Post-Production Fever
A solo exhibition by Ho Rui An
Curated by Zian Chen with Clara Che Wei Peh 13 July – 11 August 2024 ArtSpace@Helutrans, Singapore
24 Cinematic Points of View of a Factory Gate in China, 2023, 4K video, 24′ 45″
A+ WORKS of ART is proud to present Post-Production Fever, Ho Rui An’s second solo exhibition with the gallery and his first in Singapore. Featuring a new large-scale installation and works shown in Singapore for the first time, the exhibition marks the most comprehensive presentation to date of the artist’s multifaceted practice that has been internationally recognised for its analytical rigour and distinctive approach to artistic research.
The exhibition plays with two possible readings suggested by its title: while the first speaks somewhat melancholically to that which comes after a boom in production, the second more idiosyncratically invokes a rush to post-produce in itself. The ambivalence of this expression forms the basis for reflecting on a time marked by the disruption of prevailing industrial modes of production by artificial intelligence amidst a broader climate of economic and military warfare and ecological collapse. This is seen across the exhibition’s three sections, each exploring a different understanding of what “post-production” might entail: as what happens when production comes to an end (deindustrialisation), as that which follows “crude” production (downstream operations) and as the phase in filmmaking that takes place after principal photography (cinematic post-production). In a demonstration of how research and production are deeply intertwined in the artist’s practice, the works across all three sections are placed in conversation with a selection of archival materials put together by the artist and the curators as part of their research for the exhibition.
Opening the exhibition and first section is 24 Cinematic Points of View of a Factory Gate in China (2023), a video that takes the Lumieres’ seminal image showing workers leaving the factory to produce a genealogy of the relationship between cinema and industry that spans over a century of European, American and Chinese cinema. Following its local premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival last year, the work has been reconfigured as a video installation and will be presented alongside an archive of Chinese industrial labour showing materials gathered during the artist’s research in China.
Shifting the lens to the oil industry in Singapore, the second section is anchored by a newly commissioned mixed media installation that examines the contradictions between Singapore’s international reputation as an ecologically conscious Garden City and its embeddedness within the global oil trade. Conceived as a botanical-themed oil executive’s office, the installation is accompanied by a display of documents that trace how Singapore came to become a global oil hub through its participation in downstream supply chain operations such as refining, storage and distribution, the relative invisibility of which has led to the industry being exempted from the level of scrutiny directed towards crude producers.
Shell Revolution, 2018, HD video, 1′ 10″
The final section returns to cinema by way of the “post-production” studio in a reflection of the ways that post-production processes such as editing and visual effects have usurped the place of production proper and culminated in the present age of AI-generated images. Such ideas are explored in Figures of History and the Grounds of Intelligence (2024), a lecture and video installation featuring live AI-generated images co-commissioned by KADIST and Centre Pompidou. Presented alongside a timeline and archival display that traces the history of “intelligence” as a concept and practice in Singapore, the work probes the
intersecting histories of state planning, global networks and cybernetics that began during the Cold War in a bid to understand the political and ethical stakes of the current generative AI boom.
Through the exhibition, audiences will be able to experience key video-based works through Samsung’s The Frame TV series across different spatial configurations. The Frame TV brings the experience of artistic expression to a new level. With innovative matte display, digital pieces of artworks are displayed with a textured feel to transform these digital art into captivating showpieces. Over a billion shades of accurate colours delivered in 100% C olourVolume* with Quantum Dot, delivering the finest pictures in all their brilliant colours with hardly any glare or reflections. This makes Samsung The Frame TV a perfect companion for art enthusiasts and TV lovers alike.
“With The Frame TV and The Art Store, users can have access to over 2,500 pieces of digital art from galleries all over the world to enhance their living space. This partnership showcases another unique feature of The Frame TV, which enables users the element of personalisation as they display their digital works. Shutterbugs and Décor enthusiasts looking to unleash their creative expressions can explore from an assortment of bezels available in various colours, to elevate their homes, halls or rooms into their own home gallery.”
– Steven Koh, Senior Director, Consumer Electronics Business (TV/AV)
The exhibition is curated by Zian Chen with Clara Che Wei Peh and supported by the National Arts Council Singapore and Samsung Singapore. Accompanying the exhibition is a public programme that includes guided tours and a workshop on generative AI, as well as an illustrated catalogue that will expand upon the exhibition’s thematic concerns.
*100% colour volume measured in Movie Mode and to DCI-P3 colour space, certified by VDE.
Public Programmes
13 July 2024 (Saturday), 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Exhibition Tour with Zian Chen & Clara Che Wei Peh
28 July 2024 (Sunday), 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Exhibition Tour with Ho Rui An & Clara Che Wei Peh
28 July 2024 (Sunday), 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
History and Intelligence: Workshop on Generative AI with Ho Rui An, Clara Che Wei Peh & Phoomparin Mano
10 August 2024 (Saturday), 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Artist Book Talk + Exhibition Tour with Ho Rui An & Clara Che Wei Peh
Artist Biography
Ho Rui An is an artist and writer working in the intersections of contemporary art, cinema, performance and theory. Through lectures, essays and films, his research examines the relations between labour, technology and capital across different systems of governance in a global age.
He has presented projects the Shanghai Biennale; Bangkok Art Biennale; Gwangju Biennale; Jakarta Biennale; Sharjah Biennial; Kochi-Muziris Biennale; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Kunsthalle Wien; Singapore Art Museum; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; and Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media. He has been awarded the Young Artist Award (2023) by the National Arts Council, Singapore, and the International Film Critics’ (FIPRESCI) Prize at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany (2019), along with several fellowships and residencies across the world.
Curator Biographies
Zian Chen collaborates with artists and writers to develop alternative frameworks for thinking and speculation. His collaborative research and curatorial projects with artists have been presented at institutions such as the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; Power Station of Art, Shanghai; Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai; Times Museum, Guangzhou; and the Bleed Biennial in Melbourne, among others. He has contributed to exhibition catalogues for artists such as Mark Dion, Arseny Zhilyaev, Elmgreen & Dragset, and institutions including the Liverpool Biennial; Asia Art Biennial; CHAT Centre for Heritage, Arts, and Textile, Hong Kong; UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; and Arrow Factory, Beijing, among others. Currently, he is Contributing Editor at Ocula Magazine.
Clara Che Wei Peh is a curator and arts writer based in Singapore. Her practice focuses on the intersections of art, money, and technology, examining how technological tools and infrastructure shape and are shaped by artistic production and consumption. Her recent curatorial projects include Art Dubai Digital, Notes From the Ether at ArtScience Museum and The Unstable Image with DECK (all 2023). She has also developed research and
programmes in collaboration with and for institutions such as NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore Management University, and The Institutum. Her writing has been published in Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, The Brooklyn Rail, The Art Newspaper, Art in America, Outland Magazine, Hyperallergic, among others. She was recently Asia Collection Fellow at KADIST.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, home appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions, and delivering a seamless connected experience through its SmartThings ecosystem and open collaboration with partners. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at news.samsung.com. For more details about Samsung: samsungsg@infom.asia.
ArtSpace@Helutrans is located at:
39 Keppel Rd
#01-05 Distripark
Singapore 089065
Opening Hours:
Wednesday to Friday 1 pm – 7 pm Saturday to Sunday 11 am – 7 pm
Contact:
Telephone interviews with the artist can be arranged upon request.
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Please contact +6018 333 3399 or email info@aplusart.asia
A+ WORKS of ART is a contemporary art gallery based in Kuala Lumpur, with a geographic focus on Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Founded in 2017 by Joshua Lim, the gallery presents a wide range of contemporary practices, from painting to performance, drawing, sculpture, new media art, photography, video and installation. Its exhibitions have showcased diverse themes and approaches, including material experimentation and global conversations on social issues. Collaboration is key to the ethos of A+ Works of Art. Since its opening, the gallery has worked with artists, curators, writers, collectors, galleries and partners from within the region and beyond, and continues to look out for new collaborations. The gallery name is a play on striving for distinction but also on the idea that art is never without context and is always reaching to connect — it is always “plus” something else.
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