Artwork of the month - video (53 sec)

Dog Demon suitcase – Hong Kong – Lan Kwai Fong

Year	2018
Size	Artwork: 110 cm x 72.8 cm Frame: 115 cm x 78 cm x 3 cm
Materials	Four-colour silkscreen print on Steinbach paper (220 gr)
Options	incl. custom-made oak frame, painted in grey, by Atelier Derycke Part of the wooden suitcase project.
Edition	6 pieces (+ 1 artist’s proof)
For Sale	Yes, contact our gallery Fred&Ferry (Antwerp, BE)
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This four-colour silkscreen print was made by the artists themselves. R&F F&R made seven prints in total, including one artist print. The work documents an action/performance in the public space, which took place in Lan Kwai Fong, a square in Hong Kong popular among expats for its nightlife.

F&R R&F constructed a series of wooden suitcases (see also the work: Dog Demon Suitcase). Each case is in fact a portable performance and/or installation. The works only realise their full potential when installed and activated in the public space. As artists the duo have a holistic approach. Coincidence and intuition play a significant role in their work. The temporary nature of their performances or interventions in the public space is an essential aspect of their work.

This silkscreen print documents one such intervention in the public space. While exploring Hong Kong at dusk, suitcases in hand, the artists came upon a number of damaged and messily packaged Buddha statuettes, completely out of context. The poor weather and graffitied security shutters added to the somewhat forlorn yet magical sense of place. Intuitively they decided to place their own sculpture among the statues. Although it may appear contradictory, even lightly blasphemous, the sight does perfectly reflect the energy of Hong Kong, where centuries-old culture and philosophy meet contemporary culture.

This silkscreen print makes tangible F&R R&F’s quest to build bridges between cultures, here placing their figurine literally alongside the Buddhas in an attempt to show their perspective on the rapidly-evolving reality that surrounds them and all of us. This duality – between East and West, Asia and Europe, old and new cultures and the associated visual languages and layers of meaning – is coming to be a common thread in the work of F&R R&F. Ultimately the same questions keep arising over and over again: who are we? Where do we come from? And, most of all, where are we headed?

By documenting this moment, carrying it with them, and later turning it into this large-format silkscreen print, R&F F&R give a new interpretation to their past performance. It brings to mind the the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy can neither be lost, nor can it arise from nothing; it can only be transformed.

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