Simon Birch's Conceptual Circus Comes to Town

Simon Birch’s “Hope & Glory” is one of the largest-scale and most expensive multi-media installations ever to hit China. The ambitious project incorporates architecture, music, photography, film, design and actors, which probably explains why it gained traction with Hong Kong cultural grants that usually ignore the visual arts.

We asked the artist to describe the exhibit for us in a few unconventional ways:
As a movie title? The Greatest Show on Earth by Cecil B. DeMille. Hmm, easy enough to decipher: “Hope & Glory” is meant to be a spectacle, calling upon circus-like themes and visuals.
As a piece of music? Psyence Fiction by Unkle. Here, he’s referring to the critically acclaimed trip-hop album that gets a little help from members of The Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Metallica and The Verve. That tells us the show is eclectic, highly collaborative and maybe a little heady.
As a fruit? A pomegranate. This one’s tricky: Is the show seedy, nutrient-rich and visually aggressive?
And in six words? Laughing with mouth full of blood. Wow, very strong imagery. Maybe we’ll get to this one later …

For now, read on as Birch tells us more about himself and his work.

You've held down jobs as a construction worker, DJ, party planner, and now painter/artist. Can you connect the dots for us?
Making things: whether it was tightening bolts on the Tsing Ma Bridge, constructing a climbing gym in Australia, applying paint on canvas, or welding steel for the “Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown” installation in “Hope & Glory.” There’s a strong performance dimension to my work, as well; music has been a big influence and remains a consistent part of much that I create. But always, problem-solving in creativity.

What might a Beijing resident see in your exhibit that others might not?
I think everyone approaches the show differently. The Beijing resident will probably respond to the scale in a different way because Beijing is large-scale. Extraordinary transformations are taking place in the PRC, and I hope that Beijing residents will find an echo of their own experiences in the transformations I’ve imagined in the conceptual circus.

“Hope & Glory” involved all sorts of creative types. How did that go?
Collaborating with so many creative people gave me valuable new insights. There’s also been a positive legacy because the network we built up has transmuted into Future Industries, an art project which is pioneering new ways of representing and exhibiting artists in Asia and internationally.

If contemporary art were dying but you could save it by making a fan out of a single non-art-lover, how would you accomplish this?
I’d take him to the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa to see Francis Bacon’s Study after Velasquez’s
Portrait of Pope Innocent X. I guarantee he’d finally understand art is the only mirror that tells the truth: Life is a breath between two screams.

Describe your ideal exhibition space.
A large, portable cube that could easily move from the middle of New York to a hill tribe in Papua New Guinea.

You got paid to do dangerous things in construction work. What’s the most dangerous thing about art?
Risk. Every second, as an artist, you’re making decisions that could backfire. It’s only afterwards you realize how close you were to the edge. One’s heart is exposed to be loved or stabbed.

What has been inspiring you lately?
Flesh! At the moment I’m working on an exhibition of new paintings, so I’m finding inspiration in the human form. When I’m not painting I’m making sketches for a large-scale installation project and finding inspiration there from the architecture of Lebbeus Woods. He’s a reminder that the best architecture is never built.

Tell us about your upcoming projects.
The next 18 months are going to be busy. I have a show of new paintings, “Laughing with a Mouth Full of Blood” [Aha! – Ed.], which opens in May at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences. I’m also involved in a project in London and at the end of the year we’re planning a show in LA. Then there’s a major installation piece I am building; it will be very architectural and large-scale with a multimedia dimension, and poses challenges that are both artistic and technical. So, you could say I’ve got my work cut out.

“Hope & Glory” will be on show at G-Dot Art Space from May 2-Jun 30.