Fun Interview with Ting-Ting Cheng..

1) Briefly explain what has been your leading inspiration to be an artist?

I think it comes from great exhibitions I see. Interesting exhibitions always make me want to create something as good as those artists' works.

2) What is the most memorable exhibition for you and why so?

The most memorable exhibition for me so far should be 'Home and Away' at Castlefield Gallery in Manchester. Not only because the gallery space is amazing, but also that all the staff and interns are unbelievably nice. We even become friends and keep in touch after that. And the most important thing is, I had a 10 meter high wall to install my project 'Reasons to Travel'. It was my first time, probably also the last time installing works on a scaffolding with a helmet!

3) What song do you never get sick of?

Weirdly, the first song came to my mind is 'I will survive' from Gloria Gaynor. I am kind of old school and I think the song is inspiring!

4) What's your favorite food?

I love salmon sashimi and also a Taiwanese cuisine made by spicy blood from duck, yummy ;)

5) What is your fashion sense/icon?

I am not a big fan of fashion, it's very difficult to name one...

6) Do you have a life philosophy that you live by?

workaholic? 

7) If you could give anyone a piece of advice, what would it be?

Spend more time with your family while you can.

8) Name three countries you'd like to visit that you haven't yet?

Mexico, Brazil and Malta. It's too cold now all I can think of are warm countries...

9) What do you like the most about, England?

Lots of artists opportunities!

10) What's your favorite colour?

probably black and white.

Thanks a lot for your answers Ting-Ting. 

And from all of us at Salon Contemporary, have a lovely christmas and a prosperous new year!

Our 'Artist of The Week' WINNER is....Ting-Ting Cheng!

  Congratulations Ting-Ting!

                                               Untitled (Still Life With Fruits)

In the project, the artist focuses on the power of brand to represent the commodity fetishism - an illusion arising from the product to overrate itself, enchanting people to buy it. In our everyday life, we can find a bike from Hermes cost £2300, and a tennis-racket from CHANEL cost £450. What is the uniqueness about those products from famous designer brands? Fruits, as a natural product, without artificiality, are ridiculously labeled with Louis Vuitton, GUCCI…etc. Without any other difference, do people believe 
that ‘The Fruit’ is better than others?

Invisibilty  

In ‘Invisibility’, Ting-Ting Cheng’s photographs of found objects celebrate the banality of everyday
life. She collected a number of insignificant objects that were discarded on the streets and placed  
them on sculpture plinths.

Cheng is working in a long artistic tradition that stretches back to Surrealism. She is more directly  
inspired by contemporary artists such as Martin Creed and Fischli and Weiss, whose absurdist  
treatment of the everyday raises fundamental questions as to the nature and materiality of art. 
At the same time the images raise environmental issues concerning the huge amounts of waste  
generated by our society much of which appears to be invisible to consumers.

Things We May Never Know  
 
In ‘Things We May Never Know’, Cheng combines texts with objects that belong to  
international students from Asia to explore the isolation of being an outsider in a foreign land. The  
displacement of these objects indicates the cultural barriers that these students are facing by  
themselves, without the reassurance of family or a familiar setting. The texts, written in the native  
language of the each owner, describe the relationship between the object and the person. It is  
untranslated to force the owner’s position upon the viewer: their words are one of the many things  
that, due to enormous cultural differences, we may never know.

To view more of Ting-Ting's work, you can take a look at her website on www.chengtingting.com

Steven Emmanuel Artist of the Week Interview

1) Savory or Sweet?

Both.

2) Which artist has influenced you the most or challenged the way you look at things?

It is a really difficult question to answer because different artists work have influenced and challenged me at different times. At the moment I am more intrigued with artists who are quite different to myself and enjoy finding a conversation between their work and my own. A few of the artists who’s work I find really interesting at the moment are; Lindsey Sears, Anton Henning, Rebecca Warren, Nicolas Provost, and Marcus Coates.

3) How would you briefly describe the differences in experiencing an undergraduate degree to studying a Masters?

I was uncertain of what I wanted at undergraduate and when I started my MA I had already made those decisions, which made it a much more rewarding experience.

4) What gets you through the day?

Work.

5) What always makes you smile, without fail?

Painting my ball.

6) If you were going away for a long time and could only take one thing with you, what would that be?

My ball of paint.

7) If you weren't an artist, what career path would you chose?

A stable one.

8) What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Stubborn, neurotic and considered.

9) What will you do after answering these interview questions?

Nothing, I have no plans.

10) What is your favorite festive holiday and why?

None of them.

This week's Winner of 'Artist of the week' is Steven Emmanuel!

Congratulations Steven!


Steven has recently graduated with an MA in Communication Art & Design at the Royal College of Art.


Steven enjoys creating work that 'congratulates its own stupidity and dwells upon its consideration and its own perceived importance. Within this work labour and meditation are often perversely married to one another in the process of capturing everything and nothing.'




'I engage with art itself as a subject matter to attempt to 
understand the physical and philosophical ingredients of contemporary  
  art. I often think of art as an autopoietic machine that self-creates and  
continually perpetuates. The artist being the protagonist and operator of this  
machine, taking things apart and putting them back together again in a new way, 
re-mediating reality and re-configuring it to sustain itself.'

'Rorscach's rug'

'Death and taxes'

      

'Do not touch'

'Sorting the hundreds from the thousands'

'Inside the white cube'

'Seven folds'

'Stand up Protest'

'Each piece of work that I make speaks to the last and attempts to look forward and question something new to discuss with the next. It creates an introspective cycle that thrives upon the questioning of its self and the development of my own logic and my own language.'






To view more of Steven's work, follow his website on
www.stevenemmanuel.com

Jennifer Ross' Artist of the Week Interview

1. What is your signature drink?

-Savanna

2. Which is the best exhibition you have ever been to and why?

- Candice Breitz, 'Inner + Outer Space' at Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin. I found it totally hypnotic.

3. What did you enjoy about your degree the most?

- My Erasmus exchange to Rotterdam in the 2nd year, I wouldn't be where I am today without that experience. I had my first exhibition there at Het Platfond.

4. If you could describe yourself in one work what would it be?

-Ooo! That’s tough, I've no idea. But my friend suggested 'determined' or 'witty'.

5. What is your favorite thing to eat over Christmas?

-Extra crispy roast potatoes

6. If you were stuck in a deserted island and you could have three things from home, what would they be?

-iPhone
-Mac book pro
-Internet
(I'm assuming there's a power source on the island)

7. Where is your local hang out?

-Broadway cinema

8. What is your favorite film and why?

-I've never had a favorite film; it always depends on my mood. But the most influential film I've seen was Renzo Martens, Episode 3. I've seen this film about 4 times now, and each time is a different experience, however it never fails to shock me and leave me wondering about the nature of mankind. It was influential because it lead to me explore my obsession with the documentary, the promise of knowledge, the idea that knowledge could expand my world. Thus leading me to consider how knowledge can gives us freedom but also constrain and limit our possibilities.

9. If you were not an artist, what do you think you would have chosen as a career path?

- I was studying to be a doctor, however Science is incredibly boring and so I switched to Fine Art. So probably a doctor, or possibly a vet.

10. What was highlight of 2010 for you?

- Career wise would be being selected for the UK Young Artist Biennial. Personally it would be the city break to Budapest in the summer.

This week's Artist of the Week winner - JENNIFER ROSS

CONGRATULATIONS JENNIFER ROSS!

Jen is a recent Fine Art’s graduate from Nottingham Trent University.

Her current work aims to challenge a belief in a core true self, whether or not one exists. By Manipulating materials that feed into contemporary culture she seeks to reveal their function within society. Through her work, Jen hopes to make the audience contemplate what they believe, moreover what they choose to believe.

The following link will direct you to her current work:

http://www.yousendit.com/download/cEd1cmxabWcwZ2swTVE9PQ

Jennifer Ross' video still

Jennifer Ross' film installation

An Interview with Charlotte Billingham

1) If you could use one word to describe yourself, what would it be?
Focused

2) In your work, you use a lot of different mediums. If you had to chose only one, which would it be and why?
It's very hard to answer this as the way the different mediums relate to each other and to the space they are in are the issues my current practice explores- if I had to choose one based on aesthetic values, at present it would be the etchings into slate.

3) If you could be in any place right now, where would it be?
Somewhere sunny!

4) What one item couldn't you live without?
My Canon SLR camera

5) Name one piece of art work you've seen recently that’s had a powerful affect on you.  Why did you like it/dislike it and who was it by?
Turning The Place Over- Richard Wilson at Liverpool Biennial- His use of deconstruction, re-assembly and movement to create new questions and dialogues around a previously disused and derelict building in order to provoke a hightened contextual awareness within the city.

6) What is your favorite word?
I'm not sure I have one favorite word! There are too many to choose from!

7) Do you have a memorable quote/philosophy on life?
Antonin Artaud - 'it is not opium which makes me work but its absence, and in order for me to feel its absence it must from time to time be present'

8) What and where would your ideal gallery location be to display your artwork?
An urban, contemporary gallery, London, Newcastle, Glasgow

9) Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
Full!

10) What has been the biggest turning point for you as an artist?
Being in the final year of my degree, it is now when everything begins to come together and this is really exciting. I think the Degree Show in June 2011 will be a great experience for the whole year to work together in creating a successful Exhibition which will hopefully bring new opportunities!