What we believe in

Fotos: ©D. Ngui, 2014

English

What we believe in

Ausstellung im Rahmen einer Residency, eingeladen von Rolf Stehle, kuratiert von Yeoh Lian Heng
12.– 29. Juni 2014
Lostgens, Kuala, Lumpur, Malaysia

‚What we believe in’ (Woran wir glauben) war eine multimediale Installation im Kunstraum Lostgens, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Susanne Boschs Arbeit war die vielschichtige Antwort auf die erste Begegnung mit Malaysia im Rahmen eines 3-monatigen Aufenthalts auf Einladung des Goethe Instituts Malaysia. Das verschwundene Passagierflugzeug Boing 777, eine multi-ethnische, postkoloniale konstitutionelle Wahlmonarchie mit 6-10 (Natur-)Religionen, 17 Sprachen sowie einem von fünf Zentren der grö ten Biodiversität der Erde, inspirierten Susanne Bosch zu ihrer Forschung und Installation. Die Installation beinhaltete handwerklich zeitaufwendige Drucke auf Zeitung sowie Zeichnungen und Zeitung Cut-Outs. Zur Arbeit gehörte auch die Koproduktion eines Liedes mit der Musikerin Anna Chong und Video-Interviews mit alternativen Bewegungen in Malaysien und Singapur.

What we believe in

Exhibition in the context of a residency, invited by Rolf Stehle, curated by Yeoh Lian Heng
12 – 29 June 2014
Lostgens, Kuala, Lumpur, Malaysia

“What we believe in” is a multi-media installation in the Lostgens art space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The installation includes very laborious, but inexpensive prints on newspaper as well as drawings, music and videos of “alternativists”. The work is a multi-layered response to the artist’s first encounter with Malaysia and its context.

“Turtles Tame Chaos” by Anna Chong

Bosch’s work includes a song “Turtles Tame Chaos”, composed and sung by singer-songwriter Anna Chong. Anna was invited by the artist to “air” a collection of feelings, responses, thoughts and vision of people about this vanishing, “Atempause” moment in Chinatown, where the old is not yet gone and the new has yet to appear. As such, this song is the result of a collaborative process with many people.

Video © by Susanne Bosch, 2014
Music © by Anna Chong with joint-rights by Susanne Bosch
 and Goethe Institute, 2014
Texts: Composition Description @ by Anna
 Chong 2014 and transcriptions of peoples’ responses to Petaling Street/Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Statement:

“When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, invited by the local Goethe Institute for a three months residency, it was the 23rd March. MH370 had been missing for 15 days and did not appear again during my stay in Malaysia. Instead Barack Obama came for a visit, water was rationed in parts of Malaysia, the nation demonstrated against the GST tax in May and the unrest in the Ukraine, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan made front page news.

As an artist, I respond to and engage in context, the “when and where”. So when I landed in Malaysia, I immediately engaged with the moment in which I found myself. I was based in Lostgens art space in Petaling Street/Chinatown, in the heart of the transformation of Kuala Lumpur. I witnessed what the German’s call “Atempause” which refers to the moment between breathing in and breathing out. Here in Chinatown I found myself caught between, on the one hand, the futuristic development of massive construction sites for train stations and the newest, tallest building in the city and, on the other hand, a 180-year-old urban structure with its traditional shop houses, businesses, wet markets and temples. 

In my time in Malaysia, I explored various forms of this local transformation. I met with “alternativists” who promote change through collaborative lifestyles and subsistence economies, provide free public service, garden in urban spaces and practice permaculture. I met many who question the cycle of consumption, exploitation and destruction of our environment by practicing other models. As part of my work here, I created video portraits of these movements. I also witnessed the local parallels of the realities of mega shopping malls and squatters on dump sites, and the struggle of those expecting to gain happiness somewhere between materialism and spirituality, all manifested in Malaysia’s multi-ethical, multi-religious and multicultural society.”

Year

2014

Brochure

Press

Presse

Category
Exhibitions, Films, Installations, Practice, Sustainability
Tags
change, Goethe Institute, Kuala Lumpur, multi-media, newspaper, Video