Ming Wong - mononoaware

There are many foreign language words that are difficult to translate adequately, such as the Japanese term ‘mono no aware’ (‘the pathos of things’) and the German word ‘Sehnsucht’ (‘longing’).

Despite the disparity of their origins, both these words can well be used to describe the work of Singapore-born artist Ming Wong, which traces his efforts to adopt foreign languages, cultures and identities by re-creating his own ‘world cinema’.

‘Angst Essen / Eat Fear’ (2008), developed during his residency at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Kreuzberg, Berlin, is a tribute to German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s ‘Angst Essen Seele Auf’ (‘Ali: Fear Eats the Soul’) (1973).
In his remake, Ming plays the German cleaning lady Emmi and her husband Ali, a Moroccan guestworker, along with other peripheral characters who fuel the crisis in the couple’s relationship with their xenophobic prejudices. The race, gender, age, status, nationality of individual characters become irrelevant as a 30-something-year-old foreign amateur actor of Chinese descent portrays all of the characters in a world of prejudice.

‘Four Malay Stories’ (2005) consists of re-enactments of four 'classic' films of the pioneering film industry in Singapore that flourished in the late 50s and early 60s. The producers were Chinese, who hired filmmakers from India to direct Malay Muslim actors in films that referenced Hollywood, Bollywood, European, Japanese and Chinese cinema.
On four adjacent monitors, the artist plays a total of 16 characters, male and female, young and old, repeating his lines in the Malay language, along with a transcription of the dialogue and a literal translation in English – as in a foreign language learning video, although the content is deliberately melodramatic and out-dated.

Also on display is ‘Filem-Filem-Filem’ (2008), a series of medium format Polaroid photographs of old cinemas that the artist found in Malaysia and Singapore.

Opening: Friday 05.09.2008, 18.00 h
Exhibition: 05.09. – 18.10.2008

MKgalerie – Berlin
Rudi-Dutschke Strasse 26 (former Kochstrasse 60), 10969 Berlin
Tel +49 (0)30 80618947
mk@mkgalerie.de
www.mkgalerie.de
Wed – Sat 11.00-18.00 h

MING WONG, born 1971 in Singapore, graduated from the Slade School of Art in London in 1999, currently lives and works in Berlin. Ming took part in the Künstlerhaus Bethanien’s International Studio Programme 2007/08.

This is Ming's first gallery solo exhibition in Berlin.

Exhibitions in 2008 include:
Vertraut oder Verdaut, ZKM Center for Art & Media, Karlsruhe, curated by Ludwig Seyfarth with Chantal Blatzheim; Das Piraterieproblem, Brandenburgischer Kunstverein, Potsdam, curated by Astrid Mania & Gerrit Gohlke; Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Wendt + Friedmann Galerie, Berlin, curated by Marc Wellmann & David Keating; Kunstinvasion, Blumengroßmart Berlin, curated by Initiative Berliner Kunsthalle;
Film Programm, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, selected by Annette Hans; Damn! I Wish I’d Done That!!, 176 Project Space, Zabludowicz Art Projects, London, curated by Harold Offeh.

www.mingwong.org