Artist Statement

Humans are inherently experiencing subjects that live in a world full of meanings erected from the encounter with others. This encounter does not necessarily happen in an orderly manner. On the contrary, encounter comes with risk; a slippage from the anticipated consequently welcoming uncertainty into our lives. Simply put, life is unpredictable and this is hinged upon the very nature of the ‘encounter with the other’ that cannot be reduced to sameness simply because it addresses the fundamental urge of humans to connect (with someone/something else other than self). We extend this argument to consider the operation of encounter as a form of kaleidoscope that constantly shifts our experiences and perspectives on life in general. Our art project intends to make explicit the subtle and intricate structure of encounter that is inherent in the way humans experience the world. This is achieved by having two artists from different regions in Asia, namely Malaysia and Japan to work collaboratively online in creating experimental and reactionary videos to each other for 15 days. In doing so, the video art is expected to capture the convergence in expressing the effects of encounter while illustrating the mediated, disembodied connectivism of new normal.