Suki Chan's latest installation (above) sleepwalks through London at night
Exhibition: Sleep Walk, Sleep Talk, A Foundation, 198 Gallery, London, until October 19 2009
The latest video work from Hong Kong-born, Manchester-based artist Suki Chan sees the hotly-tipped installation dreamer turn her attentions to London for a twin-screen impressionistic portrait of the city, weaving across the capital at twilight.
A contemplative, hazy tumble through security guards, graffiti artists, commuters and economists, this sleepwalk shifts from the subversive and aspirational to everyday monotony and mundanity, from travellers slumbering on buses to businessmen and groups of skaters.
Security guards become silent stars of the piece
The psychogeographical backbone of the concept is a theme close to Chan's creative soul – she was last seen juxtaposing cast iron piers in Lancashire with roundhouses in South-West China in Interval II, using the same time lapse methods she deploys here to frame fleeting human presence within the architecture and transport systems around them.
The reflective quality of the work is reflecting in an accompanying programme of events which includes meditation sessions
Drawing on her interest in urban planning and experiences of the "westernization" of towns and villages on the periphery of her native city and Shanghai, her techniques combine light, electronics and sound, leaving breathing space for the imagination to create narrative against this illuminating backdrop.
Chan is interested in the "westernisation" of towns
This is the first project in a four-year programme for London Councils by Film and Video Umbrella, a body of cinematic curators who plan to invite one artist each year to explore the restrictions placed on personal freedom by society.
Visit the exhibition online for a full programme of accompanying events during the run.
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