THINKING CURRENTS (2015)

THINKING CURRENTS

July 30–August 2, 2015 at the inaugural Seattle Art Fair

An exhibition of video, film, & sound by artists based in the Pacific Rim and beyond

Role: Curatorial Assistant

Curated by ACAW Director Leeza Ahmady

THINKING CURRENTS foregrounds the immediacy of experimentation with moving image, particularly video and film, by some of today’s most compelling contemporary artists, whose practices also variously relate-to and problematize the cultural, political, and geographical parameters of the Pacific Rim.

The exhibition activates Seattle’s geo-economic position in the Pacific Northwest, United States as a significant new arena for transnational connectivity with creative communities based around the rim of the Pacific Ocean, and other regions of the Global South. THINKING CURRENTS consciously underscores individual art practices while examining common denominators, collective manifestations, themes, and occurrences to stage the intensity of the wide range of interlacing inquires launched by artists in recent years. Beyond broad exploration of aesthetics and formal representations, works considering bodies of water, migration, environmental conditions, identity, nation-building, conflict, technology and stagnation within the various liquid and land territories of East and Southeast Asia are especially explored.

THINKING CURRENTS refrains from engaging in overarching statements in an effort to yield fresh and nuanced contextual stratum. It raises numerous questions in search of unexpected connections, undercurrents and reflections to facilitate visibility for a great knowledge base of historical and contemporary insight. Ultimately, through critical inquiry into the making and thinking about art within the specificities of The Pacific Rim, which includes three of the world’s major continents: Asia, Australia & America (North and South), THINKING CURRENTS seeks to contribute to a rethinking of global contemporaneity.

Participating Artists & Collectives:
Monira Al Qadiri (Kuwait City & Tokyo) • Burçak Bingöl (Istanbul) • Patty Chang (Boston) • Tiffany Chung (Ho Chi Minh City) • Alexis Destoop (Sydney & Brussels) • Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba (Ho Chi Minh City) • Ho Tzu-Nyen (Singapore) • Kato Sawako (Tokyo) • Khvay Samnang (Phnom Penh) • Lee Kit (Hong Kong & Taipei) • Charles Lim (Singapore) • Jawshing Arthur Liou (Indiana) • Tracey Moffatt (New York & Brisbane) • Qui Shiming (Beijing) • Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (Chiang Mai) • Wael Shawky (Alexandria) • Sun Xun (Beijing) • Patrick Todd (New York) • Charwei Tsai (Ho Chi Minh City, Paris & Taipei) • Alexander Ugay (Almaty) • Tintin Wulia (Brisbane & Jakarta) • Jamie Zigelbaum (New York) • Polit-Sheer-Form Office (Hong Hao, Xiao Yu, Song Dong, Liu Jianhua, Leng Lin; Beijing) • Map Office (Laurent Gutierrez & Valerie Portefaix; Hong Kong)