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Top Of The Glass - Gary Gunn feat. Malene Younglao at Hope and Glory Opening Ceremony

Time: Thursday, April 15, 2010
Location: ArtisTree, 1/F, Cornwall House, TaiKoo Place, Hong Kong

HOPE & GLORY

A Conceptual Circus Conceived by Simon Birch

Introduction

Simon Birch's multi-media installation HOPE & GLORY is an immersive environment that invites the audience to enter into an adventure through a metaphorical world - a conceptual circus - created by the artist. Challenging established paradigms in art presentation and construction, the exhibition comprises a series of 20 interlinked multi-media installations that transform the
vast space of the gallery into a mythological labyrinth. Here cultural and personal histories intersect and merge, challenging our own relationships with the past, the present and the future.

Just as the archetypal circus brought together spectacular sideshows' from all over the world to create a multi-sensory allegory of foreign adventure, Birch has brought together artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, actors, gaming wizards, and architects, from Hong Kong and abroad. Each has contributed their own particular vision to HOPE & GLORY's conceptual world of spectacle and wonder. Among Birch's collaborators are artist Stanley Wong, photographer Wing Shya, British rock band UNKLE, filmmaker Eric Hu, designer Douglas Young, architect Paul Kember, actor Daniel Wu, and Beijing-based artist Cang Xin. Birch compares the scope of the project to producing a feature-length film in its scale and the collaborative breadth of talent and skills necessary for its realization.'

One of Birch's key intentions in conceiving this monumental installation is the creation of an all-enveloping artistic space that echoes the function of the circus in traditional culture: offering within the frenetic urban environment a temporary place of other-worldly respite and the experience of a communal sense of wonder. HOPE & GLORY explores a number of major themes that recur in the Birch's work: the idea of art as a spectacle; the fascination with circuses and fairgrounds, science fiction and mythologies; as well as a preoccupation with the traditions of craftsmanship and labour in art production

HOPE & GLORY is deeply informed by the structure of the hero myth' that appears in different guises throughout history and across cultures, ranging from the Odyssey of ancient Greece to modern science fiction films like Star Wars and Blade Runner. The narrative that unfolds is a retelling - through film, sculpture, music, video, painting, gaming and live performance - of archetypal themes, such as the duality of human existence, the relationship between suffering and redemption, the journey from darkness into light, and the leap from adversity into transcendence. By entering into its all-immersive environment the audience becomes part of this unfolding experience.

For Birch, the vision of creating HOPE & GLORY links directly to his recent experience of surviving a rare form of cancer: My recent experience with surviving a condition I was not expected to survive has driven me further to explore ideas of the duality of the human condition; the beauty and horror we all face. This experience --at once terrifying and liberating—made me reflect on the choices I'd made in my life, and on the impact of the social and institutional rhythms that have pushed and pulled me. HOPE & GLORY is my way of responding to that.'

The HOPE & GLORY' title is an appropriation of the title of a British patriotic song from the close of the Victorian era, Land of Hope and Glory', an anthem that hopes for a mightier and more powerful empire. The use of the title is both ironic and meaningful, referring to the HOPE & GLORY that is relative to individual human experience, as well as to the negatives which burden imperial dreams.

The challenges of realizing a visual arts exhibition of this scale and complexity have been enormous, particularly given that non-commercial platforms and funding for the visual arts continue to be limited in Hong Kong. But for Birch, confronting these challenges has generated the creation of new mechanisms for creative collaboration, for building bridges between private and public institutions, and for bringing artists, entrepreneurs, academics and government together. One of the key messages of the project is that art is more than just an object to be perceived: it is an environment for personal and collective imagining.

20,000 sq ft art installation conceived by Simon Birch and featuring collaborations with architects, actors, artists, filmmakers, designers and many others....

Films, sculptures, performance...a temporary contemporary art museum of sorts and described as a conceptual circus.

Free entry and open 7 days from 10am - 8pm

Opening party by Diesel on April 15th, message us if you want in!

More info: http://monkeymodified.blogspot.com