The opening of “Emptiness is Form - Works by Alice Kok” was such a great success held in Tak Chun Macau Art Garden on April 20 (Friday). On that day, lots of honorable guests have come to support the exhibition, including member of the legislative council of Macao AGNES LAM, Head of Division of Visual Art of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government LEONG PUI GWAN, Director of Macao Delegation of Orient Foundation Ana Paula CLETO, Director of Creative Macau Lúcia Lemos, Macau artist Mio Pang Fei etc. The exhibition hall was so crowded that it filled with lots of guests and artist, it was such a great time to have fun and enjoy the moment.

Opening ceremony 
 
 
Group photo of guests and artists

 
The works for Alice are based on the idea of Multiculturalism at the post-colonial époque. In recent years, after her travel in India and Tibet, she started to incorporate Buddhist Philosophy and meditation practices into her artistic expressions.  As her current project, she is also learning Tibetan thangka painting and drawing techniques into her projects. She uses media such as video, photography, writings, drawings and installations.

Pictogram, Alice Kok, 35 x 35 x 25 cm,Assemblage, 2018
 

Emptiness is Form, Alice Kok, 6”, Vedio, 2018

The exhibition of “Emptiness is Form” points out the fact that we are incessantly positioned in between images and reality. What is real and what is illusion? Alice Kok is interested in this questioning. And she uses the images of things to replace their actual presence. In her work of “No Mountain”, she uses the image of the mountain. So as in the works of “No Path”, “No Woods”…She places the equivalent images of these things into geometrical shaped vessels and then buried the images with earth. Emptiness is a kind of form. In “Emptiness is Form” Alice Kok stresses the impermanence of everything, including the materials. She questions the value and the appearance of art form. In the series of works of “No Buddha” and “No Fish”, she puts the photos inside water. By so doing the works are actually being “destroyed”, thus revealing the impermanence of matter. The works are “dying” in front of our eyes as if they were alive. While these pictures are dissolving they are being “sold” at the same time, so when we buy this kind of artworks, we do not buy only the photos but the whole process and the concept of the work.

 
No Buddha, Alice Kok, 20 x 20 x 18 cm, Instant Photography in water and frame, 2018

No Mountain, Alice Kok, 18 x 18 x 18 cm, Instant Photography in soil and frame, 2018

It is worth mentioning that after her graduation from the art school in France in 2004, Alice Kok has left to India and Tibet in 2006 and became a Buddhist since then. During the current exhibition she is reaching 40, “the age of No Doubt” according to Confucius. In part of the exhibition her previous works and documentaries are presented, as well as her previous exhibitions and catalogues. The series of “No Word” was written in 2002 when she was writing everyday with her typewriter. The texts were mainly about the notion of “Self”. Now that some of these texts were re-edited and shown in the current exhibition, we could see how her works have evolved over time to the current date. Alice Kok’s works have always been built upon concepts, words and languages are important but they do not stop there. In the series of “No Word”, we see the repetition of the words “Empty” and “Full”, or the story of “Attitude” being crossed out on the pages. These works are pointing at the emptiness of words as well.

Plastic Mountain, Alice Kok, 30 x 30 cm, Color Photography, 2018
 

No Words, Alice Kok, 12.7 x 8.9 cm, Typewriter text on paper, 2002-2018

Alice Kok likes to dwell in the ambiguity of different states, in between languages, in between cultures, in between matters, in between people… She loves the borderless land in between borders. The works shown in the exhibition of “Emptiness is Form” is also built in between Emptiness and Form. She is the two extremities of the twin, Buddha is in between. The opposition of duality is but a skillful means. After we go through the door of the means, it is without means, or “No Means”. It is as if the mirror-like surface of a lake, when the wind blows, the ripples arise and resist. The image of duality reflects the parts so that we can advance toward the understanding of the whole. The means is unique, the phenomenon is varied but the nature is one. The video work of “No Form” is created with an artistic approach but it should not be questioned solely based on its medium and form. Through the artistic expansion, truth beyond is being reflected. This is what I see in the ability of the artist to transcend. Her art upholds the principles of “deduction” and “transcendentalism” which should not be absent in the research of Art. It is a noble exploration reaching to the beyond. I could see Kant waving on the Cam Bridge.

 
 
Guest was watching Leong Fei In 's work

“Emptiness is Form - Works by Alice Kok” is partly sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Macao SAR Government. Media partners include Hoje Macau and Ponto Final. The exhibition will be opened to public from May 25 to June 28, 2018.

AFA Macau is located in 1st Floor, Art Garden, Avenida Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues N. 265, Macau. The gallery is open from Tuesdays to Sundays (12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.) and closed on Mondays and public holidays. For enquiries, please call (853) 2836 6064 during office hours or email to info@afamacau.com. For more information, please visit www.afamacau.com.