Having a dialogue with Brian Gothong Tan

By Yvonne Yong, Channelnewsasia.com

Brian Gothong Tan is considered one of the most exciting and prolific multi-media artists in Singapore.

At age 26, he has already achieved what many other young artists only dream about.

Not only was he awarded a grant by the National Arts Council to produce his first solo exhibition (2003), but he received a scholarship to study Experimental Animation at the California Institute of the Arts.

Since his return to Singapore he has been involved with the 9th Venice Architectural Biennale (2004) and represented Singapore in the cultural segment of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (2006) at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Federation Square.

“I was really envious of artists in Melbourne, because even people who are not in the arts made an effort to come down and see my work. I had a lot of people asking me to explain my work, and I really appreciated that,” Brian recalls.

He hopes that Singaporeans too will take interest in his work in the Singapore Biennale (SB2006) which showcases local and international contemporary art at various locations throughout Singapore.

“I am creating a multi-media installation entitled ‘We live in a dangerous world’, where I tackle subjects such as politics and religion…I am questioning different belief systems, institutions and power structures… to tie in with the Biennale’s theme ‘Belief’.”

However Brian insists that he is not a political artist, “I like to be political, but I like to be humourous as well…I try to make people see familiar things in different ways…I’m not trying to topple governments or stuff like that.”

His somewhat humourous approach can be seen in the first video of his installation where Philippines political figure Imelda Marcos is portrayed as a maid wearing shopping bags for sleeves.

When asked how he thinks his work will be received, he says, “I’ll leave it up to the audience to think…I hope they will take something from it and bring it back with them, that’s the important thing… the artwork is just an object for me and the audience to have a dialogue with.”

If you would like an insight into Brian’s thoughts and creative works then make sure you head down to the Biennale to be held in Singapore from 4 September.

You can get more information about the Singapore Biennale 2006 here.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/s2006/biennale_brian.htm

From: OldVic in the previous OVA Forum

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