Single channel video with installation and performance
Dimension variable
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu7RxTHgYmI
.jpg)
In To Make Distance Before Recalling, Tang Kwok-hin responds to the constraints of the exhibition Experimenting Exhibitions, Exhibiting Experiments 4, specifically the physical limitations imposed by artist Lee Kit. Rather than merely adapting to rules prohibiting nails or screws and dictating display heights, Tang transforms the restrictions into a deeper conceptual inquiry.
The work consists of two parts. In the first, the artist constructs individual wooden boxes for his existing artworks. At the conclusion of the exhibition, these pieces are locked inside the boxes and “buried” — hidden from view. This deliberate act of concealment creates both physical and emotional distance from his own creations. In the second part, viewers are invited to open the boxes, remove the works, and examine them on a table, much like unrolling a traditional Chinese handscroll. Only the audience may touch the artworks; the artist himself refrains from further contact.
Through this gesture, Tang explores the unstable emotions artists often feel toward their completed works — oscillating between affection and aversion — and questions the intensity of his own artistic engagement. By making the works temporarily disappear and delegating the act of viewing solely to others, he investigates themes of memory, detachment, possession, and renewal. The project further extends into another piece of work To turn memory to own practice, each a unique “recall” of a selected piece, probing whether repeated acts of remembrance can preserve or alter original emotions.
To Make Distance Before Recalling is a self-reflexive meditation on the lifecycle of artworks. It challenges conventional exhibition formats while offering a contemplative space where distance becomes a necessary condition for truly seeing — and re-encountering — one’s own practice.
