Observatory (Detail)

Photograph of a detail of Roberto Chabet's Observatory, a two-part installation that was first exhibited in 2002 in one of Chabet's annual simultaneous exhibitions at Finale Art Gallery and West Gallery, SM Megamall.

For Chabet, neon is the modern version of the Northern Lights. In this work, a red neon walking cane, whose shape also relates to the Big Dipper, signifies a journey, a blind search for the North Star somewhere across the constellation of stars, whose names are translated in Braille onto sheets of exposed photo paper attached to the clipboards.

This photograph shows the reconstructed version of the work from the exhibition, 'To Be Continued,' at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore - La Salle College of the Arts from 13 January - 11 February 2011. The work was also included in the same exhibition at Osage Kwun Tong in Hong Kong from 12 August - 21 September 2011 and at the Cultural Center of the Philippines from 19 January - 31 March 2012.

'To Be Continued' is a landmark survey exhibition of Chabet’s plywood works from 1984 to the present. In these works, he utilises his signature material – store-bought plywood boards. It is a material which has 'become not only the surface and support of his paintings and installations, but to a large extent its subject matter and content.'

The exhibition gathers for the first time significant works, including the seminal 1980s trilogy Russian Paintings, House Paintings, and Cargo and Decoy. Highlighting process and the provisional aspect of the material, it is reflective of Chabet’s practice, which gives precedence to the fugitive and contingent nature of art.

The exhibition is part of 'Roberto Chabet: Fifty Years,' a year-long series of exhibitions organised by King Kong Art Projects Unlimited in various venues in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Manila from 2011 - 2012.

Access level

Online

practitioner
documenter
Publication/Creation date

2002

Creation place

Philippines

Medium

Plywood, acrylic, photo paper with braille on clipboards, walking cane, neon

Dimension

243.84cm x 487.68cm

Content type

artwork documentation

Share
Citation
Rights statement

In Copyright

What does this mean?

This item is covered by one or more copyrights. It is available for research only or use within Hong Kong’s fair dealing rules. Please do not copy, re-use or reproduce this item without the permission of the copyright holder.

Observatory (Detail)