In translation
Foreignness: A Language
Erika Tan in conversation with Eliza Tan
Erika Tan, Shot Through
Erika Tan, Shot Through, 2008
single-channel video, 16'

In accompaniment to the exhibition murmur, the artist Erika Tan and curator Eliza Tan discuss the notion of ‘foreignness’ and the indeterminacies of identity as constructs of visual and verbal languages, questioning the extent to which cultural experiences are shaped by pre-defined values, myths and assumptions.

The discussion will be accompanied by a screening of Shot Through, a work of Tan's made from footage shot in Shanghai during a residency in 2004. The trip was not the artist's first or the second visit to China, but the ambiguous and ambivalent relationship to ‘ancestral’ lands remains in the work. The work looks at the way in which China becomes a cipher through the written text of others.

Erika Tan’s work has evolved from an interest in anthropology and the moving image. Her work is often informed by specific cultural, geographical or physical contexts; exploring different media to create situations that excite, provoke, question, confront and invite comments from the audience.

Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 7pm