Continuing their tradition of exhibiting innovative and cutting-edge thematic work Para/Site have brought together two highly conceptualised travelling exhibitions that explore the effect of technology in our understanding of the modern art object

FAX is a continuation of a project organised by The Drawing Centre, New York. It is an assimilation of work by artists, architects, designers and filmmakers through the re-evaluation of the common fax machine as an artistic medium; while Move on Asia is a collective combination of new media in Asia through single-channel video art installations.

Upon entering the modest white-walled space in Sheung Wan, you could be forgiven for believing you have arrived at an unfinished exhibition site. Black and white A4 printing paper is hung in sporadic groups around the three interior walls while officious folders are piled high on a central table. The pages, covered in monochromatic text and sketches, have the aesthetic of pinned up plans indicating what is to come rather then what should be there.

Huang Xioapeng’s Manifest illustrates the dilution of meaning in language through repeated copying and multiple translations. The result is one of the most clear and comprehensive explorations of the project’s brief but it is still incredibly difficult to view in its entirety. Much less challenging is Wong Wai Yin’s intimate letters to friends asking them to fax her submissions to the gallery as she is not yet “a responsible person”.

Tucked into the tiny back viewing room of the gallery, submissions to Move on Asia play on a continuous loop. Surreal snapshots of Asian life (Thukral & Tagra, Addiction_02) and elaborate animated illustrations (Chitra Sanesh, The Rabbit Hole) seem to be perpetually questioning video art’s precarious place in Asia as a saleable art form. The exhibition is a continuation of a leading Korean video art initiative established in 2004, which includes the work of 19 curators and 30 artists. The selection of videos shown is changed throughout the duration of the exhibition so that the visual experience is transitory and representative of as many of the substantial catalogue as possible.

Overall both shows touch on the enduring question of where the value lies in the art we view and visit. Is it in the concept or object? The most compelling aspect of the experience lies in the intriguing soundtracks of the video pieces that infiltrate the atmosphere of the whole gallery, creating an oratory link between these two very modern visual exhibitions.

Mary Agnew

Para/Site Art Space until April 1