are you here will you be there

About

Three emerging artists from the Royal College of Art:   

Kangni Guo @kangniguo @kn.connie (Installations, oil paintings, prints and visual art)

Christoph Jones @_christophjones (Prints, sculptures, writing and visual art)

Eva Wang @Eva Wang (Performance, video art and photography)

have collaborated to create a collection of artworks that, through photographic self-objectification, rethinking the advantages and disadvantages of city interactions across fading history, the now and the potential futures and the development of a boundary-blurring virtual heterotopia, seeks to investigate the multifaceted potentialities of self-existence engendered by a volatile milieu.

Kangni Guo:

Kangni is an Integrated media artist. She has an interior design background at her undergraduate stage. This experience enabled her to think of the city in an inventory and grid-like way, collecting inspiring elements selectively. Following this, she was a self-employed manager in the Shanghai Urban Beautification Project through which she built up valuable knowledge of connections between artists and the public, in the hope of contributing to the world through her art ideas and practice. She is now continuing her journey of investigation at the Royal College of Art on the Public Sphere MA. The focus on the research process at the RCA is shifting her interest from broader ideas to the things around her, things which hold a more visceral importance. As an “observer”, she aims to draw the viewer’s attention to these overlooked aspects, unearthing and exposing the lost land between the known and the unknown, the seen and the unseen.

Christoph Jones:

Christoph Jones produces multimedia works with a clear focus on trying to make art that is bigger than himself and his world. These conceptual pieces are guided by a ferocious questioning of societal, political and ethical axioms, using his art as a vehicle for activism and self expression.  His work contains a deep sensitivity of the individual within a global context, often portraying an event or argument though the lens of metaphor, imagery or allegory.

The artist’s goal is to enroll the viewer in the work - removing the option of disconnecting from the perspective that the artist is aiming to illuminate or critique. On the surface the work may sometime seem angry or esoteric but, ultimately, Jones hopes that by extrapolating the grim and ephemeral nature of the world, it can encourage utopia.

Eva Wang:

Eva Wang holds Mater of Letters in Fine Art Practice with distinction from Glasgow School of Art and Graduate Diploma in Fine Art with distinction from Royal College of Art. She is a photographer using emotions to connect with the world. Common themes are emotions or situations we cannot fully control. Most work is staged conceptual photography which can involve installation and sculpture. She tries to recreate and capture abstract emotions by exploring their connections and interactions with physical objects and the environment.

Eva’s work explores interpersonal relationships and desire. She interprets these concepts through photographing a variety of subjects. Her choice of objects is dependent on the information they could carry. She invites viewers to associate themselves with its topic, relate their stories, and generate their thoughts and feelings.