A decade after former MoCA creative director Victoria Lu coined the term ‘animamix’ to describe a new aesthetic found in animation and comics, MoCA Shanghai is among five galleries across Asia to host the fifth edition of Animamix Biennale.
“When people hear Animamix, they always think of animation and comics,” admits the show’s curator Wang Weiwei. “But actually it’s about the spirit of what these forms can give people. There’s something about animation that means it can connect directly with the audience.”
“Animation has infiltrated people’s lives by bridging the gap between reality and fiction. An artist friend was telling me that her five-year-old daughter’s idea of a mouse was Mickey Mouse. The young generation of kids had never seen a real mouse because city life is so modern.”
Featuring 80 percent site-specific works, Animamix brings together 13 artists from around the globe, spanning a variety of media like sculpture (Kim Inbai), installations (Liang Manqi) and VR gaming (Pussykrew).
Participating artists range from the acclaimed (Takashi Ishida, Bang & Lee) to neophytes like China Academy of Arts student Liu Yi, who contributes the striking ‘Chaos Theory’ – an animated work screened on a TV surrounded by silk with scenes from the video painted on it.
“I view the techniques and concepts of animation as material for artists to express themselves,” Wang says. “The young generation of artists use very different methods and even the direction of their creation is new. Animamix celebrates that.”
Entering the exhibit, visitors must immediately interact with Park Junghyun’s ‘Disturbing.’ The striking string piece forces people to maneuver around it (yes, you can touch it) and is the complete opposite of the renowned Korean designer’s typical work.
“Designers are supposed to make life convenient,” says Wang. “Park felt that sometimes we lose different perspectives because of that. With this, she wanted to make people lower their bodies and by doing that, they might see something different that they normally wouldn’t have.”
It’s true. Ducking through ‘Disturbing’ provides unconventional views to nearby works like tattoo artists Ye Linghan’s ‘Spreading-Mural of Tattoos’ and Raymond Zhou’s installation, ‘Lo-Fi King.’
As he sets up the DJ booth for an opening night set in his installation, Zhou sheepishly admits, “I’m a fan of old school comics.”
However, modern pop culture permeates the installation, which is littered with Zhou’s favorite things like skateboards, a boom box, dinosaurs, an arcade game and crude paintings declaring his love of Ghostbusters and hip hop.
“When I moved to Shanghai, people said you’re too lo-fi,” he laughs. “So when I got this opportunity, I thought I could celebrate all my favorite things even if they aren’t so high class.”
Other works view pop culture through a skewed lens. Ho Sintung’s references the horrific serial rapist Lam Kwok-ai, who was apprehended after inviting one of his victims to see a movie the next day. ‘UA Whampoa, 6th August 1993’ depicts the posters of the films playing that day, removing the central image for something subtly disturbing.
Fans of animation, however, will be well-served. Cutting-edge independent animated short films will be screened on the second floor from China (May 15-31), France (June 1-15), Poland (June 16-July 1), Germany (July 2-3) and Japan (July 4-17).
Trevor Lai and Bananfish have transformed the third floor into a studio for families and kids to learn how animation is created through games and other activities.
“Our museum gets a lot of families,” Wang says. “We want to give children easy access to the art world by allowing them to play.”
Until July 17, 10am-6pm, RMB50. MOcA.
All images by Kelly McIlvenny, courtesy of MOcA.
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