"We Honestly Don’t Know”, Art Basel Hong Kong 2024, Curated by Chloe Chow.
26.03.2024-30.03.2024
WMA Booth
To mark WMA’s debut at Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 as a cultural partner, WMA presents Chow and Lin, a Singaporean artist duo based in Beijing. Titled We Honestly Don’t Know, the 5-day fair invites over 40 participants from varied fields of knowledge and experience to engage in a real-time conversation marathon, addressing issues across art, society and humanity. This collaborative approach, which involves crowdsourcing knowledge and showcasing the creative research process, will breathe new life into Art Basel Hong Kong.
The title We Honestly Don't Know derives from the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi's Tao Te Ching, encapsulating the notion of embracing personal limitations with poise and composure. As the artists state, “We live within situational framings, where the idea of ‘truth’ seems unreasonably subjective. Can we ever establish a factual reality, or are we merely interpreting it? How do we develop a conscious ignorance? To realise the difference between ‘information’ and ‘knowledge’ – an embodiment of our awareness and understanding.” Since 2010, the artist duo Stefan Chow and Hui-yi Lin, working together as a photographer and an economist, have embarked on an international photography project The Poverty Line, toiling to give tangible form to the profound disparity that exists within our society. The project, spanning a decade until 2020, combines economic data and photography, traversing six continents and over thirty countries. It scrutinises the elemental facets of human existence and the choices we make. In 2011, Chow and Lin visited Hong Kong, where they calculated the average daily food expenditure of low-income households in the area. They then placed various everyday food items, equivalent in cost to that expenditure, onto local newspapers of that day and photographed the compositions. Chow and Lin's approach, reminiscent of classical still-life oil painting aesthetics, artfully merges objectivity and non-sentimentality. Through the deliberate juxtaposition of information and knowledge, their work prompts viewers to confront the question of "what defines poverty" in the context of today's globalised world. Their work was also shortlisted for the inaugural WMA Masters (2012/13) and received numerous international accolades. In 2021, it was permanently collected by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
The Poverty Line will be shown at the upcoming Art Basel Hong Kong, alongside a site-specific installation titled Equivalence - X:1, as well as the 5-day dialogue performance We Honestly Don't Know. Equivalence - X:1 is rooted in the concept of equivalent exchange, where a centrally placed readymade object is surrounded by meticulously arranged and equally valued goods, beckoning viewers to reassess the nuanced and delicate equilibrium between art, economic culture, and social structures. The highlight of the presentation We Honestly Don't Know, is a special public extension from The Conversation (2021-2061), Chow and Lin’s ongoing project spanning over forty years (or until the end of their lives). With each iteration occurring every ten years, the periodic dialogues and documented exchanges aim to construct a profound repository of knowledge that belongs to our era. As Writer Sherry Tukle has stated, “Face-to-face conversation is the most human--and humanising--thing we do. Fully present to one another, we learn to listen.” Chow and Lin, in their artistic practice, employ their bodies as a medium for real-time and ongoing "conversations" with invited participants. This creative endeavour intentionally contrasts with the presence of recording devices, artificial intelligence tools and real-time text repositories at the scene. It deliberates on the impermanence and the resilience of human existence in the context of technological advancements.
Chow and Lin's continuous engagement with the world and society, their commitment to expanding knowledge and imagination through connections, and their emphasis on the research process align with the visions of WMA.
Installation View: “We Honestly Don’t Know”
Photo Credits: Lee Kit Min