Kwan Sheung Chi 關尚智

From a series of flitting bills to a bouquet of poised lilies, Kwan Sheung-Chi (b. 1980, Hong Kong) tenaciously pursues across multiple mediums a conceptual practice rooted in criticism of political status quo, assignations of value and modes of existence. Employing simple props to articulate his reflections with pointed focus, Kwan unravels Hong Kong’s relationship with money, its political framework and the livelihood of those who inhabit it. Voiced from a position of observation, the viewer senses throughout a tension between meditation and intervention, a feeling that is heightened by a running sense of banality that pervades Kwan’s propositions. Fielding commentary that’s against-the-grain, Kwan heralds a non-assumptive yet determined voice that quietly digs at the underpinnings of Hong Kong, but also more widely, the society we’re born into.