‘A Scattering of Blossoms and Other Things’/ Mean Rup Mean Tuk (With a Body comes Suffering)
‘A Scattering of Blossoms and Other Things’
Ali Sanderson and Panca Evenblij
Installation of multiple dimensions and video
“All I did was a kiss. It’s a gesture of love. when i kissed it, I wasn’t thinking, I thought the artist would have understood. The gesture was an artistic act, provoked by the power of Art…”
I LEFT A KISS
I left a kiss/ A red stain remained on the canvas/ This red stain is a testimony/To this testimony/To this moment/To the power of Art/When I kissed it I thought…/… the artist would have understood/Cy Twombly has left it white for me/J’ai fait juste un bisou/C’est un geste d’amour/Quand je l’ai embrassé/Je n’ai pas réfléchi,/Je pensais que l’artiste/Il aurait compris…/… Ce geste était un acte artistique/provoqué par le pouvoir de l”Art/embrasse moi idiote…/I wanted to make it even more…/
…beautiful/I left a kiss, a red stain remained on the canvas/I was so overcome with passion/Overcome by an emotion/I could not tame…/Some call it a sort of cannibalism/Aggressive as a punch/But when I stepped back,/I found the painting even more beautiful,/A pure intense act of…
Love/Maybe a kiss by Miss Jolie/Would have added some value/But not from me…/I take responsibility for my act/This white canvas inspired me/I am old that it is forbidden to do such things/but it was totally spontaneous/I did not think it out carefully/I just thought the artist…/Would understand
Quotes by Cambodian/ French artist Rindy Sam, taken from mainstream media sources surrounding the event of her kissing a famous Cy Twombly painting in July 2007
Kiss for a Twombly Is a Case for the Police
New York Times, July 23, 2007
Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, but on other occasions — as when lips meet a painting valued at $2.7 million — a kiss could be a crime. That is why Sam Rindy, 30, a Cambodian-born French artist, will have to appear in court to face charges of criminal damage, Agence France-Presse reported. Ms. Rindy left the imprint of her lipstick on the otherwise immaculate white canvas that is an untitled work by the American artist Cy Twombly at “Blooming,” an exhibition of his works running until Sept. 30 at the Collection Lambert in Avignon, France. Ms. Rindy said she was so overcome by the 9-by-6-foot work that she had to kiss it. “I stepped back,” she said. “I found the painting even more beautiful. The artist left this white for me.” The police were summoned, and Ms. Rindy was arrested as she left the premises. She has a date in court on Aug. 16.
Background of the organisation Selapak Neari
Women’s Contemporary Art Project Saklapal Project 2006
In December 2005, Saklapel organised VAO event featuring 19 Cambodia artists. The search of the Cambodian artist had revealed that there are very small proportion of women artists in the country. Out of 20 artist met, 3 women artists names came: Duong saree and Long Sophea, both of traditional background and Linda Saphan, contemporary artist.
Saklapel searched younger artists in the contemporary field: Sakarya from reyum Art school, Lina from plastic arts Department, studio 310 etc are younger woman artist in the contemporary production.
There is a generation gap of Cambodian women artists. Before the Khmer Rouge woman in the art world were trained on traditional skills. Nowadays the younger generation are orienting toward contemporary art. Yet they have no role model to look upon.
There are professional woman artists working and living in Cambodia. Selapak Neari is a project to create dialogues and exchanges amongst woman’s artists beyond the national identity. Many women artists live and work in Cambodia from all over the world. Margaretha del Balzo (Italy), Michelle Van Vlasselaer (Belgium), Panca Evenblij (the Netherlands), Sacha Constable (UK) and others.
A catalogue of exhibition, information on the artist’s, dates of the exhibition, poster and invitations will be printed out.
It will be an enriching event for Cambodian public and non-Cambodians with a diversity of artists and disciplines.
(Linda Saphan)
MEAN RUP MEAN TUK (With a body comes suffering)
About the exhibition
Mean Rup Mean TukCurated by Linda Saphan, www.saphan.info
According to the Buddhist canonical texts, with the body comes suffering. To surpass pain, it is necessary to exceed physical appearance with its limits. Does this ancient precept have a vibration within the actual society such as one has to suffer to be beautiful?
A group of artists from different origins (Khmer, American, Australian, Belgian, Chinese, Dutch and French), various disciplines (drawing, installation, mask, painting, photography, sculpture and video art) are going to give a new depth and particular feeling to this old saying. This exhibition allows artists to meet, to stretch their network and knowledge of the artistic community in Cambodia with the support of the Department of Plastic Arts and the Ministry of Culture and specifically Suos Sodavy without whom this exhibition would not be possible.
Each artist from the exhibition took the subject matter in a very diverse understanding. Yet a universal message seems to convey through their artworks…
.. The issues raised by these artworks depict the variety of today’s culture. Its fascinating, rich and complex appearance which are both universal and particularly local,endlessly repetitive and endlessly differentiated
Saklapel.org is an association of contemporary artist and a resource on contemporary Cambodian art. Through its website and curatorial efforts Saklapel seeks to exhibit the most prominent Cambodian artist in Cambodia and internationally. It also creates a sense of art amongst visual artists.