Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Cloud

Art Sonje Center is delighted to present Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Cloud, a comprehensive solo exhibition showcasing the artistic journey of Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen. Spanning two decades of his practice, this expansive exhibition explores complex layers of modernity in the postcolonial contemporary Asia.

For Ho, modernity in Asia is a complex and multilayered cultural phenomenon that cannot be explained solely by the Western dialectical logic of progress. This artistic perspective is evident in his seminal work, The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia (2012–2017). This groundbreaking research serves as the foundation for Ho’s latest endeavor, T for Time (2023–2024) and Timepieces (2023–2024), presented for the first time in Korea. Coproduced by Art Sonje Center and the Singapore Art Museum, T for Time expands Ho’s algorithmic methodology. In this two-channel video installation, Ho embarks on an epic journey through his personal experiences and artistic evolution, exploring the mythical and cultural perceptions of time in both Eastern and Western contexts. This comprehensive research project invites audiences to delve into the complex tapestry of historical narratives and contemporary realities that shape our understanding of temporality. 

Hotel Aporia (2019) presents a rich collage of narratives, offering a critical perspective on the hegemonic Asianism forged by Japanese Imperialism. Site-specifically produced for Aichi Triennale 2019 at the Kiraku-Tei, where pilots from the Kusanagi Unit had a final dinner before their suicide mission, Hotel Aporia presents diverse cast of characters, including a group of Kyoto School philosophers. Furthermore, Hotel Aporia weaves together the wartime experiences of filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu and animation director Ryuichi Yokoyama, poetically revealing both the narcissism and the underlying divisions within Japan’s quest of modernity. The artist employs Japanese imperialism as a lens to reflect the turbulent struggles faced by Asian regions during modernization. 

Set within a rundown public housing complex, The Cloud of Unknowing (2011) portrays surreal scenes of clouds infiltrating the private apartments of the eight protagonists. The title, derived from a 14th-century Christian mystical manual, alludes to the cloud as a mythological, spiritual, and religious symbol. In this film, clouds act as a visual device constructing scenes, while also evoking the cultural and historical significance associated with them. These multiple meanings of clouds are further explored throughout the exhibition, encompassing references to a natural phenomenon, virtual storage space and a space of new possibilities embodying ambiguous and unknown entities.

Presented along with The Cloud of Unknowing, Newton (2009) and Gould (2009–2013) twists the two most important inventions of Western modernity: science and art. In Newton, an Asian albino repeats acts of pseudo-scientific research, while in Gould, the same actor plays the piano with extreme concentration. Earth (2009-2011), which borrows the iconography of European Baroque and Romantic painting to depict an apocalyptic landscape of the earth after a catastrophe, exposes the future that has already become our present. These works not only comically twist the legacy of Western modernity, but also show us its catastrophic aftermath.

Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Cloud unveils the lingering awe, fantasies, fears, and frustrations entwined with the experience of modernity in Asia, casting them as spectral presences hovering over contemporary societies and cultures. Through the exhibition, visitors encounter the echoes of imperialism, the legacies of colonialism, and the paradoxical situations faced by those who navigated these turbulent times. Designed to immerse audiences in the vast stream of cosmic time, the exhibition paints a picture of the present shaped by the collisions, misunderstandings, appropriations, and reconciliations of multiple modernities.

About the collaboration
The joint effort between Art Sonje Center and Singapore Art Museum led to two versions of the exhibition: Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger at Singapore Art Museum from November 23, 2023 to March 3, 2024, and Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Cloud at the Art Sonje Center from June 4 to August 4, 2024. Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Cloud is supported by Arts Council Korea.