a summary of sorts, august 2014
Last year I went to Cambodia as a nature conservation volunteer, and I became fascinated by the makeshift roadside furniture there. Not only did they resemble the do-it-yourself designs by European designers like Enzo Mari, their resourceful approach echoed the Kiwi "No.8 wire ingenuity". So I was really keen to return and research them further.
Incidentally, the only artist-run-space in the country, Sa Sa Art Projects, had launched a residency, with a focus on experimentation over final outcomes. That was perfect for what I wanted to do, and I went back over May and June, walking around in the tropical heat, investigating frugal materials and everyday creativity.
Living in the White Building was an experience in itself. A historical modernist building, now home to a vibrant community of dancers, musicians, sex workers, drug dealers and street vendors. Happily, I found myself in a hotspot of the makeshift creations I was looking for: structures made out of coat hangers, concrete lumps in multitudes of uses, plants ingeniously suspended etc. Such handmade details were much less common in the richer parts of the city, where things are more "professionally made". These resourceful techniques, along with observation of how people use public spaces, provided inspiration for a collaborative design project for a suburban park in Auckland <http://jwr.making-doing.info/tagged/other-research>.
Living among people struggling to survive posed a huge challenge to my position as an artist: snapping photos for a research blog felt extravagant and self-indulgent, when the lady downstairs was working all day selling noodles just to make the ends meet; or contemplating the value of play, when down the road, children were walking at night picking recyclables out of rubbish piles to sell and buy food. For a while everywhere I looked was in despair: documentaries on environmental destruction, driving through a lake filled with sand, a site of violent eviction outside my studio window, not to mention the historical atrocities. I was overwhelmed by these paradoxical contrasts of realities, the state of "development" and this crazy capitalist swirl that we are in.
I had an epiphany after witnessing a fierce debate between an French businessman and a Khmer-French graduate over basic rights and ownership. The process of capitalism, monetising previously shared commons to feed the economy has been happening over the centuries. This crisis over land resources, the powerful reaping over the poor was not limited to Cambodia, but is widespread in most countries, including New Zealand.
But, there was hope in the very things I was looking at: a young tree growing out of a rubbish pile on the side-walk (it doubled in size while I as there!); a handmade paradise on the rooftop, with a lovingly nourished papaya tree providing shade for doing exquisite traditional embroidery, and fruits shared with the neighbours; a fragrant garden built on a metal fence made with plastic bottles and tended by a strong and stylish old lady; a narrow alley slowly customised over the years to be a haven for stray cats and a devoted Buddhist shrine. While I spoke little Khmer, some things don't need words. These makers seemed to intuitively understand my fascination with their creation and shared their joy of making with me.
There was also the gem that was Sa Sa Art Projects. Despite limited funding, the support and people involved were extraordinary: they drove me around to shows, organised gatherings and studio visits, and tracked down obscure locals like the man who made recycled tyre sandals. Because they also run the community school, so I had a support network of enthusiastic youths. Many of them is part of the Aziza Film Club, where ten people shared one camera, and they created fantastic projects like “Humans of Phnom Penh”. People are the most precious things one could encounter. I feel truly blessed to have been part of the warm and vibrant community that Sa Sa has created.
I tried out a few new things:
For a week I went to an art school to learn traditional Apsara dance. Attempting painful stretches and impossible poses along the much more nimble Khmer girls, I became entranced by their finger movements, and started looking at hand movements in all kinds of making. I noticed that the Khmers were much more touchy-feely compared to the Kiwis, which inspired a massage dictionary project for Auckland gallery RM's envoy at International Artist Initiated in Glasgow.
Inspired by the craftsmen with their mobile workshops, one morning, with assistants from Sa Sa, we moved my studio to the nearby park. We strung tyre rubber straps between the trees and lamp posts, and started tying on leaves. From there, children came out of nowhere and played with the materials. A series of these spontaneous workshops happened, every-time I was pleasantly surprised by what they had created: fashion accessories, musical instruments, toys etc. The last event even included a rooftop parade and impromptu musical performance.
Through a Kiwi connection, I ran a zine-making workshop for the girls taking shelter at the Cambodian Women's Development Agency. I showed them how to cut and fold pieces of A3 into small booklets, and they filled them with drawings and rubbings from the tropical fruit and leaves I had brought along. One girl started a panoramic drawing based on Angkor Wat, but looking more like sky scrapers. Amazing!
Hitch-hiking from Phnom Penh Airport, I met a group of Japanese volunteers. One of them mentioned that the rural school he worked for offered no art classes, and invited me to run a workshop there. I turned up to see neat rows of children sitting obediently behind desks, reminiscent of my own childhood in China. Immediately I got them to rearrange the desks into clusters, causing a lot of excitement, as that was the first time it had happened. I brought in my favourite materials: used cardboard, tyre inner tubes and some stationery, and showed them simple ways of construction. Initially everyone was confused: they were used to being told what to do. Then slowly they started playing with the materials, and they came to their own: houses with garden balconies began springing up, along with bridges complete with flags, cars and roundabout sculptures. The classroom teemed with laugher, clapping and excitement. Proudly, they presented their works to the principal, and tested out the creations outside by a puddle.
How miraculous what the children came up with, when all I gave them was junk!
One of the many hanging gardens on the White Building, this one bearing dragon fruits
Roadside popcorn stand made out of the ubiquitous blue pvc pipe, coathanger wire, and an old office chair base
Impromptu musical performance/fashion parade on the rooftop of White Building, with members of Sa Sa Art Projects, Aziza community school and children who came to the workshop.
Frugal craft workshop at Angkor School, Kampong Cham. The boys built a bridge complete with model vehicles, flags and roundabout sculptures.
Zine-making workshop for Cambodian Women's Development Agency.
