“Retain a desolate face” during the 2022 Kuandu Biennale – Time of the Art Society: How to Become Indi-genous?”.

I visited an exhibition called “Retain a desolate face” during the 2022 Kuandu Biennale – Time of the Art Society: How to Become Indi-genous?”. The event was curated by Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts and the artworks are by Lee Kit, an artist from Hong Kong, who utilizes mediums such as lights, videos, words and found objects as a main source of inspiration for his creative process and works. In this curated space, the artist Lee Kit aims to discuss and bring awareness to the interrelationship between the human and object relationship, and the humanization process of turning short-lived experiences into long-term relationships, taking a deeper dive into the visualization of his state of mind and mindfulness of his surroundings, allowing an emphasis on his sentiments and thoughts to be shown through his works.

The arrangement of the space surrounding his artworks in this biennale presentation enhances the personification of his works, an intimate feeling is followed by the arrangement of space, emphasizing carefulness to his intention and detail, creating some sort of alertness and circumspection around all of his exhibited artworks. While visiting the exhibition, I noticed the use of natural elements such as the light source from the sun outside of the space, I think the it intensified the space with a subtle nudge in various directions and respectfully created a new approach to viewing videography works as in comparison with just putting the works in a dark room. It allows me, the audience to imagine a variety of differentiation of displaying the underlying notions of Lee Kit’s works.

Paying attention to the way everything was presented as a whole instead of each individual work; I barely remember the names of the pieces. But the way the exhibition was purposely curated to look plain and minimalistic really set an example in my eyes of how nonchalantly niche, almost quiet, sort of elegance to its existence an exhibition could be. The way the artist, Lee Kit, took a control of the natural surrounding elements and incorporated it into man-made objects allowed food for thought for others. This exhibition was enjoyable and successful to me due to the fact that the artist, Lee Kit wanted us, the audience to ponder about the underlying tension between the interrelationship of objects and humans in an ecological time, the discuss the detachment of problem-solving, and transforming from short-lived experiences to long-term relationships.

There was an old broken microwave exhibited as part of Lee Kit’s artworks. And it reminds me of the collaboration between Pei Lynn and Huang Hua-Chen, two artists from Taiwan. Pei Lynn and Huang Hua-Chen are two devoted Christians, who made a tribute to their faith in their religion and Jesus Christ in the form of a stop-motion animation. The animation seems to be hinting at an abstract explanation of part of the bible. So, I cannot help but wonder, whether or not Lee Kit had similar intentions, albeit... It might not be related to the faith of religion, but perhaps something more similar to the notion of motivation of life, the relationship between oneself and the object. Broken fridges, broken lights, displayed in the same space as fully functional projectors, screens, perfect white walls, a well-maintained garden, a plastic covered glass paneled door. I can’t help but wonder, what is the relationship between life and objects that Lee Kit wants us to think and talk about? What does he himself want to talk about more straightforwardly? The expressions are so vague, that it gives too much space for discussion. But perhaps, this is the turmoil he seeks for people to experience at a gruesome limitless age of time.

While I was visiting the exhibition, I noticed that there were people standing in front of the projectors, blocking the view of each works, one wonder if he predicted these outcomes, two humane shadows, moving about the room, trying to take pictures, to leave memories for them to look back at and reminisce for. To miss and to share, to be stopped in time in a single frame of a picture by someone else in the same space as them, what do they gain, and what can they seek after that? Was it worth it? Was it not? So many questions come to mind, when I visit this space. The exhibition leaves one wanting for more, to experience the sound, the light, the atmosphere, and the density of air his works caused.

Overall, Lee Kit is an impressive individual who made the curation of the space that would include his works into a very memorable breathtaking exhibition. Lee Kit succeeds in his venture to make people ponder about life, and the value of relationships objects, and humans that he aims to discuss with others openly. His gentle and yet firm personality that is given off based on his way of presentation speaks loudly to all. A space for discussion of all kinds of people and things. The space chosen for this specific exhibition gives off an eerily specific, playful, and yet heart-wrenching mind-play.