AAA invites artist Tozer Pak Sheung Chuen to lead a workshop in conjunction with the exhibition Learning What Can’t Be Taught, currently on view at AAA Library.
Titled “From Product to Artwork—An Art Class at Supermarket,” this workshop responds to the artist-teachers in the exhibition who advocate for an art education that values observation, understanding, and creative attitude over technical skills. In the first part, Tozer Pak Sheung Chuen will lead the participants to observe and explore supermarket products, services, and systems. In the second part, he will engage the participants in a discussion about how artist-teachers in Learning What Can’t Be Taught connect art with everyday life.
“There are so many things in supermarkets: everything from shampoo and milk to condoms, taking care of all our needs in life. Supermarkets often have their particular ways of classifying, arranging, and distributing their commodities. There are things customers really need, and there are things that sellers want you to need. If you pay attention, you will find that you have been set a shopping route, and you can't help but fill the shopping cart with goods you would not necessarily need. In this sense, supermarkets can be seen as a map of urban people’s desires. Why are there so many different kinds of drinks? How many countries do instant noodles come from? Is breakfast the most important part of life? Supermarkets are designed for shopping. However, if you walk in there without the purpose of shopping, you will have unexpected discoveries.”
Free and open to the public with registration. The workshop will be held in Cantonese and is limited to ten people on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be an exhibition walkthrough at 1:30pm before the workshop.
Tozer Pak Sheung Chuen is an artist based in Hong Kong. Pak works with installations, photography, painting, video, and actions. His works explore a state of suspension and ambiguity that subverts the perception of everyday life. He graduated from the Fine Arts and Theology programmes at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2002. Pak has participated in numerous international exhibitions, including Artpace San Antonio (2013), Liverpool Biennial (2012), Taipei Biennial (2010 and 2012), Biennale Cuvee 10 (2010), 3rd Yokohama Triennial (2008), 3rd Guangzhou Triennial (2008), China Power Station: Part II (2007), and Busan Biennale (2006, 2016). His solo exhibition Page 22 is permanently installed in New York’s 58th Street Branch Library. His artworks are in the collections of Tate Modern, M+ Sigg Collection, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, and many others. He represented Hong Kong in the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009.
