KWAN Sheung Chi: No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again.  關尚智《不要緊。再嘗試。再失敗。》

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KWAN Sheung Chi
​No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again.

24 September – 24 October, 2009

Gallery EXIT is pleased to announce No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again., the long awaited solo exhibition by KWAN Sheung Chi.

Kwan juxtaposes the intention to succeed with the inevitability of failure in a series of videos that document him going about his pre-planned tasks. In the originalArtwalk Drinking Challenge 2009, Kwan wandered through all the art galleries in Central to drink free alcoholic drinks. In the remaking of the same event as a Do-It-Yourself instructional video, Kwan collapsed half way through as the video continues to record him in inaction. In another DIY-like video, Kwan demonstrates in a Sunday-hobbyist approach of how to make the exit bag, a popular euthanasia and assisted suicide device.

Many of his tasks take the form of self-training without advancement. This ongoing wrestle with the duality of success and failure, achievement and defeat, calculation and chance, underlies much of his recent work and even his daily life. We are invited to be witnesses of a life, to come up with exit strategies from our dualistic mindset.

KWAN Sheung Chi was born in Hong Kong in 1980. In 1999, he entered the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2000, he was named the “King of Hong Kong New Artist”. In 2002, Kwan Sheung Chi Touring Series Exhibitions, Hong Kong was exhibited and toured 10 major exhibition venues in Hong Kong. Within the same year, the Hong Kong Arts Centre presented A Retrospective of Kwan Sheung Chi. In 2003, he graduated with a third-class honor bachelor degree from the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In the same year, he set up a studio in Fotan, and organized Fotanian: Open Studio 2007. From 2004, he became a nine-to-fiver in Central. In 2005, he helped his mother, TSANG Yin-hung, to create her first artwork, Teapoy. The piece was included in the Hong Kong Art Biennial 2005, as a selected entry. His artworks have not been widely exhibited around the world. On 1st January 2008, he determined not to sell any of his artworks for 3 years. In February 2009, he co-founded the web-based arts TV channel, Hong Kong Arts Discovery Channel (HKADC). He is also a founding member of the local art groups, hkPARTg (Political Art Group) and Woofer Ten, which both focus on experimental practices of art in relation to local politics, social issues and communities. In 2009, He was awarded the Starr Foundation Fellowship by the Asian Cultural Council to take part in an international residency program in New York City, USA.
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關尚智
《不要緊。再嘗試。再失敗。》

​2009年9月24日至10月24日

安全口畫廊將舉行期待已久的關尚智個展《不要緊。再嘗試。再失敗。》。

關尚智在一系列的錄像裡，意圖去完成特定的任務 ─ 成功的意願與失敗的必然並列展現於這些影片裡。在原本的《ArtWalk勁飲挑戰賽2009》中，關尚智徘徊於中環的藝廊、喝免費提供的酒；而在關尚智倣效自拍教學的錄像裡，再進行相同的活動，但他在中途已倒下來，錄像繼續拍攝他動彈不得的形態。在關尚智另一自拍的錄像裡，他用有業餘愛好者風味的方式來示範如何製造供安樂死自殺用的「往生袋」(exit bag)。 很多關尚智的作品都是在展示一種沒有個人得着的自我培訓行動。在關尚智大部分的作品甚至他的日常生活裡，都是建基於成功與失敗、成就與挫折、計算與偶然的種種雙重性中兩者的相互角力。這個展覽邀請你見證人生、思索如何在二元化的定框內找尋方向。

1980年生於香港。1999年入讀香港中文大學藝術系。2000年起成為「香港藝術新人王」。2002年《關尚智香港巡迴展》於香港十個主要展覽場地巡迴展出，同年於香港藝術中心舉辦《關尚智回顧展》。2003年畢業於香港中文大學藝術系，並獲三等榮譽文學士學位。同年於火炭成立工作室，並籌辦《伙炭工作室開放計劃2007》。2004年起成為上班族於中環上班。2005年協助母親曾燕雄創作其第一件作品《茶几》，其後入選《香港藝術雙年展2005》。他的作品沒有在世界各地廣泛展出。2008年1月1日，他決定三年內不再出售自己的所有作品。2009年2月，他合作成立網上藝術電視台，香港藝術搜索頻道（HKADC）。他亦是本地藝術團體「政藝小組」及「活化廳」的創辦成員，兩者皆專注於與本地政治、社會議題及社群，並作相關的實驗性藝術實踐計劃。2009年獲得亞洲文化協會給予Starr Foundation Fellowship交流獎金，他將前往美國紐約參加藝術家留駐計劃。