The graduate show is the culmination of the past two years of students from the RMIT Master of Fine Arts program in Hong Kong and takes place at the Pao Galleries of the Hong Kong Art Centre. Our class was the last group to graduate before the program went on hiatus in Hong Kong, adding another layer of personal significance to an already meaningful journey. Dr. Sally Mannall curated the exhibition masterfully.
My project showcased in the show investigates travel destinations and their experiential qualities, intending to remove the tourist destination's spectacle. Each series of images showcases overlooked elements that contribute to a space's atmosphere, such as guideposts, walkways, and windows. This atmosphere is emphasized in images by blurring the identifiers of its location. The act of recording centers on observations of overlooked minutiae and obfuscated viewpoints.
My artistic practice also explores the traveler's mindset and the character of the spaces they pass through. An alternative view of liminal spaces and travel destinations is presented through large scale abstracted photography and collections of images. I directed attention to these spaces' overlooked objects using hyper-focus and color choice in my photographs of poolside views and airport hotels. By focusing closely on these objects, such as curtains, I obfuscate the postcard view. This use of shallow depth of field emphasizes textured objects and stimulates the haptic senses, rather than indexing to a real place while highlighting the image's formal properties.
【Artist of REDUX: Brian Smeets】
Brian Smeets was born in New York in 1984. After completing degrees in sculpture and environmental studies from Washington University in Saint Louis, he pursued a career in commercial photography in San Francisco, California. His award-winning fine-art images have been shown globally; since moving to Hong Kong completed a Master of Fine Arts with RMIT University. Recently Brian formed a sound art practice in addition to showing photography and multimedia works. He continues to develop pop-up art shows as well as showing his work in the increasingly global art space of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
In 1a space’s upcoming exhibition “REDUX”, Brian Smeets's project investigates travel destination and their experiential qualities, intending to remove the spectacle of tourism. An alternative view of liminal spaces and travel sites is presented through large scale abstract photography and collections of selected sounds and images. To know more about Brian’s work, visit his website (www.briansmeets.com) and don’t miss our exhibition “REDUX”!
REDUX
