Land scape
Stephen Chen
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
concepts in lieu of direct experience in their creative process , the works I personally find intriguing are those that stemmed from personal experience – somehow I feel that comes through in the work . Even if one did not have direct experience , I think one has to somehow make sense of it through one ’ s personal experience to better connect with the audience .
For example , I was recently invited to create a hybrid projection-performance piece for a fundraiser for Haiti victims . I have never been to Haiti , the last time it was in my consciousness was media coverage of millions of dollars that was raised in aid . The easy route would be to just show scenes of devastation . As I did more research , I was appalled to discover most of the aid money went to corrupt contractors and organizations , and the majority of Haitians were still living in slums 6 years after the earthquake . I was incensed at what had happened , and at the apathy and complacency of most people and myself that allowed this to happen . By structuring the piece around this anger , I was able to relay and relate what happened to my and the audience experience .
Where I think personal experience is absolutely indispensable ( which you have already pointed out in James Turrell ) is in one ’ s creative obsession . Growing up in Singapore and eventually ending up as a refugee in North America in my mid-20s ; what struck me was how people can ’ t see the limitations imposed on their thought , whether in a repressive regime or democratic society . I became obsessed with trying to transcend the limitations of existing knowledge structures through art . My investigations into the tensions and dialectic of what is considered “ natural ” vs . man made , is an outcome of this obsession .