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For Bookmark, ArtAsiaPacific invites an artist to spotlight some of their online sources of inspiration. This week we asked Heman Chong.
Heman Chong is an artist, curator and writer charged with a conceptual drive. His art practice involves an investigation into the philosophies of individuals and communities imagining the future, which is then adapted into texts, installations or situations. His current project, The Lonely Ones, will reflect on the representation of imposed solitude on individuals and groups in the fields of art, film and literature, and will be the basis for a novel due in 2013. His work can be seen at hemanchong.com
1. Bookshelf Porn
Guilty pleasure number one.
3. A Radical Cut in the Texture of Reality
There is no doubt that I am one of Jacob Wren’s top ten fans. How can you not like someone who describes himself as a “maker of eccentric performances” and who has written books with titles like Unrehearsed Beauty (1998), Families Are Formed Through Copulation (2007) and Revenge Fantasies of the Politically Dispossessed (2010)?
5. Wikipedia
There’s a game I play each day on Wikipedia. The basis of which involves me jumping from one link to another impulsively and without any regard for any form of linear association. Its an exercise that I derive extreme levels of pleasure from, knowing that it is something that clearly resembles the penultimate monologue, the only form of narcissism that I allow in my life : that I can indulge in senselessness without ever having to justify myself to anyone. Pure absolute nonsense!
7. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
The world of HTML meets the words of Wittgenstein; a match made in purgatory.
2. Vintage Sci-Fi Covers
Guilty pleasure number two.
Combine my number one and two, and you can see why I love the look of many books placed alongside each other and that I am building functional spaces (like bookshops or libraries) to encapsulate this aesthetic.
4. The Scale of the Universe 2
Whoa. WHOA! Whhhhoooooaaaa! WHOOOOOOAAAA! (repeat x 1 million)
6. Strange Horizons Fiction Department: Stories We’ve Seen Too Often
My top three favorites include: (8) A place is described, with no plot or characters, (23) A princess has been raped or molested by her father (or stepfather), the king, and (49) Aliens and/or far-future posthumans think, talk, and behave just like upper-middle-class Americans from the 20th or early 21st century.
One day, I want to spitefully write all the stories based on every single cliché this site has to offer.