Output details

Enter Ghost, Exit Ghost

Research content/process:

Hon curated this exhibition of a new artwork by Bashir Makhoul at the Yang Gallery, 798 Arts District, Beijing, China in March 2012. Hon also managed the production of, and edited, the exhibition catalogue for which he wrote a 3000 word essay (text provided in both English and Chinese). This exhibition and catalogue were both entitled 'Enter Ghost, Exit Ghost' (the title of the artwork installation featured in this solo exhibition). Hon worked with Makhoul over a number of years to develop this large-scale work, its themes and material character, as well as to produce the catalogue. Hon’s previous extended interview with Makhoul (published in 'Bashir Makhoul', monograph co-edited by Davis and Harris) demonstrates the way in which their intellectual partnership has been a crucial component to both Hon’s work as a curator and Makhoul’s work as an artist. Hon conceived, developed and oversaw the curatorial realisation of Makhoul’s work at the Yang Gallery, drawing on the artist’s distinctive use of materials and thematic concerns. Hon’s contribution was to conceive and design the formal presentation of the maze panels in the Yang Gallery space. This contribution was both a matter of articulating the intellectual / aesthetic dimensions to Makhoul’s work and working within the specific practical character and limits of the gallery in Beijing in presenting the installation. The catalogue demonstrates Hon's presentation of the critical reviews of Makhoul's work, selecting and articulating the range of perspectives contained in the catalogue, including his own Introductory essay, pp.8-16. Hon's output (both exhibition design and catalogue) contributes and demonstrates the centrality of interactivity to the Makhoul installation - the installation and catalogue were intended to provoke dialogue and debate, a 'seeing across' a range of standpoints and perspectives, which the artwork itself materialises through its use of lenticular photographic panels.