Kongkee Resurrects an Historical Chinese language Poet in an Energetic Cyberpunk Imaginative and prescient of Asian Futurism — Colossal
Animation
Artwork
#Asian Futurism
#set up
#Kongkee
#video
“The Tears” (2020). All pictures © Kongkee, courtesy of the artist and Penguin Lab, shared with permission
The story of the legendary Chinese language poet Qu Yuan ends in tragedy. Dwelling throughout the harmful Warring States interval that ran from 481 to 221 BCE, Qu Yuan was an influential author and politician who was banished by King Huai of Chu and subsequently spent a lot of his time touring the nation and dealing on verse. The lifetime of exile didn’t swimsuit the poet, although, main him right into a deep melancholy and towards his eventual suicide within the Miluo River. Created as a hunt to retrieve Qu Yuan’s physique, the annual Dragon Boat Pageant continues to at the present time in celebration of his legacy.
A forthcoming exhibition at Chicago’s Wrightwood 659 imagines the poet’s afterlife “as his soul journeys from the traditional Chu Kingdom to a retro-futuristic Asia the place he’s reborn as an android in a psychedelic cyberpunk panorama.” Melding historical past with a particular sci-fi imaginative and prescient, Kongkee: Warring States of Cyberpunk options works in a number of mediums by the London-based Chinese language animator and artist Kong Khong-chang, often known as Kongkee. Utilizing movies, projections, installations, historical objects, and graphic items, the artist explores Asian Futurism by means of the energetic and luminously rendered narrative of a Chinese language icon.
“Time Traveller” (2018)
An extension of a comic book sequence Kongkee created again in 2013, the present considers existential questions of immortality, how the physique and soul work together, and the tenuous relationship between humanity and machine. Daring, saturated colours emphasize the position of the digital within the visionary realm, whereas mountain ranges, clouds, and huge starry skies incorporate extra pure and classical motifs that have existed for millennia. Rippled waves and water function prominently, referencing Qu Yuan’s drowning in 278 BCE.
Though based mostly on a lifetime of immense struggling, Kongkee’s works are optimistic as he envisions a universe the place redemption and reconciliation are doable. The artist shares in an announcement:
I requested myself, what occurs when a soul emerges after 2,000 years from underwater—does it search out one thing new? Does it return to acquainted locations? Qu Yuan’s poetry has a psychedelic, wandering high quality that I attempted to mirror in my artwork, however I additionally wished him to mirror the disorientation, in addition to the hope, of our period.
Following its U.S. debut at the Asian Artwork Museum in San Francisco, Kongkee: Warring States of Cyberpunk opens in Chicago on April 14 and shall be on view till July 15. Discover extra from the artist on Instagram.
“The Singer” (2018)
“Dragon’s Delusion vinyl cowl” (2021)
“Dragon’s Delusion—Departure poster” (2017)
“Qu Yuan, Dragon’s Delusion—Assassination” (2018)
“The twenty fifth Hour” (2018)
“The Pier” (2018)
#Asian Futurism
#set up
#Kongkee
#video
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