R
E
V N
E
X
T
For Bookmark, ArtAsiaPacific invites an artist to spotlight some of their online sources of inspiration. This week we asked Ming Wong.
Ming Wong is a Singapore- and Berlin-based video artist, known for his campy reenactments of cinematic masterpieces and cult favorites. In 2009, Wong produced his series of films “Life of Imitation” (2009) for the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, in which he casted actors to play roles out of classic films obviously outside of their personal backgrounds. His recent film work Making Chinatown (2011), which is based on the 1974 film of the same name, parodies the stereotypes of Chinese-American communities made in Hollywood films. More information on the artist can be found at http://www.mingwong.org/
1. The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project
I take my hat off to this farang cinema otaku who has been travelling around Thailand, Myanmar and Laos in search of old single screen cinemas, many of which are still in operation.
3. Chinese Ghost Towns
What happens when the computer games for building virtual cities come to life? Here are some examples of the portentous phenomenon of Ghost Cities in China. There’s even one that came straight out of the English countryside.
5. Mychonny
I’m subscribed to this Asian Australian dude’s Youtube channel, where he makes fun of his family (and himself) and everybody else under the sun. He plays all the roles; you can see why I am I fan. They’re very hit or miss, be warned!
2. Charlie Chan in China
I’m researching Chinese detectives, and was thrilled to discover that the Charlie Chan movies from Hollywood—the character Charlie Chan was played by Swedish actor Warner Oland in “yellowface”—were well received in China. So much so that there were even copycat made-in-China Charlie Chan movies.
4. What the F*** Costumes
What to wear for next Halloween . . . You can go as a “generic Facebook profile” or a “pregnant nun.”