In the 1970s, the situationists in France took a Hong Kong kungfu film, “Chinese Taekwando” and changed its name to “ Can Dialectics Break Bricks”. The original dialogue of the film was totally changed so the original story about the Koreans fighting against Japanese colonialism became one in which the people were combatting against the state capitalist bureaucrats. It became a hilarious film and was a classic example of creative subversion. What does performance art subvert? How subversive is it in the Asian areas? Mok Chiu Yu and Sanmu would facilitate the discussion.
About the speakers
Mok Chiu Yu
Mok Chiu Yu has been a tireless promoter of performance art in Hong Kong – introducing in the early 1990s Seiji Shimoda’s performances to Hong Kong, staging overseas and Chinese performance artists, and organizing many performance art festivals in Hong Kong, collaborating with Sanmu, yuenjie, Ko Siu Lan etc. He himself is a performance artist – having performed in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Beijing, Macau, Yangoon, Chingmai, Linz, Cologne, Basle and Hildersham.
While a strong advocate for performance art, he also promotes arts in all forms for everyone. He believes that one should not be just consumers but also creators of art. He is a well known people’s theatre artist, educational theatre worker and community art worker in Hong Kong.
Shen Shisen/Sanmu
Born in 1963, Sanmu lived and was brought up in the south. In 1986, he took in the “Salon of the Southern Artists’ beginning his creative works in performance art. In 1987, he began his stay in Japan fir 15 years. The themes of his works changed significantly in 1989 and were reflections on wars, massacres and the persecution of men to men. At the same time his works also contemplated and praised the culture of the East. His works may be grouped into different series - “The Legend of the Mountains and the Seas”, “Writings of Faked Freedom”, “Morning Flowers Collected at Dusk”, “New Chinese Dictionary” etc. His artistic activities also included poetry, printing, and installation. He settled down in Hong Kong in 2002 and participated in the curating of many performance art activities in Hong Kong and the Mainland in which he also performed. He was attempting to search for the diversity and the different possibilities of performance art. Sanmu in many performance art festivals and showcases in Europe, America and Japan. He has been a performance artist for 27 years and in recent years, he works diligently to promote performance art.
Action Asia
An arts research project inquiring into the state of activism in Asia.
Asia’s vast and unnavigable complexity precludes definitive and complete revelation. But passive observation will not do. We can only forge ahead within the shifting temporalities of conquest and florescence, frustration and resistance, and see what we can discover in these difficult times. Art’s power has been weakened in our afflicted present, but it must still strive, in its very physical presence, to expand and increase its symbolic power. Might it still be possible, given this scene of obscurity and tentativeness, to bring to light new vectors of change and possibility?
The “Action Asia” research project conceives itself as a practice-oriented investigation into the intersection of the art scene with local life and politics, aiming to catch and promote a transformative artistic practice unconstrained by consensus reality. We will search for specific action points within the vastness of Asian space, and seek, through research, analysis, and presentation, to participate in contemporary Asian activism. Our particular areas of interest include: the Asian performance art community, contemporary Asian theater, designs and projects for social transformation, and activities that blur the boundary between art and social activism.
上世纪七十年代初, 法国的创势者(situationist)把香港功夫片[唐手台拳道]改名为[唯物辨証法能否打碎瓦片], 并把片中的对白全改, 由一套朝鲜人民反日本殖民主义的影片变成一出人民对抗国家资本官僚的笑片, 是颠覆创意的典范。行为艺术颠覆了什么, 在亚洲的场域之中有几颠覆?莫昭如和三木与你一起讨论。
关于讲者
莫昭如 自九十年代以来积极在香港推广行为艺术，组织霜田诚二等海外及国内行为艺术家到香港演出，后来更与三木、丸仔、高小兰等合力在港举行大大小小的行为艺术节和行为艺术活动。他自己亦常参与在香港及外地的行为艺术演出，包括北京、台湾、澳门、南韩、仰光、清迈和欧洲各地的演出。莫氏除致力推广行为艺术，更推广全人对艺术的参与，不论是艺术的欣赏者，还是艺术的创作人。他是香港知名的民众戏剧工作者、教育戏剧工作者及社区艺术工作者。
陈式森/三木 1963年出生于北京，长期生活在南方。1986年参加“南方艺术家沙龙”，开始从事行为艺术的创作。1987年始旅居日本15年。1989年之后作品主题产生重大变化。多反映战争、屠杀及人对人的迫害，及对东方文化作反省和礼赞。创作系列作品包括《山海经》、《伪自由书》、《朝花夕拾》、《新华字典》等等。同时也诗、版画、装置等作为创作载体。2002年回香港定居。多次参加和策划了香港及大陆的行为艺术活动，力图寻求行为艺术的多样形成及可能。三木多次参加欧美和日本的行为艺术展。从事行为艺术创作27年。近年致力于行为艺术的推广。
亚洲生动
亚洲复杂而辽阔，它迷人或艰涩的复杂性，尚未或永远没法充分揭示。它因此无法被观望，而只能卷入。亚洲因此也成为一种变迁历程。那里是征服和繁延，挫败和抵抗，是艰难时世的无穷现场。艺术的力量是微弱的，但它也要在身处的位置上极力扩张自己的象征之力。在亚洲，卷入那些充满寓意的现场，我们或能挖掘出更多——关于变迁可能性的别样提示？
“亚洲生动”将此研究项目本身视为一种身体力行的卷入，关注当代亚洲地区生活和政治现场与艺术现场的交织，捕捉不甘于既定现实的艺术改造方式。我们将在亚洲广阔的空间中寻找一些点，通过对那些现场的搜索、整理、研究和公布，参与到亚洲存在的行动之中。我们尤其感兴趣的范围包括：亚洲行为艺术群落、亚洲当代剧场、深具社会改造意义的创作和设计、模糊了艺术和社会行动边缘的活动等。