bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Norman Ford

Extended Territory
Goethe-Institut
Reviewed: Oct 13
The words white, clean and sharp  come to mind when looking at Map Office's  latest exhibition at the Goethe-Institut,   fresh from  the Istanbul and Venice Biennales this past summer.
The show is dominated by  detailed monochrome, architectural-style drawings referencing Chinese scroll painting.
Other elements also emerge: headphones with narrators telling stories in Cantonese and English; two videos; a large illustration of an overwhelmed Hong Kong island; an animated version of the wall drawings projected at a sharp angle onto the gallery floor and a skewed poster with text.
Most of the images are based on  areas in Guangdong province, with  detailed renderings of buildings, trees, people, animals and cars.  There's  tension  between these generic-looking representations and the sites the drawings are based on. Yet, despite their method, they are not for planning or building - these drawings are fragments of a non-linear, unending story. The narratives  revolve around a fictitious  character named Pixel,  who moves through various sites and unfolds what Map Office - through artists Laurent Gutierrez  and Valerie Portefaix  - suggests is a topography of a new Chinese reality. Looking at representative places/spaces such as the Mall, the Port, the Superhighway and the Factory, Pixel takes us through a series of formative and ubiquitous experiences in the region.
One might wonder why, considering the  intensity of southern China, these representations are so clean, quiet and orderly. It's an almost perverse approach that speaks to gallery aesthetics as much as to conditions in China.
Yet, given the level of interest in China's rapid transformation, Map Office's strategies are distinct, unusual and perhaps even more revealing as they leverage strategies that are  subtle and highly evocative.
Until Nov 5. Goethe-Institut, 14F, HK Arts Centre. Inquiries: 2802 0088



Extended Territory