one evening in the year of the dog
I recently attended a very interesting art event at P10 here in Singapore.
I found the evening interesting because "high art and pop culture" were presented and discussed fairly equally. It should be noted however, that most of the presentation was in the form of a video about the project known as Moc Moc. The two artists who created the character called Moc Moc are from a company called Com Com.
I arrived late and the video was in progress. The video was very well made and seemed to show many sides of the Moc Moc story.
Simplified, the Moc Moc story is this: a remote village in Switzerland wanted a piece of public art for the square near their train station. The duo from the Com Com company won the competition and created the legend of a fish/dragon hybrid called Moc Moc. This is a very simplified explanation, but half of the village loved it and half of the village hated it. This was demonstrated by a vote in which the people of the village voted to keep Moc Moc in its initial location. About 49% of the village hated Moc Moc so much that they had wanted it moved to a less public place.
The video presented many sides of this heated debate. I assume they were not allowed to vote, but the children of the village appeared to love Moc Moc, as did a local confectioner who made a dessert based on the Moc Moc design.
The videomakers used a technique in which a child asked an elderly man questions about Moc Moc's history.
After the video was shown, questions were asked and it was stated that Moc Moc, in a project related to the Singapore Biennal, will be appearing in some project with the Merlion, Singapore's lion/fish mascot.
I enjoyed the presentation very much. It was challenging on several levels. Whose idea, for example, was it to create a project combining Moc Moc and the Merlion? Who is paying for this? How much is being paid? The theme of Singapore's first Biennale is "Belief" and it will be interesting to see how this project unfolds and what it will lead us to 'believe'.
As the links to my other sites show, my relationship with the Monja Kids characters is not altogether different from the relationship the Com Com people have with Moc Moc. I did not create the Monja Kids, however. They were the idea of Akihito Seki. I often say that he was a true artist.
I have no definitive point to make here. I just enjoy thinking of the Merlion, Moc Moc and the Monja Kids. They are all so similiar in a way, and yet so different. Commercialism, high art, entertainment, politics, culture...who really decides what is what? Can anyone actually say what is and isn't high art? Doesn't it always come down to who is paying how much for what?
BLOGGER DOESN'T SEEM TO WANT TO UPLOAD IMAGES THIS EVENING, SO PLEASE IMAGINE:
-Warhol's Mickey Mouse Silkscreen
-The Merlion
-The Monja Kids
-Moc Moc
The following is from the Singapore Biennale website.
Johannes M. Hedinger and Marcus Gossolt founded the art label Commercial Communication in 1997. Their films, art, theatrical pieces, music, books and monuments thematise the border between high art and pop culture. They parasitically occupy the communication channels of advertising and mass media to enact performances of the concepts of 'original' and 'counterfeit.'
Though primarily based in the Swiss cities of Zurich and St.Gallen, Commercial Communication's work has been shown in over 70 exhibitions (among them the Biennials of Venice in 2001, Turin in 2002 and Sharjah in 2005). Despite solo exhibitions all over the world (Kunsthaus Zürich 2000, Govett Brewster Gallery New Zealand 2001, Kunstwerke KW Berlin 2003 and many more), this will be their first visit to Singapore! The Singapore Biennale Secretariat is proud to include them into the programming of our educational talks and would like to share our excitement with you.
I found the evening interesting because "high art and pop culture" were presented and discussed fairly equally. It should be noted however, that most of the presentation was in the form of a video about the project known as Moc Moc. The two artists who created the character called Moc Moc are from a company called Com Com.
I arrived late and the video was in progress. The video was very well made and seemed to show many sides of the Moc Moc story.
Simplified, the Moc Moc story is this: a remote village in Switzerland wanted a piece of public art for the square near their train station. The duo from the Com Com company won the competition and created the legend of a fish/dragon hybrid called Moc Moc. This is a very simplified explanation, but half of the village loved it and half of the village hated it. This was demonstrated by a vote in which the people of the village voted to keep Moc Moc in its initial location. About 49% of the village hated Moc Moc so much that they had wanted it moved to a less public place.
The video presented many sides of this heated debate. I assume they were not allowed to vote, but the children of the village appeared to love Moc Moc, as did a local confectioner who made a dessert based on the Moc Moc design.
The videomakers used a technique in which a child asked an elderly man questions about Moc Moc's history.
After the video was shown, questions were asked and it was stated that Moc Moc, in a project related to the Singapore Biennal, will be appearing in some project with the Merlion, Singapore's lion/fish mascot.
I enjoyed the presentation very much. It was challenging on several levels. Whose idea, for example, was it to create a project combining Moc Moc and the Merlion? Who is paying for this? How much is being paid? The theme of Singapore's first Biennale is "Belief" and it will be interesting to see how this project unfolds and what it will lead us to 'believe'.
As the links to my other sites show, my relationship with the Monja Kids characters is not altogether different from the relationship the Com Com people have with Moc Moc. I did not create the Monja Kids, however. They were the idea of Akihito Seki. I often say that he was a true artist.
I have no definitive point to make here. I just enjoy thinking of the Merlion, Moc Moc and the Monja Kids. They are all so similiar in a way, and yet so different. Commercialism, high art, entertainment, politics, culture...who really decides what is what? Can anyone actually say what is and isn't high art? Doesn't it always come down to who is paying how much for what?
BLOGGER DOESN'T SEEM TO WANT TO UPLOAD IMAGES THIS EVENING, SO PLEASE IMAGINE:
-Warhol's Mickey Mouse Silkscreen
-The Merlion
-The Monja Kids
-Moc Moc
The following is from the Singapore Biennale website.
Johannes M. Hedinger and Marcus Gossolt founded the art label Commercial Communication in 1997. Their films, art, theatrical pieces, music, books and monuments thematise the border between high art and pop culture. They parasitically occupy the communication channels of advertising and mass media to enact performances of the concepts of 'original' and 'counterfeit.'
Though primarily based in the Swiss cities of Zurich and St.Gallen, Commercial Communication's work has been shown in over 70 exhibitions (among them the Biennials of Venice in 2001, Turin in 2002 and Sharjah in 2005). Despite solo exhibitions all over the world (Kunsthaus Zürich 2000, Govett Brewster Gallery New Zealand 2001, Kunstwerke KW Berlin 2003 and many more), this will be their first visit to Singapore! The Singapore Biennale Secretariat is proud to include them into the programming of our educational talks and would like to share our excitement with you.
posted by stephen black at 6:53 AM
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