Dress-ups

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It is probably wrong to talk about the incidence of works featuring dressing-up in the Asia Pacific Triennial (APT), and certainly nothing talking officially about the exhibition does so, but it is equally certainly a theme. Of course it is all dressing-up with a purpose—usually explained in terms of performance and identity—but two of my favourite works make the process of dressing-up very much part of the artwork. The videos by siren eun young jung and Hetain Patel, respectively Act of Affect (2013) and The Other Suit (2015), both show the process of transformation as well as the final product and both are supported by additional works: siren’s Lyrics I, II and III (2013) and Patel’s The Jump (2015). The similarities stop there though, with the relationships between the components of each artist’s work and the presence or not of the artist on screen, not to mention the particular elements of identity being explored, operating differently in each work.

South Korean siren’s four works all concern the Korean theatrical practice yeosong gukgeuk, in which traditionally chanted plays or Korean operas are performed by troupes of women taking both male and female roles. siren sees this as a feminist practice challenging patriarchy, but the notes that inform the viewer of this also point out that the practice is dying out as younger women fail to replace the older performers. Act of Affect plays on a large screen behind a theatrical red curtain (the three Lyrics videos are installed in a vestibule on wall monitors with headphones). Switching between split and full screen, the artist, operating here as cinematographer and co-editor, shows the performer, Eunjin Nam, in casual workout clothes practicing her... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline

siren eun young jung, Act of Affect, 2013. Still. Single-channel HD video projection, 16:9, 19:34mins, colour, sound. Image courtesy the artist.

Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra, Ex Nilalang: (Lolo ex Machina), 2015. Production still. Single-channel HD digital video, 16:9, colour, sound. Photograph Gregory Lorenzutti. This project was assisted by a grant from Arts NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government and supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian State and Territory Governments. The program is administered by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA). Developed for APT8. Image courtesy the artists.