The controversial artist tells Bourree Lam why he leaves his art – and his life – hanging by a thread

We wouldn’t go as far as saying that Kwan Sheung-chi is a renegade artist, but he certainly doesn’t follow the herd. Kwan has garnered praise for his impressively diverse conceptual work – from lampooning a government West Kowloon ad by placing his own ad in Ming Pao, to his web-based arts TV channel, the Hong Kong Arts Discovery Channel, or the notorious Art Walk artist drinking challenge, along with his gallery work such as his “iron horse” barricades installation in Looking for Antonio Mak.

His subversive and distinctly Hong Kong style no doubt contributed to his recently being awarded the Starr Foundation Fellowship by the Asian Cultural Council to take part in an international residency program in New York.

Though he controversially decided not to sell any art for three years (until December 31, 2010), his first solo show since 2002 is now at Gallery EXIT. We caught up with Kwan in his studio just before the opening of No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again.

What works will you be showing?
I haven’t had a solo show since 2002, the ones I have had was only because there were no other artists. Eighty per cent of the exhibition is video works. I returned to a very nostalgic, very personal, and introspective, starting point. One of my first ideas was to plaster the gallery with protest materials, but it’s evolved to be a set of works that I think are substantial for a real solo show.

Were all the videos shot here?
Most of them – the long and boring ones were made here. My work can be made on my bedroom floor. In a sense it’s very domestic, very minimal – it can be focused on one simple action.

Is it too personal in a sense, since you also live in your studio?
I don’t worry about it. In fact, it’s with purpose in a way – to show how a person is trapped in the space they’re living in. In each video something small happens, and it’s disconnected from other things. Like Plan A to Z to end my life, it’s all very simple: I cut myself with a knife, or hang myself with a rope…

You actually cut yourself with a knife?
Yes, but it’s a fake razor. The rope was fake too. It breaks when I try to hang myself.

So it was a failure?
I think ending life is a failure, but the process is another thing. This was obviously a plot, to make these props but then is it a failure? It’s a success, in terms of the video. It’s actually sort of funny, but of course it’s really dark to see these things on screen. I think it might be dark comedy in a way. I’m not all dark though, there’s some sunshine.

Does it take you very long to do your work?
It depends, making a video can take a long time. It’s not just the shoot, there are a lot of other things involved. One of my works is pulling apart a thread. I actually planned to spend 100 hours doing this to result in 100 tapes but at 40 minutes the thread broke. It was completely unexpected. I was so happy, because I was supposed to fail.