'I Like to Mix Fact and Fiction in My Work'

Artist Angela Su talks about her exhibition Arise, the experience of representing Hong Kong at the 59th Venice Biennale, and the fictional world she created. Yasmin Afschar, winner of Asia Society Switzerland's first Young Curator Residency program, moderated the conversation. In this video, you can listen to Angela Su discussing the process of mixing fact and fiction, the many alter egos in her work, and how she learned about levitation.

For a transcript accompanied with more visuals of Su's work, you can follow this link.
 

About our Speakers

Angela Su’s works investigate the perception and imagery of the body, through metamorphosis, hybridity and transformation. Central to these projects are video essays and texts where she embodies different alter-egos, weaving together fiction and facts, reality and fantasy. With a focus on the history of medical science, her works question the dominant biomedical discourse, and contemplate the impact of technology on the past, present and future. Su has participated in exhibitions in museums and institutions internationally, including So long, thanks again for the fish (Levyhalli, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, 2021); Drawings from Now (The Drawing Center, New York, 2020); Meditations in an Emergency (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2020); Artists' Film International (Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2019); and the 17th Biennale of Sydney (Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, 2010).

Yasmin Afschar is a Swiss-Iranian curator, editor, and producer for contemporary art, based in Zurich. She is the former curator at Aargauer Kunsthaus in Aarau, Switzerland, and has been co-running the nomadic discussion platform LE FOYER – IN PROCESS since 2018. Recently, she was appointed as a mediator by the New Patrons, an international initiative supporting public art projects commissioned by citizens. Exhibitions Yasmin organized include Emma Kunz Cosmos. A Visionary in Dialogue with Contemporary Art (Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau 2021 & Tabakalera, San Sebastián 2022) as well as solo exhibitions with Denise Bertschi, Cédric Eisenring, and Marie Matusz, among others. Yasmin’s curatorial interests lie in how exhibitions can create events of knowledge that question the structures in place. Recent research includes how notions of healing and repair are used by contemporary artists to address current societal and political concerns.

About the Hosting Venue

Last Tango is a Kunstverein in Zurich dedicated to presenting and (co-)producing original exhibitions by a trans-generational roster of artists.

For an impression of the venue and the event, you can scroll through the gallery below.
All photos by André Hengst.