili, Alessandra Alliata. “Deep S.E.A: Singapore artist Ruben Pang’s search for melody in white noise.” artradarjournal.com (Art Radar Journal) (January 21, 2013) [online]

Cereda, Marta. “Nuove frontier dell’arte: il sud-est asiatico a Milano.” arttribune.com (Art Tribune) (January 23, 2013) [online]

2013 “New Energetics: Ruben Pang Artist Talk,” Chan Hampe

Galleries, Singapore

Nobili, Alessandra Alliata. “Deep SEA: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia.” Art Asia Pacific (November 2012) [online]

2013 “Professional Practice: Artist Lecture by Ruben Pang,”

(invitation by Loredana Pazzini Paracciani) Lasalle College

of the Arts, Singapore

Lectures:

News Features:

2017 “The Glass Eye Opens Artist Talk,” Noosa Regional Gallery,

Noosa, Australia

“An Interview with Serge Tiroche and Ruben Pang” i24 News (July 12, 2015)

2017 “Ruben Pang: Artist Lecture,” Queensland College of Art,

Brisbane, Australia

“The Bold New Voices of Singapore” Art World, Vice (August 13, 2015)

2017 “Artist Talk: Ruben Pang,” (invitation by Gilles Massot) Lasalle

College of the Arts, Singapore 2017 “Colors in Culture: Artist talk with Ruben Pang,” Library@

Orchard, Singapore 2016 “Conversations between Ruben Pang, Melissa Tan, Weixin

Chong and Gabriella Butti, moderated by curator Melanie

Pocock,” Shophouse 5, Singapore 2016 “An Afternoon with Ruben Pang,” Yale-NUS College, Singapore 2015 “Ataraxy: Ruben Pang Artist Talk,” Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore 2015 “Artist Talk by Ruben Pang” School of the Arts, Singapore

Finito di stampare nel mese di Febbraio 2018 presso CPZ S.p.A. Costa di Mezzate (BG) Italy Printed in February 2018 by CPZ S.p.A. Costa di Mezzate (BG) Italy