17 Dec 2022 - 26 Feb 2023
Chan Kok Hooi, Hoo Fan Chon & Tino Sehgal
Exhibition Guide: View Here
An immersive mixed-media exhibition brought to you by Chan Kok Hooi, Hoo Fan Chon and Tino Sehgal, this exhibition is an invitation to everyone to ponder upon one’s life as art.
The artwork through the interpretation of these artists is an intimate glimpse into the vulnerable moments of various individuals; so vulnerable and candid that it’s almost unsettling.
Through the invitation to zoom in on some of the most pivotal moments of someone else’s life, the exhibition aims to spark a light of self-discovery and reflection on one’s own existence.
Inspired by the artwork of American contemporary painter Eric Fischl, ‘Sleepwalker’ (1979), depicting an adolescent boy exploring his body in a plastic swimming pool, ‘Sleepwalker’ (after Fischl) is reinterpreted by the artist to explore the same themes by taking a mixed media approach.
Through the breast-shaped water reflections alongside its visual effects, the work attempts to express curiosity and fantasy about life and urges one to reflect on the mystery of one’s existence.
The project “Anita & Ava – Phtography as a Self-restorative Tool” was first inspired when the artist stumbled upon a collection of photographic portraits of Ava from the 1950s and 1960s in an old antique shop in Penang. The photo collection illustrates the journey of the late Ava Leong as she self-restored from an adolescent boy to a woman.
Fascinated by her story, the artist expanded the project through a series of interviews with Ava’s surviving lifelong friend, Anita, as the foundation of the video essay. These audio clips are then juxtaposed with both Ava and Anita’s photograph collection, symbolising a time where the transgender community of the 50s and 60s were allowed to explore their sense of self while contributing to the artistic culture in Malaysia.
Part of the artist’s radical artistic practice, the art takes the form of “constructed situations” between the fleeting specificity of the encounter between the visitor and the one enacting the work. The work of the artist opens the door for the audience to ponder upon a pivotal life-changing moment upon the words of someone else.
With an intimate glimpse of someone else’s life, the exhibition is encapsulated by the focus on the different kinds of people involved in artmaking and art-going, implying that anyone’s life can be art.


A panel sharing session hosted by artist, Hoo Fan Chon (artist behind “I enjoy being a girl”), KY (exhibition co-curator) and moderated by Nicholas Sung.
In this session, the panellists shared their creative process of the curation of the exhibition, diving deeper into the themes and how the artworks of different artists were strung together to express the narrative.
On a more personal note, KY shared his delight in having the opportunity to collaborate and highlight the artwork of two outstanding Penang-based artists; while Nicholas also dived into his experience of the exhibition from an audience point of view, and the contemplations probed from the evocative display.
