Bettina Fung: Imprints of Passing Time

About

Imprints of Passing Time is an exhibition of monoprints and performances that contemplates the value of non-doing as opposed to the modern-day lifestyle of haste, efficiency, and productivity. Influenced by Taoist philosophy, Fung questions the idea of progress and the culture of overworking, and draws attention to slowness, idleness, and aimlessness by exploring what doing nothing entails.

Fung uses actions that are generally overlooked or deemed unproductive as a means of artistic production. Performing these actions over a specific duration on paper with printing ink underneath, Fung creates prints from the body imprinted onto the paper, or lifted from the image formed on the layer of ink. Consequently, these prints capture the time spent and actions taken.

365: Opening Night Performance
11th May at 7pm
The exhibition will commence with the performance, 365, a large scale monoprinting act that involves Fung walking in circles 365 times on a sheet of paper with a layer of printing ink underneath. Pairing the Earth’s revolution around the sun with modernity’s desire to sprint away from the old and towards the new, this performance piece questions the idea of progress, the current culture of immediacy and urgency, and the compulsion to work faster and faster, to do more and more, charging forward to the point of exhaustion. 

Dwellings: Participatory Printmaking 
12th to 18th May, 12.30 to 14:00
Dwellings is a long durational ritual to resist society’s competitive, goal-oriented and achievement obsessed tendencies. This large-scale, potentially collective monoprinting act will take place every day throughout the exhibition. All are welcome to join the artist on the paper. 

Art Review Evening
Wednesday 16th May, 18:00 to 20:30
Artists/creatives/makers/art students are invited to this informal session to critique the exhibition and share each other's practices. There are four places for a 15 minute critique and artists wishing to show work will need to book their slot in advance.

Artist Talk: Do Nothing?
Saturday 19th May, 14:00 to 15:30
Fung will share concepts behind the exhibition and discuss what it means to do nothing. This is also a chance to share comments and thoughts.

Imprints of Passing Time will open in the Main Gallery in conjunction with Purpose and Position: A Solo Exhibition by Barnaby Wills, which will take place in the Project Space. As always, there will be a donations bar with ales from local brewery, Springhead.
The exhibition marks roughly a year of Fung’s return to Surface Gallery, presenting new works created within that year. The concept behind the work was conceived at the Summer Lodge Residency at Nottingham Trent University in 2017.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Free Entry: Everyone Welcome

Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Friday: 12pm - 6pm
Saturday: 11am - 5pm
16 Southwell Road, Nottingham, NG1 1DL