ART4D SPEAKS WITH PHOEBE HUI, THE ARTIST IN THIS YEAR AUDEMARS PIGUET CONTEMPORARY ABOUT HER PROJECT, AND AUDREY TEICHMANN, THE PROJECT’S CURATOR SINCE 2012
TEXT: PRATARN TEERATADA
PHOTO COURTESY OF AUDEMARS PIGUET CONTEMPORARY
(For Thai, press here)
Audemars Piguet, a renowned watch brand from Switzerland, has always been an enthusiastic advocate of art and fashion through several of their projects. The brand has been a co-organizer of Art Basel since 2014 and established a foundation to provide support for art projects and artists worldwide, enabling them to create works that are both complex and meaningful for the world’s Contemporary Art scene.
This year, Audemars Piguet Contemporary chooses Hong Kong artist Phoebe Hui to be the fifth artist who receives their patronage, working together with specially invited curator Ying Kwok, the mind behind the Hong Kong Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. art4d talked with the artist about her “The Moon is Leaving Us” piece showcased at Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts in Hong Kong. The work explores mankind’s connection with the moon, referencing the relationship between the way the star is drifting away from the earth at an average distance of 3.28 centimeters each year, which is almost equivalent to humans’ yearly fingernail growth rate. We also had an interesting conversation with the project’s curator, Audrey Teichmann, about the project and how it has evolved since 2012.
Hong Kong-based artist Phoebe Hui
art4d: Your works represent the links between science art and poetry. Could you tell us about the process of making your work?
Phoebe Hui: I find that art, science and poetry complement each other in many ways. The process of making my work incorporates all of these elements, I like performing autopsies with objects around me such as machines, pencils, and other everyday objects. The three elements that I value are concept, technology, and aesthetic. For an example, instead of using a circuit to perform certain kind of functions, I explore electronic components of programs or cables, it feels like sculpting to me. When I put these elements together, I hope to present it in a way that the audience can appreciate the beauty of the materials I use and of course, for it to function.
art4d: Do you always involve collaborators such as scientists, a former astronaut, etc?
PH: As a research based artist, I find it important to work with collaborators, to inform my projects. In this instance, I was very fortunate as the Audemars Piguet Contemporary team have also played a major role in the development of this project. Whilst I had total freedom in creation, the Audemars Piguet Contemporary team was very hands on in ways that substantially benefited the project, for instance by introducing me to scientists, engineers and also a former astronaut for idea exchanges. Their insights have been invaluable in the development of the artwork.
art4d: Who are your biggest influences?
PH: In this project, a big influence for me was 17th-century Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius. He was a revolutionary figure in his field, who was known for sketching the first detailed maps of the moon. Nowadays using visual materials for serious subject matter and knowledge is something that is almost in our blood but, during his time it wasn’t and this is something I greatly admire.
I was also very inspired by Su Dongpo and his poem, Prelude to Water Melody. The poem sees its protagonist gazing at the Moon and thinking of his brother, from whom he is separated. This imagery stayed with me who was used to spending many years away from my friends and family while studying abroad. I became attached to the Moon and the idea that one can feel near those they love when they observe the celestial body.
art4d: Do you always interact technology in your work?
PH: Technology plays an important role in my work – technology today is the air that we breathe, and I want to learn to understand and play with it. It is a very interesting process to get to know what is behind “technology” without being afraid of its apparent complexity. My work more generally is about building, or rebuilding, our relationship with the universe.
art4d: Which contemporary art world scenes that you think they are the future?
PH: I was trained in both traditional and new media and I am very drawn to new media technologies.
Audrey Teichmann, in-house co-curator for Audemars Piguet Contemporary
art4d: Please tell us about your roles at Audemars Piguet?
Audrey Teichmann: I am an in-house co-curator (along with my colleague Denis Pernet) for Audemars Piguet Contemporary, which is a programme which commissions international artists to create contemporary artworks.
We offer not only financial resources to the artists we commission, but also a curatorial dialogue which supports their practice and research. We also facilitate access to outside mentorship or expertise the artist may need over the course of developing their project. We accompany each project closely, from inception to exhibition, and foster a community of artists with whom we develop long-term relationships. We have nurtured such exchanges with artists including Cao Fei, Ryoji Ikeda, Tomás Saraceno, Jana Winderen etc.
art4d: Could you describe your commissioned work policy?
AT: We do not have a policy as such when commissioning. We give commissioned artists a ‘carte blanche’ so they have complete freedom to create the works they want to create. The artwork belongs to the artist so it’s part of their body of their work and could eventually be exhibited with their other projects and in future shows.
art4d: What do you have planned for this year?
AT: Our next project which we are excited for will be RYOJI IKEDA at 180 Studios, 180 The Strand opening on the 20th May (until 1st August), where we have worked in collaboration with Vinyl Factory in London. The exhibition will include the Audemars Piguet Contemporary commissioned data-verse trilogy which is a major moment for us. The exhibition not only marks the world premiere of data-verse 3; it is the first time the complete trilogy will be shown as one since it was commissioned in 2015, creating a rare opportunity for audiences to see the works in harmony in an environment that is able to take on and maximize its scale.
art4d: How do you select artists?
AT: We have two ways of choosing artists: under the Audemars Piguet Art Commission, the artist is selected with the guidance of the guest curator; under the Studio Audemars Piguet, the two in house curators, Denis Pernet and I, in dialogue with our collaborators, invite artists we wish to collaborate with to commission new works. We are driven by a constant prospective research and continuous discussions. What we are interested in when collaborating with an artist is the interest of their practice, their diversity of positions, and contribution to the contemporary art discourse today.
Experience the virtual tour of The Moon is Leaving Us at https://www.audemarspiguet.com/com/en/news/art/phoebe-hui-the-moon-is-leaving-us.html, now until May 23rd, 2021.