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Caroline Chiu: Polaroids as Chinese Ink Painting

Presented by Snite Museum of Art at Snite Museum of Art

March 14-April 25, 2010

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These photographs are taken from Hong Kong artist Caroline Chiu's larger series entitled Dreaming: A Chinese Wunderkammer. Wunderkammer were 17th- and 18th-century European "wonder rooms" or "cabinets of curiosity"--some of the earliest known "museums"--which contained specimens reflecting the natural world, anthropology, archaeology, relics, and art.

The late Qing emperor Qianlong, known for his passion for the arts, also pursued this type of collecting. In Chiu’s case, she collects, by photography, objects representing the material culture of traditional China: bonsai, scholar’s rocks, flowers, artworks depicting the animal zodiac, and, here, goldfish. Her choice of subjects makes reference to historical Chinese culture; her graphic photographic images of goldfish suggest the brushstrokes of traditional Chinese ink painting and the sweeping abstract shapes of Chinese writing.

Because the images were taken with a rare 20 x 24 inch Polaroid camera—for which film is no longer manufactured nor available––the exhibition is also an elegy to the era of Polaroid cameras and film. Indeed, it may mark the passing of film media in favor of digital photography.

Concurrent to this Snite Museum of Art exhibition, Chiu will also create a five-day installation on the Notre Dame campus entitled 108 Thoughts on Spirituality. The installation will consist of projected images of flames, photographs of flames, music from various sacred traditions, sacred smells, a space to meditate and an opportunity for audience members to respond to questions about spirituality by writing or drawing upon Chiu’s photographs. Participants will receive one of Chiu’s photographs in appreciation for their commentary on spirituality. The artist will speak during a 5 to 6 p.m. reception on Thursday, April 15, 2010.