What Makes Me Understand What I Know
He An
何岸
Production date
2009
Object Detail
Media
neon signs, LEDs, photographic prints
Measurements
28 signs, dimensions variable
prints 2 pieces, each framed 42 x 55 cm
prints 2 pieces, each framed 42 x 55 cm
Notes
As an artist who came of age into the boom times of China’s industrial expansion, entry into global markets. and rapid urbanisation, He An’s use of neon signage seems particularly appropriate. He began to incorporate neon light-box signs (some bought from a factory and some that had been stolen from the fast-growing cities of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan and fenced by enterprising thieves) into his work after around 2000. What Makes Me Understand What I Know? is an ongoing project begun in 2009. In it, two names are repeated, spelled out in different combinations of disparate signs: that of the artist’s father, He Taoyuan, and the name of a Japanese porn star, Miho Yoshioka. The work represents a somewhat uneasy juxtaposition of two worlds: the public face of the dutiful filial son and the private fantasy. The work also references the exciting, quickly shifting, yet alienating urban spaces of the new Chinese megacity.
Accession number
2010.020