CCCA Canadian Art Database

Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1970

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84036

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Prototype 1970:
War, children, it's just a shot away
Four dead in Ohio
I Love Beijing Tiananmen
events: Channeled through popular song lyrics, the violent events of the Vietnam War, Kent State Massacre and Chinese Cultural Revolution are tempered by the bittersweet hopefulness of Jimi Hendrix.


Measurements: 58.42 ¼ x 78.74 cm

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Work by Millie Chen

Hairbread

Hairbread

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83972

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific performance & installation: Gerardus van der Leeuw Ethnological Museum, Groningen, Holland. Curated by Victorine Arnoldus-Schröeder. Sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

Hairbread is a playful inquiry into exhibition culture and museum authority. Within the ethnological museum context, a ‘living culture’ display - that includes fresh bread, a large hair carpet, and the artists - is juxtaposed with a selection of ‘preserved’ objects from other cultures from the museum’s permanent collection. The concept behind ‘living culture’ is inspired by an elaborated basics of survival, i.e. shelter and food, symbolized in this instance by hair and bread. Taking on multiple roles – as curators, conservators, bakers, hairdressers, tour guides – we activate the exhibition space and subvert expected functions by interacting daily with visitors and by making available free haircuts and reasonably priced freshly-baked bread (“Head Loaves” baked in molds of our heads).


Measurements: installation: 1,000 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1993

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Hairbread

Hairbread

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83971

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific performance & installation: Gerardus van der Leeuw Ethnological Museum, Groningen, Holland. Curated by Victorine Arnoldus-Schröeder. Sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

Hairbread is a playful inquiry into exhibition culture and museum authority. Within the ethnological museum context, a ‘living culture’ display - that includes fresh bread, a large hair carpet, and the artists - is juxtaposed with a selection of ‘preserved’ objects from other cultures from the museum’s permanent collection. The concept behind ‘living culture’ is inspired by an elaborated basics of survival, i.e. shelter and food, symbolized in this instance by hair and bread. Taking on multiple roles – as curators, conservators, bakers, hairdressers, tour guides – we activate the exhibition space and subvert expected functions by interacting daily with visitors and by making available free haircuts and reasonably priced freshly-baked bread (“Head Loaves” baked in molds of our heads).


Measurements: installation: 1,000 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1993

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hairbread

Hairbread

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83970

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific performance & installation: Gerardus van der Leeuw Ethnological Museum, Groningen, Holland. Curated by Victorine Arnoldus-Schröeder. Sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

Hairbread is a playful inquiry into exhibition culture and museum authority. Within the ethnological museum context, a ‘living culture’ display - that includes fresh bread, a large hair carpet, and the artists - is juxtaposed with a selection of ‘preserved’ objects from other cultures from the museum’s permanent collection. The concept behind ‘living culture’ is inspired by an elaborated basics of survival, i.e. shelter and food, symbolized in this instance by hair and bread. Taking on multiple roles – as curators, conservators, bakers, hairdressers, tour guides – we activate the exhibition space and subvert expected functions by interacting daily with visitors and by making available free haircuts and reasonably priced freshly-baked bread (“Head Loaves” baked in molds of our heads).


Measurements: installation: 1,000 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1993

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hairbread

Hairbread

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83973

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific performance & installation: Gerardus van der Leeuw Ethnological Museum, Groningen, Holland. Curated by Victorine Arnoldus-Schröeder. Sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

Hairbread is a playful inquiry into exhibition culture and museum authority. Within the ethnological museum context, a ‘living culture’ display - that includes fresh bread, a large hair carpet, and the artists - is juxtaposed with a selection of ‘preserved’ objects from other cultures from the museum’s permanent collection. The concept behind ‘living culture’ is inspired by an elaborated basics of survival, i.e. shelter and food, symbolized in this instance by hair and bread. Taking on multiple roles – as curators, conservators, bakers, hairdressers, tour guides – we activate the exhibition space and subvert expected functions by interacting daily with visitors and by making available free haircuts and reasonably priced freshly-baked bread (“Head Loaves” baked in molds of our heads).


Measurements: installation: 1,000 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1993

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hairbread

Hairbread

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83975

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific performance & installation: Gerardus van der Leeuw Ethnological Museum, Groningen, Holland. Curated by Victorine Arnoldus-Schröeder. Sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

Hairbread is a playful inquiry into exhibition culture and museum authority. Within the ethnological museum context, a ‘living culture’ display - that includes fresh bread, a large hair carpet, and the artists - is juxtaposed with a selection of ‘preserved’ objects from other cultures from the museum’s permanent collection. The concept behind ‘living culture’ is inspired by an elaborated basics of survival, i.e. shelter and food, symbolized in this instance by hair and bread. Taking on multiple roles – as curators, conservators, bakers, hairdressers, tour guides – we activate the exhibition space and subvert expected functions by interacting daily with visitors and by making available free haircuts and reasonably priced freshly-baked bread (“Head Loaves” baked in molds of our heads).


Measurements: installation: 1,000 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1993

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hairbread

Hairbread

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83974

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific performance & installation: Gerardus van der Leeuw Ethnological Museum, Groningen, Holland. Curated by Victorine Arnoldus-Schröeder. Sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

Hairbread is a playful inquiry into exhibition culture and museum authority. Within the ethnological museum context, a ‘living culture’ display - that includes fresh bread, a large hair carpet, and the artists - is juxtaposed with a selection of ‘preserved’ objects from other cultures from the museum’s permanent collection. The concept behind ‘living culture’ is inspired by an elaborated basics of survival, i.e. shelter and food, symbolized in this instance by hair and bread. Taking on multiple roles – as curators, conservators, bakers, hairdressers, tour guides – we activate the exhibition space and subvert expected functions by interacting daily with visitors and by making available free haircuts and reasonably priced freshly-baked bread (“Head Loaves” baked in molds of our heads).


Measurements: installation: 1,000 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1993

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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crave

crave

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83968

Description: Installation: Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff and Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, Vancouver. Curated by Sylvie Gilbert. Commissioned by Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts.

crave is a construction of longing. The mouth, symbolized by 300 tongues in the shape of Chinese soup spoons, becomes the focal site of desire, describing the sensation of taste, of salivation, of language. The intentional appropriation of aromatic Indian spices, what the spoons contain, and of Islamic ornamentation, the design that contains the spoons, speaks of silk-and-spice-road tourism and questions cultural and geopolitical constructs and assumptions, but it also explores the ceaseless longing for difference, for otherness. Here, what is non-visible (the strong scent) precedes and counterbalances the visual, asserting embodiment.

Photos: Don Lee (Walter Phillips Gallery), artist


Measurements: installation: 12' x 12'

Collection:

Date Made: 1993-94

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crave

crave

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83967

Description: Installation: Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff and Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, Vancouver. Curated by Sylvie Gilbert. Commissioned by Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts.

crave is a construction of longing. The mouth, symbolized by 300 tongues in the shape of Chinese soup spoons, becomes the focal site of desire, describing the sensation of taste, of salivation, of language. The intentional appropriation of aromatic Indian spices, what the spoons contain, and of Islamic ornamentation, the design that contains the spoons, speaks of silk-and-spice-road tourism and questions cultural and geopolitical constructs and assumptions, but it also explores the ceaseless longing for difference, for otherness. Here, what is non-visible (the strong scent) precedes and counterbalances the visual, asserting embodiment.

Photos: Don Lee (Walter Phillips Gallery), artist


Measurements: installation: 12' x 12'

Collection:

Date Made: 1993-94

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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crave

crave

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83969

Description: Installation: Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff and Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, Vancouver. Curated by Sylvie Gilbert. Commissioned by Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts.

crave is a construction of longing. The mouth, symbolized by 300 tongues in the shape of Chinese soup spoons, becomes the focal site of desire, describing the sensation of taste, of salivation, of language. The intentional appropriation of aromatic Indian spices, what the spoons contain, and of Islamic ornamentation, the design that contains the spoons, speaks of silk-and-spice-road tourism and questions cultural and geopolitical constructs and assumptions, but it also explores the ceaseless longing for difference, for otherness. Here, what is non-visible (the strong scent) precedes and counterbalances the visual, asserting embodiment.

Photos: Don Lee (Walter Phillips Gallery), artist


Measurements: installation: 12' x 12'

Collection:

Date Made: 1993-94

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83978

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hungry Ghost Rubric

Hungry Ghost Rubric

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83989

Description: Site-specific installation: Gairloch House, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario. Curated by Marnie Fleming. Commissioned by Oakville Galleries.

Hungry Ghost Rubric is narrated through the mythology of the Demon Girl, an appropriated phantom character from Chinese popular culture, and the mythology of chinoiserie interior decoration. The installation integrates and insinuates itself into the portentous interior architecture of Gairloch, a historical home. The Demon Girl is represented by the substance dang gui, a pungent medicinal herb used to facilitate smooth menstruation. The herb is imbedded into the walls and into the ornamentation, taking on the forms of extended strands of hair and tongues, powerful superphysical traits possessed by a metaphysical being. These bodily residues interrupt the elaborate surface decoration and describe the insistent presence of a spiritual and chemical body.

Photos: Isaac Applebaum


Measurements: installation: 1,500 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83984

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83983

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83985

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83982

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83977

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83981

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83980

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83979

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Yurtopia

Yurtopia

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83976

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Von Michalofski

Site-specific public performance & installation: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta. Curated by Joan Stebbins. Commissioned by Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Yurtopia continues the critical inquiry into the function of museums: a nomadic museum in the form of a yurt (more correctly named ger) is erected inside the gallery. The felt skin of the yurt is constructed of solicited donations of various fibres from diverse communities surrounding the gallery, including a historic Blackfoot site and a Hutterite colony. “Portable Museum Costumes,” collecting/display/storage/survival outfits, are worn during collecting forays out of the gallery. Expeditions into the outer landscape of southern Alberta play on anthropological field research, accumulating a collection of objects and anecdotes – visual, written, auditory, and oral histories. By transposing the institution of museum onto our own bodies, we disrupt the habitual way in which information is interpreted and knowledge conveyed and acquired. Considering the meaning of shelter within this context leads to the embodiment of art as a living form and to the art of survival. Shelter operates on both a personal and public level: as clothing and architecture.


Measurements: 12' H x 12' diam.

Collection:

Date Made: 1995

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hungry Ghost Rubric

Hungry Ghost Rubric

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83988

Description: Site-specific installation: Gairloch House, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario. Curated by Marnie Fleming. Commissioned by Oakville Galleries.

Hungry Ghost Rubric is narrated through the mythology of the Demon Girl, an appropriated phantom character from Chinese popular culture, and the mythology of chinoiserie interior decoration. The installation integrates and insinuates itself into the portentous interior architecture of Gairloch, a historical home. The Demon Girl is represented by the substance dang gui, a pungent medicinal herb used to facilitate smooth menstruation. The herb is imbedded into the walls and into the ornamentation, taking on the forms of extended strands of hair and tongues, powerful superphysical traits possessed by a metaphysical being. These bodily residues interrupt the elaborate surface decoration and describe the insistent presence of a spiritual and chemical body.

Photos: Isaac Applebaum


Measurements: installation: 1,500 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1996

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hungry Ghost Rubric

Hungry Ghost Rubric

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83987

Description: Site-specific installation: Gairloch House, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario. Curated by Marnie Fleming. Commissioned by Oakville Galleries.

Hungry Ghost Rubric is narrated through the mythology of the Demon Girl, an appropriated phantom character from Chinese popular culture, and the mythology of chinoiserie interior decoration. The installation integrates and insinuates itself into the portentous interior architecture of Gairloch, a historical home. The Demon Girl is represented by the substance dang gui, a pungent medicinal herb used to facilitate smooth menstruation. The herb is imbedded into the walls and into the ornamentation, taking on the forms of extended strands of hair and tongues, powerful superphysical traits possessed by a metaphysical being. These bodily residues interrupt the elaborate surface decoration and describe the insistent presence of a spiritual and chemical body.

Photos: Isaac Applebaum


Measurements: installation: 1,500 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1996

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Hungry Ghost Rubric

Hungry Ghost Rubric

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83986

Description: Site-specific installation: Gairloch House, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario. Curated by Marnie Fleming. Commissioned by Oakville Galleries.

Hungry Ghost Rubric is narrated through the mythology of the Demon Girl, an appropriated phantom character from Chinese popular culture, and the mythology of chinoiserie interior decoration. The installation integrates and insinuates itself into the portentous interior architecture of Gairloch, a historical home. The Demon Girl is represented by the substance dang gui, a pungent medicinal herb used to facilitate smooth menstruation. The herb is imbedded into the walls and into the ornamentation, taking on the forms of extended strands of hair and tongues, powerful superphysical traits possessed by a metaphysical being. These bodily residues interrupt the elaborate surface decoration and describe the insistent presence of a spiritual and chemical body.

Photos: Isaac Applebaum


Measurements: installation: 1,500 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1996

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Kitchen

Kitchen

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83991

Description: In collaboration with Tomie Arai

Installation: Art in General, New York. Curated by Holly Block. Commissioned by Art in General.

The collaborative piece Kitchen, created with New York-based artist Tomie Arai, is a subversively envisioned diaspora ‘Asian’ kitchen constructed within the walls of a gallery. The space is designed to question cultural stereotypes by examining everyday artifacts associated with the preparing and sharing of food. These artifacts – tea containers, noodle packages, canned goods, wallpaper, calendars – have been marketed using the traditional imagery of the exotic Asian woman. In Kitchen, they are subtly altered by the playful and disconcerting insertion of everyday images of the artists. Within this environment, visitors joined us in gatherings for discussion and takeout lunch.


Measurements: installation: 400 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1997

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Kitchen

Kitchen

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83992

Description: In collaboration with Tomie Arai

Installation: Art in General, New York. Curated by Holly Block. Commissioned by Art in General.

The collaborative piece Kitchen, created with New York-based artist Tomie Arai, is a subversively envisioned diaspora ‘Asian’ kitchen constructed within the walls of a gallery. The space is designed to question cultural stereotypes by examining everyday artifacts associated with the preparing and sharing of food. These artifacts – tea containers, noodle packages, canned goods, wallpaper, calendars – have been marketed using the traditional imagery of the exotic Asian woman. In Kitchen, they are subtly altered by the playful and disconcerting insertion of everyday images of the artists. Within this environment, visitors joined us in gatherings for discussion and takeout lunch.


Measurements: installation: 400 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1997

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Kitchen

Kitchen

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83990

Description: In collaboration with Tomie Arai

Installation: Art in General, New York. Curated by Holly Block. Commissioned by Art in General.

The collaborative piece Kitchen, created with New York-based artist Tomie Arai, is a subversively envisioned diaspora ‘Asian’ kitchen constructed within the walls of a gallery. The space is designed to question cultural stereotypes by examining everyday artifacts associated with the preparing and sharing of food. These artifacts – tea containers, noodle packages, canned goods, wallpaper, calendars – have been marketed using the traditional imagery of the exotic Asian woman. In Kitchen, they are subtly altered by the playful and disconcerting insertion of everyday images of the artists. Within this environment, visitors joined us in gatherings for discussion and takeout lunch.


Measurements: installation: 400 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 1997

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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call

call

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83993

Description: Interactive audio installation: “Tranz ←→ Tech 2001” Media Arts Festival, Toronto International Video Art Biennial, Latvian House, Toronto. Curated and commissioned by Charles Street Video.

selection of call/song/chant: Millie Chen & Maryem Hassan Tollar
vocals: Maryem Hassan Tollar
sound engineering: Greg Woodbury & Jeff Mann

In call, the relationship between seeing and hearing is shifted back and forth. The sound is based on a magnetic call/song/chant, co-selected with vocalist Maryem Hassan Tollar, who sings in Arabic vocal traditions. The distant vocalization, occurring in a cavernous space, beckons the visitor toward the single sound source (a speaker at the opposite end of the space). However, upon approach, the voice seems to recede rather than become more audible. Motion sensors trigger a graduated volume decrease as the visitor approaches the sound source. Instead of providing clarification, the sound becomes increasingly remote; expectations for intimacy, resolution and full audio delivery are thwarted and the voice stays just out of reach. The psychological effect is one of frustration and discombobulation, but one is also left with the desire to follow the call, to grasp its source and meaning. It is often in the frustration of our efforts that those efforts are doubled and our attention is arrested.


Measurements: installation: 1,000 sq. ft

Collection:

Date Made: 2001

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The Seven Scents

The Seven Scents

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83998

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Michalofski

Public performance: “FIVE HOLES: reminiSCENT” Performance Event, Harbourfront, Toronto. Curated by Jim Drobnick and Paul Couillard. Commissioned by FADO. Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts.

The Seven Scents is a sound-scent journey that uses, as a point of departure, the legendary exoticism and adventure of the Seven Seas. The Seven Scents provide an occasion for virtual travel. Targeting the high volume tourist population of the performance locale, this work presents options for traveling through a sampling station of matched smells and sounds associated with travel. Each set of smell/scent is named after one of the Seven Seas (the soundtrack heard here is airport terminal, the audio component of Scent No.2: North Atlantic). Cruise ship deck chair recliners face the waters of Lake Ontario and invite passersby to lie back, relax, listen to a series of soundscapes and inhale the ambiance of travel via freshly sprayed scent strips. Like spa therapists, the artists gently facilitate each lounger’s sensorial reverie.

Transportation and memory are two key means of escape in the effort to get away. Transportation is conjured and memory is triggered via a series of white noise sounds recorded at seven targeted sites related to travel, in-between states of transitional spaces i.e. bus stations, airports, etc. These places in which travelers are often stuck offer, ironically, a space for reverie and contemplation where the process of getting there is often more enlightening than actually arriving. The series of scents is based on the desire for escape in combination with the inescapable everyday. Using a base of a mass-produced perfume, a perfume that promises ‘an ocean breeze passing over floral and exotic notes’, seven related eau de toilette scents were concocted. They employ a base note of salty sea and incorporate post-industrial smells within the top, bottom and middle notes. Distilling sound and scent, romance and reality, the piece contemplates the fantasies of escape and the odious actualities of tourism.

Photos: Pessi Parviainen, Miklos Legrady


Measurements: installation: 20’ x 4’ x 3’

Collection:

Date Made: 2003

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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The Seven Scents

The Seven Scents

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83995

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Michalofski

Public performance: “FIVE HOLES: reminiSCENT” Performance Event, Harbourfront, Toronto. Curated by Jim Drobnick and Paul Couillard. Commissioned by FADO. Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts.

The Seven Scents is a sound-scent journey that uses, as a point of departure, the legendary exoticism and adventure of the Seven Seas. The Seven Scents provide an occasion for virtual travel. Targeting the high volume tourist population of the performance locale, this work presents options for traveling through a sampling station of matched smells and sounds associated with travel. Each set of smell/scent is named after one of the Seven Seas (the soundtrack heard here is airport terminal, the audio component of Scent No.2: North Atlantic). Cruise ship deck chair recliners face the waters of Lake Ontario and invite passersby to lie back, relax, listen to a series of soundscapes and inhale the ambiance of travel via freshly sprayed scent strips. Like spa therapists, the artists gently facilitate each lounger’s sensorial reverie.

Transportation and memory are two key means of escape in the effort to get away. Transportation is conjured and memory is triggered via a series of white noise sounds recorded at seven targeted sites related to travel, in-between states of transitional spaces i.e. bus stations, airports, etc. These places in which travelers are often stuck offer, ironically, a space for reverie and contemplation where the process of getting there is often more enlightening than actually arriving. The series of scents is based on the desire for escape in combination with the inescapable everyday. Using a base of a mass-produced perfume, a perfume that promises ‘an ocean breeze passing over floral and exotic notes’, seven related eau de toilette scents were concocted. They employ a base note of salty sea and incorporate post-industrial smells within the top, bottom and middle notes. Distilling sound and scent, romance and reality, the piece contemplates the fantasies of escape and the odious actualities of tourism.

Photos: Pessi Parviainen, Miklos Legrady


Measurements: installation: 20’ x 4’ x 3’

Collection:

Date Made: 2003

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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The Seven Scents

The Seven Scents

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83997

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Michalofski

Public performance: “FIVE HOLES: reminiSCENT” Performance Event, Harbourfront, Toronto. Curated by Jim Drobnick and Paul Couillard. Commissioned by FADO. Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts.

The Seven Scents is a sound-scent journey that uses, as a point of departure, the legendary exoticism and adventure of the Seven Seas. The Seven Scents provide an occasion for virtual travel. Targeting the high volume tourist population of the performance locale, this work presents options for traveling through a sampling station of matched smells and sounds associated with travel. Each set of smell/scent is named after one of the Seven Seas (the soundtrack heard here is airport terminal, the audio component of Scent No.2: North Atlantic). Cruise ship deck chair recliners face the waters of Lake Ontario and invite passersby to lie back, relax, listen to a series of soundscapes and inhale the ambiance of travel via freshly sprayed scent strips. Like spa therapists, the artists gently facilitate each lounger’s sensorial reverie.

Transportation and memory are two key means of escape in the effort to get away. Transportation is conjured and memory is triggered via a series of white noise sounds recorded at seven targeted sites related to travel, in-between states of transitional spaces i.e. bus stations, airports, etc. These places in which travelers are often stuck offer, ironically, a space for reverie and contemplation where the process of getting there is often more enlightening than actually arriving. The series of scents is based on the desire for escape in combination with the inescapable everyday. Using a base of a mass-produced perfume, a perfume that promises ‘an ocean breeze passing over floral and exotic notes’, seven related eau de toilette scents were concocted. They employ a base note of salty sea and incorporate post-industrial smells within the top, bottom and middle notes. Distilling sound and scent, romance and reality, the piece contemplates the fantasies of escape and the odious actualities of tourism.

Photos: Pessi Parviainen, Miklos Legrady


Measurements: installation: 20’ x 4’ x 3’

Collection:

Date Made: 2003

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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The Seven Scents

The Seven Scents

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83999

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Michalofski

Public performance: “FIVE HOLES: reminiSCENT” Performance Event, Harbourfront, Toronto. Curated by Jim Drobnick and Paul Couillard. Commissioned by FADO. Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts.

The Seven Scents is a sound-scent journey that uses, as a point of departure, the legendary exoticism and adventure of the Seven Seas. The Seven Scents provide an occasion for virtual travel. Targeting the high volume tourist population of the performance locale, this work presents options for traveling through a sampling station of matched smells and sounds associated with travel. Each set of smell/scent is named after one of the Seven Seas (the soundtrack heard here is airport terminal, the audio component of Scent No.2: North Atlantic). Cruise ship deck chair recliners face the waters of Lake Ontario and invite passersby to lie back, relax, listen to a series of soundscapes and inhale the ambiance of travel via freshly sprayed scent strips. Like spa therapists, the artists gently facilitate each lounger’s sensorial reverie.

Transportation and memory are two key means of escape in the effort to get away. Transportation is conjured and memory is triggered via a series of white noise sounds recorded at seven targeted sites related to travel, in-between states of transitional spaces i.e. bus stations, airports, etc. These places in which travelers are often stuck offer, ironically, a space for reverie and contemplation where the process of getting there is often more enlightening than actually arriving. The series of scents is based on the desire for escape in combination with the inescapable everyday. Using a base of a mass-produced perfume, a perfume that promises ‘an ocean breeze passing over floral and exotic notes’, seven related eau de toilette scents were concocted. They employ a base note of salty sea and incorporate post-industrial smells within the top, bottom and middle notes. Distilling sound and scent, romance and reality, the piece contemplates the fantasies of escape and the odious actualities of tourism.

Photos: Pessi Parviainen, Miklos Legrady


Measurements: installation: 20’ x 4’ x 3’

Collection:

Date Made: 2003

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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The Seven Scents

The Seven Scents

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83994

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Michalofski

Public performance: “FIVE HOLES: reminiSCENT” Performance Event, Harbourfront, Toronto. Curated by Jim Drobnick and Paul Couillard. Commissioned by FADO. Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts.

The Seven Scents is a sound-scent journey that uses, as a point of departure, the legendary exoticism and adventure of the Seven Seas. The Seven Scents provide an occasion for virtual travel. Targeting the high volume tourist population of the performance locale, this work presents options for traveling through a sampling station of matched smells and sounds associated with travel. Each set of smell/scent is named after one of the Seven Seas (the soundtrack heard here is airport terminal, the audio component of Scent No.2: North Atlantic). Cruise ship deck chair recliners face the waters of Lake Ontario and invite passersby to lie back, relax, listen to a series of soundscapes and inhale the ambiance of travel via freshly sprayed scent strips. Like spa therapists, the artists gently facilitate each lounger’s sensorial reverie.

Transportation and memory are two key means of escape in the effort to get away. Transportation is conjured and memory is triggered via a series of white noise sounds recorded at seven targeted sites related to travel, in-between states of transitional spaces i.e. bus stations, airports, etc. These places in which travelers are often stuck offer, ironically, a space for reverie and contemplation where the process of getting there is often more enlightening than actually arriving. The series of scents is based on the desire for escape in combination with the inescapable everyday. Using a base of a mass-produced perfume, a perfume that promises ‘an ocean breeze passing over floral and exotic notes’, seven related eau de toilette scents were concocted. They employ a base note of salty sea and incorporate post-industrial smells within the top, bottom and middle notes. Distilling sound and scent, romance and reality, the piece contemplates the fantasies of escape and the odious actualities of tourism.

Photos: Pessi Parviainen, Miklos Legrady


Measurements: installation: 20’ x 4’ x 3’

Collection:

Date Made: 2003

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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The Seven Scents

The Seven Scents

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 83996

Description: In collaboration with Evelyn Michalofski

Public performance: “FIVE HOLES: reminiSCENT” Performance Event, Harbourfront, Toronto. Curated by Jim Drobnick and Paul Couillard. Commissioned by FADO. Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts.

The Seven Scents is a sound-scent journey that uses, as a point of departure, the legendary exoticism and adventure of the Seven Seas. The Seven Scents provide an occasion for virtual travel. Targeting the high volume tourist population of the performance locale, this work presents options for traveling through a sampling station of matched smells and sounds associated with travel. Each set of smell/scent is named after one of the Seven Seas (the soundtrack heard here is airport terminal, the audio component of Scent No.2: North Atlantic). Cruise ship deck chair recliners face the waters of Lake Ontario and invite passersby to lie back, relax, listen to a series of soundscapes and inhale the ambiance of travel via freshly sprayed scent strips. Like spa therapists, the artists gently facilitate each lounger’s sensorial reverie.

Transportation and memory are two key means of escape in the effort to get away. Transportation is conjured and memory is triggered via a series of white noise sounds recorded at seven targeted sites related to travel, in-between states of transitional spaces i.e. bus stations, airports, etc. These places in which travelers are often stuck offer, ironically, a space for reverie and contemplation where the process of getting there is often more enlightening than actually arriving. The series of scents is based on the desire for escape in combination with the inescapable everyday. Using a base of a mass-produced perfume, a perfume that promises ‘an ocean breeze passing over floral and exotic notes’, seven related eau de toilette scents were concocted. They employ a base note of salty sea and incorporate post-industrial smells within the top, bottom and middle notes. Distilling sound and scent, romance and reality, the piece contemplates the fantasies of escape and the odious actualities of tourism.

Photos: Pessi Parviainen, Miklos Legrady


Measurements: installation: 20’ x 4’ x 3’

Collection:

Date Made: 2003

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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PED.Chongqing

PED.Chongqing

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84000

Description: In collaboration with Andrew Johnson, Warren Quigley, Paul Vanouse and Joan Linder Site-specific performative action in public space: Chongqing, China.

PED is a collective that makes participatory art projects that operate in public space. Each project is created specifically for the varying location and situation, and is simultaneously a pseudo service bureau and an info/excer-tainment outlet from which visitors/participants may embark on free, talking-bicycle ‘lecture’ tours. In some PED projects, each bicycle is outfitted with a pedal-activated audio system (i.e. as the participant pedals, they hear the lecture, and when they stop the lecture ceases), while in others, the audio is transmitted via electronic communications devices such as walkie-talkies. The series expands the parameters of performance by both invisibly performing a service bureau and orchestrating viewers to unwittingly perform as they conspicuously ride through the city on the talking-bicycles, disseminating information by broadcasting the lectures.

Each site-specific instance of PED provides a different menu of thematic tours, each with specific routes to follow. The content of each of the PED lecture tours is cultivated through intense research on the local. histories, and is based on a recontextualization of the varying cities’ projected images contrasted with their quotidian activities. Much of the marketing of a city depends on creating a pre-digested, unified image and reifying stereotypes. Conversely, the projects explore the diverse subjective vantages within the living city through an analysis of what should be seen/hidden, experienced/forbidden, known/forgotten, celebrated/mourned.

Although the first bicycles were intended for the amusement of the upper classes, they have come in the last century to represent populist and non-conformist aims. The PED bicycles occupy utopian territory as a viable form of public communication and democratic address.

PED projects have taken place in the U.S.A., Northern Ireland, Canada, China and Brazil. Previous PED projects include PED.Buffalo (2001), PED.Belfast (2002), PED.Tonawandas (2003), PED.Hamilton (2003), PED.Chongqing (2006), PED.Rio (2007), PED.St John’s (2008), and PED.Toronto (2016).

PED.Chongqing presented collective teams riding custom audio bicycle systems (built from locally salvaged bicycle parts) that pulled carts and powered hacked megaphones. These human-driven six-wheeled public address vehicles broadcast pedal-activated audio on a large scale via karaoke-inspired lectures, spreading critical information and loaded entertainment in a new/ancient society. The three tours included:
1. The Long, Long Virtuous Path to Sunshine Vehicle
2. The Twin Stacks of Supreme Happiness Vehicle
3. The Vehicle for Ten Thousand Fertile Scholars’ Star Rated Market Approved Big Shiny Hot Pot for the Benevolent Ghosts from the Immortal Mountains of the Healthy Valley of Plenty.

PED.Chongqing was completed by an expanded team that included 38 students of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China.


Measurements: each unit: W:4’ L:12’ H:6’

Collection:

Date Made: 2006

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Watcher

Watcher

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84012

Description: Public video installation. Curated by Michelle Jacques for Toronto nuit blanche 2007. Commissioned by City of Toronto and Scotiabank. Supported by Department of Media Study, University at Buffalo.

camera: Simon Mink, Chris Ernst, Stefani Bardin, Millie Chen
animation: Chris Ferrari

Watcher is a multi-building video installation that spans 4 houses across a few city blocks. Viewed on the windows of a series of houses, some of which the artist inhabited during childhood, images from her memories of growing up on D’Arcy merge with imagined stories that have occurred behind the buildings' facades over the course of the area’s complex history; fact is peppered with fiction. The piece is tinged with sadness as it deals with personal loss and a rather melancholic cycling of history in that neighbourhood, but it also expresses a more general sense of the constant movement of peoples and of inevitable change. Continuity within change is conveyed through the quotidian, everyday gestures and activities of the characters, forming a link to the distant past and to the future.

As viewers walk from house to house, they become implicated as voyeurs in the human compulsion to not mind our own business. In turn the shadowy inhabitants of the houses recurrently pause during their quotidian activities to watch over the street.

Photos: John Richardson


Measurements: variable duration: 5-10 min. loops

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Watcher

Watcher

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84011

Description: Public video installation. Curated by Michelle Jacques for Toronto nuit blanche 2007. Commissioned by City of Toronto and Scotiabank. Supported by Department of Media Study, University at Buffalo.

camera: Simon Mink, Chris Ernst, Stefani Bardin, Millie Chen
animation: Chris Ferrari

Watcher is a multi-building video installation that spans 4 houses across a few city blocks. Viewed on the windows of a series of houses, some of which the artist inhabited during childhood, images from her memories of growing up on D’Arcy merge with imagined stories that have occurred behind the buildings' facades over the course of the area’s complex history; fact is peppered with fiction. The piece is tinged with sadness as it deals with personal loss and a rather melancholic cycling of history in that neighbourhood, but it also expresses a more general sense of the constant movement of peoples and of inevitable change. Continuity within change is conveyed through the quotidian, everyday gestures and activities of the characters, forming a link to the distant past and to the future.

As viewers walk from house to house, they become implicated as voyeurs in the human compulsion to not mind our own business. In turn the shadowy inhabitants of the houses recurrently pause during their quotidian activities to watch over the street.

Photos: John Richardson


Measurements: variable duration: 5-10 min. loops

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84009

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84008

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84001

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84006

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Watcher

Watcher

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84010

Description: Public video installation. Curated by Michelle Jacques for Toronto nuit blanche 2007. Commissioned by City of Toronto and Scotiabank. Supported by Department of Media Study, University at Buffalo.

camera: Simon Mink, Chris Ernst, Stefani Bardin, Millie Chen
animation: Chris Ferrari

Watcher is a multi-building video installation that spans 4 houses across a few city blocks. Viewed on the windows of a series of houses, some of which the artist inhabited during childhood, images from her memories of growing up on D’Arcy merge with imagined stories that have occurred behind the buildings' facades over the course of the area’s complex history; fact is peppered with fiction. The piece is tinged with sadness as it deals with personal loss and a rather melancholic cycling of history in that neighbourhood, but it also expresses a more general sense of the constant movement of peoples and of inevitable change. Continuity within change is conveyed through the quotidian, everyday gestures and activities of the characters, forming a link to the distant past and to the future.

As viewers walk from house to house, they become implicated as voyeurs in the human compulsion to not mind our own business. In turn the shadowy inhabitants of the houses recurrently pause during their quotidian activities to watch over the street.

Photos: John Richardson


Measurements: variable duration: 5-10 min. loops

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Watcher

Watcher

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84013

Description: Public video installation. Curated by Michelle Jacques for Toronto nuit blanche 2007. Commissioned by City of Toronto and Scotiabank. Supported by Department of Media Study, University at Buffalo.

camera: Simon Mink, Chris Ernst, Stefani Bardin, Millie Chen
animation: Chris Ferrari

Watcher is a multi-building video installation that spans 4 houses across a few city blocks. Viewed on the windows of a series of houses, some of which the artist inhabited during childhood, images from her memories of growing up on D’Arcy merge with imagined stories that have occurred behind the buildings' facades over the course of the area’s complex history; fact is peppered with fiction. The piece is tinged with sadness as it deals with personal loss and a rather melancholic cycling of history in that neighbourhood, but it also expresses a more general sense of the constant movement of peoples and of inevitable change. Continuity within change is conveyed through the quotidian, everyday gestures and activities of the characters, forming a link to the distant past and to the future.

As viewers walk from house to house, they become implicated as voyeurs in the human compulsion to not mind our own business. In turn the shadowy inhabitants of the houses recurrently pause during their quotidian activities to watch over the street.

Photos: John Richardson


Measurements: variable duration: 5-10 min. loops

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

Add to List

wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84003

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

Add to List

wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84004

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84005

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84002

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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wallpaper

wallpaper

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84007

Description: Site-specific installation: Centre culturel canadien, Paris. Commissioned by Centre culturel canadien, Centre d’art contemporain de Basse-Normandie.

By papering the walls of a nineteenth century parlor room at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris with a high-end wallpaper from a Chinoiserie collection, attention is drawn to the continued domestication of the fabled Orient as status symbol and magic carpet ride to a mystical land. The wallpaper’s repeated vignette depicts “whimsical Chinese figures” who amble among pink spotted leopards aloft curling tendrils that blossom paisley flowers and bluebells. The logic of this fictional Chinese idyll is slyly unsettled as a projection of European desire by the insertion into the climbing vines of a cast of intrepid interlopers. The wallpaper becomes a theatre for the cavorting of anachronistic characters drawn from an image bank spanning the last three centuries in France: Fragonard’s shoe-flinging maiden in a swing adds a touch of amorous extravagance and is a reminder of the influence of China on the Rococo; a Napoleonic figure in a French Foreign legion hat recalls colonial enterprises; and a newspaper reading businessman seems nonplussed by the Eiffel tower straddling his head. As a saw-wielding monkey and boy in contemporary street clothes run amok—threatening to send all the characters tumbling—one of the “whimsical Chinese figures,” poised with a point-and-shoot camera, turns the table on who is in control of the representational image. Installed in unassuming sites meant for informal conversation, wallpaper prompts a communal exploration and discussion of the many incongruous characters to be discovered therein. (adapted from text by Sandra Firmin)

Photos: Didier Morel


Measurements: Installation: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2007

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Demon Girl Duet

Demon Girl Duet

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84014

Description: Audio-video projection. Supported by Chalmers Arts Fellowship through the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

lyrics: Millie Chen
composition: Millie Chen,Katherineuncanson
vocals and drone: Katherine Duncanson
swimmer: Molly Eagen
animation: Nelson Wei Tan

Demon Girl Duet presents a sonic-video duet in the form of either a single-channel video projection or a two-channel video installation, juxtaposing and interweaving two separate but simultaneous journeys on rivers of mythic proportions. One journey leads us toward the sea down the Chang Jiang (Yangtze), China’s principle waterway, and the other takes us inland up the Niagara, which spans a 35-mile stretch of the border between Canada and the United States. Each journey is led by the same ‘tour guide’ in the form of an elusive, phantasmagorical swimmer who sings a haunting siren song of warning about the ecological and social consequences of controlling nature and human conditions by imposing rational order and insatiable development.


Measurements: duration: 7:46 loop

Collection:

Date Made: 2007-08

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Demon Girl Duet

Demon Girl Duet

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84015

Description: Audio-video projection. Supported by Chalmers Arts Fellowship through the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

lyrics: Millie Chen
composition: Millie Chen,Katherineuncanson
vocals and drone: Katherine Duncanson
swimmer: Molly Eagen
animation: Nelson Wei Tan

Demon Girl Duet presents a sonic-video duet in the form of either a single-channel video projection or a two-channel video installation, juxtaposing and interweaving two separate but simultaneous journeys on rivers of mythic proportions. One journey leads us toward the sea down the Chang Jiang (Yangtze), China’s principle waterway, and the other takes us inland up the Niagara, which spans a 35-mile stretch of the border between Canada and the United States. Each journey is led by the same ‘tour guide’ in the form of an elusive, phantasmagorical swimmer who sings a haunting siren song of warning about the ecological and social consequences of controlling nature and human conditions by imposing rational order and insatiable development.


Measurements: duration: 7:46 loop

Collection:

Date Made: 2007-08

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Demon Girl Duet

Demon Girl Duet

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84016

Description: Audio-video projection. Supported by Chalmers Arts Fellowship through the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

lyrics: Millie Chen
composition: Millie Chen,Katherineuncanson
vocals and drone: Katherine Duncanson
swimmer: Molly Eagen
animation: Nelson Wei Tan>

Demon Girl Duet presents a sonic-video duet in the form of either a single-channel video projection or a two-channel video installation, juxtaposing and interweaving two separate but simultaneous journeys on rivers of mythic proportions. One journey leads us toward the sea down the Chang Jiang (Yangtze), China’s principle waterway, and the other takes us inland up the Niagara, which spans a 35-mile stretch of the border between Canada and the United States. Each journey is led by the same ‘tour guide’ in the form of an elusive, phantasmagorical swimmer who sings a haunting siren song of warning about the ecological and social consequences of controlling nature and human conditions by imposing rational order and insatiable development.


Measurements: duration: 7:46 loop

Collection:

Date Made: 2007-08

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Miseries & Vengeance

Miseries & Vengeance

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84021

Description: Installation, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Curated by Heather Pesanti for “Surveyor.”

What is the capacity of aesthetics to convey atrocity? In Miseries & Vengeance, what initially appear to be walls decorated to host a collection of historic prints are ultimately revealed to be a provocative dialogue with the exquisitely horrific imagery in those very prints. In the seventeenth century, Jacques Callot produced the epic suite of etchings “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” that documented the Thirty Years’ War. An early recorder of the atrocities of war and social injustice, Callot influenced the likes of Francisco Goya, a fellow observer of human folly and cruelty.

Miseries & Vengeance, presented here in two adjoining rooms, respectively named “Miseries” and “Vengeance,” improvises on the thematic rubrics established by Callot for his suite of etchings. The installation integrates imagery directly drawn and printed on the walls with works by Callot selected from the Gallery’s Collection. In the Miseries room, agonized bodies have been extracted from Callot’s prints and assembled to form the disturbingly decorative pattern on the walls. In the Vengeance room, the landscapes from Callot’s etchings have been entirely emptied of bodies and presented as vacated/evacuated terrain, leaving only land and built structures like buildings and torture devices. Callot grouped his scenes into two categories, namely “Miseries and Misfortunes,” which details the perpetration of the atrocities, and “Vengeance or Justice?” which strikes the simultaneously zealous and ambivalent tone of retribution where the line between perpetration and vengeance is often blurred. Key elements extracted from the original prints are repurposed on the walls of the rooms; these act not only as indicators of Callot’s vision but also serve as links to contemporary territories of conflict that rage on, four centuries later.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated in the present.

Photos: Biff Henrich/IMG_INK


Measurements: installation: W: 18.5’ H: 13.5’ L: 41’

Collection:

Date Made: 2011

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Miseries & Vengeance

Miseries & Vengeance

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84019

Description: Installation, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Curated by Heather Pesanti for “Surveyor.”

What is the capacity of aesthetics to convey atrocity? In Miseries & Vengeance, what initially appear to be walls decorated to host a collection of historic prints are ultimately revealed to be a provocative dialogue with the exquisitely horrific imagery in those very prints. In the seventeenth century, Jacques Callot produced the epic suite of etchings “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” that documented the Thirty Years’ War. An early recorder of the atrocities of war and social injustice, Callot influenced the likes of Francisco Goya, a fellow observer of human folly and cruelty.

Miseries & Vengeance, presented here in two adjoining rooms, respectively named “Miseries” and “Vengeance,” improvises on the thematic rubrics established by Callot for his suite of etchings. The installation integrates imagery directly drawn and printed on the walls with works by Callot selected from the Gallery’s Collection. In the Miseries room, agonized bodies have been extracted from Callot’s prints and assembled to form the disturbingly decorative pattern on the walls. In the Vengeance room, the landscapes from Callot’s etchings have been entirely emptied of bodies and presented as vacated/evacuated terrain, leaving only land and built structures like buildings and torture devices. Callot grouped his scenes into two categories, namely “Miseries and Misfortunes,” which details the perpetration of the atrocities, and “Vengeance or Justice?” which strikes the simultaneously zealous and ambivalent tone of retribution where the line between perpetration and vengeance is often blurred. Key elements extracted from the original prints are repurposed on the walls of the rooms; these act not only as indicators of Callot’s vision but also serve as links to contemporary territories of conflict that rage on, four centuries later.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated in the present.

Photos: Biff Henrich/IMG_INK


Measurements: installation: W: 18.5’ H: 13.5’ L: 41’

Collection:

Date Made: 2011

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Miseries & Vengeance

Miseries & Vengeance

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84018

Description: Installation, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Curated by Heather Pesanti for “Surveyor.”

What is the capacity of aesthetics to convey atrocity? In Miseries & Vengeance, what initially appear to be walls decorated to host a collection of historic prints are ultimately revealed to be a provocative dialogue with the exquisitely horrific imagery in those very prints. In the seventeenth century, Jacques Callot produced the epic suite of etchings “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” that documented the Thirty Years’ War. An early recorder of the atrocities of war and social injustice, Callot influenced the likes of Francisco Goya, a fellow observer of human folly and cruelty.

Miseries & Vengeance, presented here in two adjoining rooms, respectively named “Miseries” and “Vengeance,” improvises on the thematic rubrics established by Callot for his suite of etchings. The installation integrates imagery directly drawn and printed on the walls with works by Callot selected from the Gallery’s Collection. In the Miseries room, agonized bodies have been extracted from Callot’s prints and assembled to form the disturbingly decorative pattern on the walls. In the Vengeance room, the landscapes from Callot’s etchings have been entirely emptied of bodies and presented as vacated/evacuated terrain, leaving only land and built structures like buildings and torture devices. Callot grouped his scenes into two categories, namely “Miseries and Misfortunes,” which details the perpetration of the atrocities, and “Vengeance or Justice?” which strikes the simultaneously zealous and ambivalent tone of retribution where the line between perpetration and vengeance is often blurred. Key elements extracted from the original prints are repurposed on the walls of the rooms; these act not only as indicators of Callot’s vision but also serve as links to contemporary territories of conflict that rage on, four centuries later.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated in the present.

Photos: Biff Henrich/IMG_INK


Measurements: installation: W: 18.5’ H: 13.5’ L: 41’

Collection:

Date Made: 2011

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Miseries & Vengeance

Miseries & Vengeance

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84022

Description: Installation, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Curated by Heather Pesanti for “Surveyor.”

What is the capacity of aesthetics to convey atrocity? In Miseries & Vengeance, what initially appear to be walls decorated to host a collection of historic prints are ultimately revealed to be a provocative dialogue with the exquisitely horrific imagery in those very prints. In the seventeenth century, Jacques Callot produced the epic suite of etchings “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” that documented the Thirty Years’ War. An early recorder of the atrocities of war and social injustice, Callot influenced the likes of Francisco Goya, a fellow observer of human folly and cruelty.

Miseries & Vengeance, presented here in two adjoining rooms, respectively named “Miseries” and “Vengeance,” improvises on the thematic rubrics established by Callot for his suite of etchings. The installation integrates imagery directly drawn and printed on the walls with works by Callot selected from the Gallery’s Collection. In the Miseries room, agonized bodies have been extracted from Callot’s prints and assembled to form the disturbingly decorative pattern on the walls. In the Vengeance room, the landscapes from Callot’s etchings have been entirely emptied of bodies and presented as vacated/evacuated terrain, leaving only land and built structures like buildings and torture devices. Callot grouped his scenes into two categories, namely “Miseries and Misfortunes,” which details the perpetration of the atrocities, and “Vengeance or Justice?” which strikes the simultaneously zealous and ambivalent tone of retribution where the line between perpetration and vengeance is often blurred. Key elements extracted from the original prints are repurposed on the walls of the rooms; these act not only as indicators of Callot’s vision but also serve as links to contemporary territories of conflict that rage on, four centuries later.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated in the present.

Photos: Biff Henrich/IMG_INK


Measurements: installation: W: 18.5’ H: 13.5’ L: 41’

Collection:

Date Made: 2011

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Miseries & Vengeance

Miseries & Vengeance

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84023

Description: Installation, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Curated by Heather Pesanti for “Surveyor.”

What is the capacity of aesthetics to convey atrocity? In Miseries & Vengeance, what initially appear to be walls decorated to host a collection of historic prints are ultimately revealed to be a provocative dialogue with the exquisitely horrific imagery in those very prints. In the seventeenth century, Jacques Callot produced the epic suite of etchings “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” that documented the Thirty Years’ War. An early recorder of the atrocities of war and social injustice, Callot influenced the likes of Francisco Goya, a fellow observer of human folly and cruelty.

Miseries & Vengeance, presented here in two adjoining rooms, respectively named “Miseries” and “Vengeance,” improvises on the thematic rubrics established by Callot for his suite of etchings. The installation integrates imagery directly drawn and printed on the walls with works by Callot selected from the Gallery’s Collection. In the Miseries room, agonized bodies have been extracted from Callot’s prints and assembled to form the disturbingly decorative pattern on the walls. In the Vengeance room, the landscapes from Callot’s etchings have been entirely emptied of bodies and presented as vacated/evacuated terrain, leaving only land and built structures like buildings and torture devices. Callot grouped his scenes into two categories, namely “Miseries and Misfortunes,” which details the perpetration of the atrocities, and “Vengeance or Justice?” which strikes the simultaneously zealous and ambivalent tone of retribution where the line between perpetration and vengeance is often blurred. Key elements extracted from the original prints are repurposed on the walls of the rooms; these act not only as indicators of Callot’s vision but also serve as links to contemporary territories of conflict that rage on, four centuries later.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated in the present.

Photos: Biff Henrich/IMG_INK


Measurements: installation: W: 18.5’ H: 13.5’ L: 41’

Collection:

Date Made: 2011

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Miseries & Vengeance

Miseries & Vengeance

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84020

Description: Installation, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Curated by Heather Pesanti for “Surveyor.”

What is the capacity of aesthetics to convey atrocity? In Miseries & Vengeance, what initially appear to be walls decorated to host a collection of historic prints are ultimately revealed to be a provocative dialogue with the exquisitely horrific imagery in those very prints. In the seventeenth century, Jacques Callot produced the epic suite of etchings “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” that documented the Thirty Years’ War. An early recorder of the atrocities of war and social injustice, Callot influenced the likes of Francisco Goya, a fellow observer of human folly and cruelty.

Miseries & Vengeance, presented here in two adjoining rooms, respectively named “Miseries” and “Vengeance,” improvises on the thematic rubrics established by Callot for his suite of etchings. The installation integrates imagery directly drawn and printed on the walls with works by Callot selected from the Gallery’s Collection. In the Miseries room, agonized bodies have been extracted from Callot’s prints and assembled to form the disturbingly decorative pattern on the walls. In the Vengeance room, the landscapes from Callot’s etchings have been entirely emptied of bodies and presented as vacated/evacuated terrain, leaving only land and built structures like buildings and torture devices. Callot grouped his scenes into two categories, namely “Miseries and Misfortunes,” which details the perpetration of the atrocities, and “Vengeance or Justice?” which strikes the simultaneously zealous and ambivalent tone of retribution where the line between perpetration and vengeance is often blurred. Key elements extracted from the original prints are repurposed on the walls of the rooms; these act not only as indicators of Callot’s vision but also serve as links to contemporary territories of conflict that rage on, four centuries later.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated in the present.

Photos: Biff Henrich/IMG_INK


Measurements: installation: W: 18.5’ H: 13.5’ L: 41’

Collection:

Date Made: 2011

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Miseries & Vengeance

Miseries & Vengeance

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84017

Description: Installation, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Curated by Heather Pesanti for “Surveyor.”

What is the capacity of aesthetics to convey atrocity? In Miseries & Vengeance, what initially appear to be walls decorated to host a collection of historic prints are ultimately revealed to be a provocative dialogue with the exquisitely horrific imagery in those very prints. In the seventeenth century, Jacques Callot produced the epic suite of etchings “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” that documented the Thirty Years’ War. An early recorder of the atrocities of war and social injustice, Callot influenced the likes of Francisco Goya, a fellow observer of human folly and cruelty.

Miseries & Vengeance, presented here in two adjoining rooms, respectively named “Miseries” and “Vengeance,” improvises on the thematic rubrics established by Callot for his suite of etchings. The installation integrates imagery directly drawn and printed on the walls with works by Callot selected from the Gallery’s Collection. In the Miseries room, agonized bodies have been extracted from Callot’s prints and assembled to form the disturbingly decorative pattern on the walls. In the Vengeance room, the landscapes from Callot’s etchings have been entirely emptied of bodies and presented as vacated/evacuated terrain, leaving only land and built structures like buildings and torture devices. Callot grouped his scenes into two categories, namely “Miseries and Misfortunes,” which details the perpetration of the atrocities, and “Vengeance or Justice?” which strikes the simultaneously zealous and ambivalent tone of retribution where the line between perpetration and vengeance is often blurred. Key elements extracted from the original prints are repurposed on the walls of the rooms; these act not only as indicators of Callot’s vision but also serve as links to contemporary territories of conflict that rage on, four centuries later.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can easily become absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated in the present.

Photos: Biff Henrich/IMG_INK


Measurements: installation: W: 18.5’ H: 13.5’ L: 41’

Collection:

Date Made: 2011

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Lament Geography

Lament Geography

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84024

Description: First exhibited in Toronto, this project starts with the simple premise of directing our gaze northbound. Beginning at the southernmost site (Muncey) in Southern Ontario and ending at the northernmost site (Pond Inlet/Mittimatalik) in Nunavut, a “tour” of 45 former Indian Residential Schools is navigated live via Google Earth. The brutal legacy of these schools is not visually evident in the ghostly appearance of the buildings (some of which still stand), overlaid on top of each former school site, but the emotional and psychological associations persist, to this day not fully resolved or reconciled.

Directing our gaze northbound, what would we encounter, not so much literally, but as a collective legacy? We virtually travel across the land to increasingly unfamiliar (to southerners) terrain. The easily accessible eye-in-the-sky vantage point that satellite and mapping technologies afford us in terms of conjuring unvisited locales cannot ultimately reveal to us what has happened in those places, increasing the tension between landscape and land.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can become easily absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts.


Measurements: duration 17:43 looped

Collection:

Date Made: 2013

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Lament Geography

Lament Geography

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84025

Description: First exhibited in Toronto, this project starts with the simple premise of directing our gaze northbound. Beginning at the southernmost site (Muncey) in Southern Ontario and ending at the northernmost site (Pond Inlet/Mittimatalik) in Nunavut, a “tour” of 45 former Indian Residential Schools is navigated live via Google Earth. The brutal legacy of these schools is not visually evident in the ghostly appearance of the buildings (some of which still stand), overlaid on top of each former school site, but the emotional and psychological associations persist, to this day not fully resolved or reconciled.

Directing our gaze northbound, what would we encounter, not so much literally, but as a collective legacy? We virtually travel across the land to increasingly unfamiliar (to southerners) terrain. The easily accessible eye-in-the-sky vantage point that satellite and mapping technologies afford us in terms of conjuring unvisited locales cannot ultimately reveal to us what has happened in those places, increasing the tension between landscape and land.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can become easily absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts.


Measurements: duration 17:43 looped

Collection:

Date Made: 2013

Materials:

Virtual Collection:

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Lament Geography

Lament Geography

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84026

Description: First exhibited in Toronto, this project starts with the simple premise of directing our gaze northbound. Beginning at the southernmost site (Muncey) in Southern Ontario and ending at the northernmost site (Pond Inlet/Mittimatalik) in Nunavut, a “tour” of 45 former Indian Residential Schools is navigated live via Google Earth. The brutal legacy of these schools is not visually evident in the ghostly appearance of the buildings (some of which still stand), overlaid on top of each former school site, but the emotional and psychological associations persist, to this day not fully resolved or reconciled.

Directing our gaze northbound, what would we encounter, not so much literally, but as a collective legacy? We virtually travel across the land to increasingly unfamiliar (to southerners) terrain. The easily accessible eye-in-the-sky vantage point that satellite and mapping technologies afford us in terms of conjuring unvisited locales cannot ultimately reveal to us what has happened in those places, increasing the tension between landscape and land.

The term landscape inherently suggests aestheticization. What happens on that land quickly becomes invisible. Despite the violent, scarring impact of humans on the earth, the history of atrocities can become easily absorbed, literally, back into the landscape. It is only through the insistence of memory and the retelling of past events that we can keep alive the brutal facts.


Measurements: duration 17:43 looped

Collection:

Date Made: 2013

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Tour

Tour

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84028

Description: Audio-video installation. Tour was realized with the support of the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Charles Street Video.

Tour is an audio-video installation that embarks on a global journey contemplating former genocide sites, provoking the question of how we can sustain the memory of that which has become invisible. Events that occurred over the last century retain heat, as some victims and perpetrators are still alive, and justice, truth, and reconciliation processes are still underway. When we look, what do we not see? A history of human atrocities can become easily absorbed back into the land. But the brutal facts remain. It is only through the persistent retelling of past events that we keep these histories alive, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated. In Tour, four instances of genocide are “toured” and memorialized: Murambi, Rwanda (April 16–22, 1994), Wounded Knee, United States (December 29, 1890), Choeung Ek, Cambodia (April 17, 1975–January 7, 1979), Treblinka, Poland (July 23, 1942–October 19, 1943). As the viewer traverses the land, what initially appear as harmless, even banal, details of local flora take on a haunting, sorrowful presence as the audio unfolds and the location is revealed. The audio is based on hummed and chanted interpretations of four traditional lullabies that are specific to each cultural location: Kinyarwanda, Lakota, Khmer, Yiddish. As we listen, we identify these lullabies as those that may have been sung and heard over generations by the victims of these genocides. The fact of the matter is that, in some of the contexts, these were also crooned by the perpetrators.

Music: Concept, Millie Chen
Composer, Juliet Palmer
Producer, Jean Martin

Traditional Music Sources:
Cyusa (Rwandan)
Lakota Lullaby
Bom Pe (Khmer)
Zolst Azoy Lebn (Yiddish

Vocalists:
Maryem Tollar
Jani Lauzon
Christine Duncan
Andrea Kuzmich
Recorded by Juliet Palmer and Jean Martin
Mixed and mastered by Jean Martin at the Farm, Toronto

Video Editor:
Chris Ferrari

Post-Production:
Charles Street Video


Measurements: duration 9:27 looped

Collection:

Date Made: 2014

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Tour

Tour

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84027

Description: Audio-video installation. Tour was realized with the support of the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Charles Street Video.

Tour is an audio-video installation that embarks on a global journey contemplating former genocide sites, provoking the question of how we can sustain the memory of that which has become invisible. Events that occurred over the last century retain heat, as some victims and perpetrators are still alive, and justice, truth, and reconciliation processes are still underway. When we look, what do we not see? A history of human atrocities can become easily absorbed back into the land. But the brutal facts remain. It is only through the persistent retelling of past events that we keep these histories alive, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated. In Tour, four instances of genocide are “toured” and memorialized: Murambi, Rwanda (April 16–22, 1994), Wounded Knee, United States (December 29, 1890), Choeung Ek, Cambodia (April 17, 1975–January 7, 1979), Treblinka, Poland (July 23, 1942–October 19, 1943). As the viewer traverses the land, what initially appear as harmless, even banal, details of local flora take on a haunting, sorrowful presence as the audio unfolds and the location is revealed. The audio is based on hummed and chanted interpretations of four traditional lullabies that are specific to each cultural location: Kinyarwanda, Lakota, Khmer, Yiddish. As we listen, we identify these lullabies as those that may have been sung and heard over generations by the victims of these genocides. The fact of the matter is that, in some of the contexts, these were also crooned by the perpetrators.

Music: Concept, Millie Chen
Composer, Juliet Palmer
Producer, Jean Martin

Traditional Music Sources:
Cyusa (Rwandan)
Lakota Lullaby
Bom Pe (Khmer)
Zolst Azoy Lebn (Yiddish

Vocalists:
Maryem Tollar
Jani Lauzon
Christine Duncan
Andrea Kuzmich
Recorded by Juliet Palmer and Jean Martin
Mixed and mastered by Jean Martin at the Farm, Toronto

Video Editor:
Chris Ferrari

Post-Production:
Charles Street Video

Photo: Tom Loonan


Measurements: duration 9:27 looped

Collection:

Date Made: 2014

Materials:

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Tour

Tour

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84029

Description: Audio-video installation. Tour was realized with the support of the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Charles Street Video.

Tour is an audio-video installation that embarks on a global journey contemplating former genocide sites, provoking the question of how we can sustain the memory of that which has become invisible. Events that occurred over the last century retain heat, as some victims and perpetrators are still alive, and justice, truth, and reconciliation processes are still underway. When we look, what do we not see? A history of human atrocities can become easily absorbed back into the land. But the brutal facts remain. It is only through the persistent retelling of past events that we keep these histories alive, even as acts of atrocity continue to be perpetrated. In Tour, four instances of genocide are “toured” and memorialized: Murambi, Rwanda (April 16–22, 1994), Wounded Knee, United States (December 29, 1890), Choeung Ek, Cambodia (April 17, 1975–January 7, 1979), Treblinka, Poland (July 23, 1942–October 19, 1943). As the viewer traverses the land, what initially appear as harmless, even banal, details of local flora take on a haunting, sorrowful presence as the audio unfolds and the location is revealed. The audio is based on hummed and chanted interpretations of four traditional lullabies that are specific to each cultural location: Kinyarwanda, Lakota, Khmer, Yiddish. As we listen, we identify these lullabies as those that may have been sung and heard over generations by the victims of these genocides. The fact of the matter is that, in some of the contexts, these were also crooned by the perpetrators.

Music: Concept, Millie Chen
Composer, Juliet Palmer
Producer, Jean Martin

Traditional Music Sources:
Cyusa (Rwandan)
Lakota Lullaby
Bom Pe (Khmer)
Zolst Azoy Lebn (Yiddish

Vocalists:
Maryem Tollar
Jani Lauzon
Christine Duncan
Andrea Kuzmich
Recorded by Juliet Palmer and Jean Martin
Mixed and mastered by Jean Martin at the Farm, Toronto

Video Editor:
Chris Ferrari

Post-Production:
Charles Street Video


Measurements: duration 9:27 looped

Collection:

Date Made: 2014

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stain

stain

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84031

Description: Print installation.

stain is sited on the floor of a classroom at Tuol Sleng, a former high school in Phnom Penh that was converted into an interrogation/torture center by the Khmer Rouge during 1975-79. By photographing sites of aggression and violence, I document the visual residue that remains long after the traumatic event. In these photographs, I focus on the ground or floor, maintaining reference to the land, and to the relation of the body to the ground. The stains that cover the floor tiles may simply be the result of the daily wear and tear of high school life, but the viewer is confronted with the chilling fact that these could also be the residue of tortured bodies.

Overlaid on this palimpsest is a stratum of 1970s Western high school culture, consisting of objects that could have been found in a typical Canadian or American high school of that era. These objects are personally significant because I was a high school student in Toronto during that era. What superficially appears as popular culture memorabilia is transformed into Barthes’ concept of punctum: these objects have the power to ‘pierce’ the viewer who has a personal relationship with them, generating a recurrent sense of loss on what has passed. The incongruous juxtaposition of these objects to this site is visually banal, but the realization that this culture of objects was accumulating simultaneous with what was unraveling at Tuol Sleng is deeply disturbing. In stain, the floor stains appear to seep into the overlaid objects, absorbing them into the site. installation.

stain is a memorial to a horrifying and deeply tragic event, but also to daily existence as we repeatedly fail to hold onto things and moments in our lives. It documents the human compulsion to sentimentalize the past, halcyon only because of our penchant for blind nostalgia, solipsistic reverie and ignorant bliss.

Photo: Jeff Wells


Measurements: installation: W: 22’ W x 4.5’ H

Collection:

Date Made: 2015

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stain

stain

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84032

Description: Print installation.

stain is sited on the floor of a classroom at Tuol Sleng, a former high school in Phnom Penh that was converted into an interrogation/torture center by the Khmer Rouge during 1975-79. By photographing sites of aggression and violence, I document the visual residue that remains long after the traumatic event. In these photographs, I focus on the ground or floor, maintaining reference to the land, and to the relation of the body to the ground. The stains that cover the floor tiles may simply be the result of the daily wear and tear of high school life, but the viewer is confronted with the chilling fact that these could also be the residue of tortured bodies.

Overlaid on this palimpsest is a stratum of 1970s Western high school culture, consisting of objects that could have been found in a typical Canadian or American high school of that era. These objects are personally significant because I was a high school student in Toronto during that era. What superficially appears as popular culture memorabilia is transformed into Barthes’ concept of punctum: these objects have the power to ‘pierce’ the viewer who has a personal relationship with them, generating a recurrent sense of loss on what has passed. The incongruous juxtaposition of these objects to this site is visually banal, but the realization that this culture of objects was accumulating simultaneous with what was unraveling at Tuol Sleng is deeply disturbing. In stain, the floor stains appear to seep into the overlaid objects, absorbing them into the site. installation.

stain is a memorial to a horrifying and deeply tragic event, but also to daily existence as we repeatedly fail to hold onto things and moments in our lives. It documents the human compulsion to sentimentalize the past, halcyon only because of our penchant for blind nostalgia, solipsistic reverie and ignorant bliss.


Measurements: installation: W: 22’ W x 4.5’ H

Collection:

Date Made: 2015

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stain

stain

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84030

Description: Print installation.

stain is sited on the floor of a classroom at Tuol Sleng, a former high school in Phnom Penh that was converted into an interrogation/torture center by the Khmer Rouge during 1975-79. By photographing sites of aggression and violence, I document the visual residue that remains long after the traumatic event. In these photographs, I focus on the ground or floor, maintaining reference to the land, and to the relation of the body to the ground. The stains that cover the floor tiles may simply be the result of the daily wear and tear of high school life, but the viewer is confronted with the chilling fact that these could also be the residue of tortured bodies.

Overlaid on this palimpsest is a stratum of 1970s Western high school culture, consisting of objects that could have been found in a typical Canadian or American high school of that era. These objects are personally significant because I was a high school student in Toronto during that era. What superficially appears as popular culture memorabilia is transformed into Barthes’ concept of punctum: these objects have the power to ‘pierce’ the viewer who has a personal relationship with them, generating a recurrent sense of loss on what has passed. The incongruous juxtaposition of these objects to this site is visually banal, but the realization that this culture of objects was accumulating simultaneous with what was unraveling at Tuol Sleng is deeply disturbing. In stain, the floor stains appear to seep into the overlaid objects, absorbing them into the site. installation.

stain is a memorial to a horrifying and deeply tragic event, but also to daily existence as we repeatedly fail to hold onto things and moments in our lives. It documents the human compulsion to sentimentalize the past, halcyon only because of our penchant for blind nostalgia, solipsistic reverie and ignorant bliss.


Measurements: installation: W: 22’ W x 4.5’ H

Collection:

Date Made: 2015

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Prototypes 1970s

Prototypes 1970s

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84033

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Photo: Jeff Wells


Measurements: various

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1972

Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1972

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84037

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Prototype 1972:
Londonderry; Munich; Trang Bang
events:Anti-protest police in Londonderry; terrorist in the Olympic Village residence in Munich; child running from the napalm explosion in Trang Bang.


Measurements: 60.96 x 78.74 cm

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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Prototypes 1970s

Prototypes 1970s

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84034

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Photo: Jeff Wells


Measurements: variable

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1976

Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1976

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84039

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Prototype 1976:
Antoinette Sithole, Mbuyisa Makhubo and Hector Pieterson cast shadows on Mars landing
events: Mbuyisa Makhubo carries the body of 12 year-old Hector Pieterson and runs alongside Hector’s sister, Antoinette Sithole, as they dodge police fire during the Soweto Uprising against Apartheid in South Africa; meanwhile, Viking Lander 1 leaves Earth behind as it makes the first landing on Mars.


Measurements: 43.18 x 43.18 cm

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1978

Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1978

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84041

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Prototype 1978:
Love Canal, USA (from 5 km); Jonestown, Guyana (from 20 km)
events: Human made chemical disasters.


Measurements: 43.18 x 43.18 cm

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1974

Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1974

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84038

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Prototype 1974:
Letebirhan Haile, Mairéad Farrell, and Patti Smith emit powerful ray bursts, destroying existing stars and spurring the growth of new stars
events: Stephen Hawking (Cosmology) pushes the boundaries of black holes and the universe while Letebirhan Haile (Eritrean Peoples’ Liberation Army), Mairéad Farrell (Provisional Irish Republican Army), and Patti Smith (Punk Rock) remain undeterred in their optimism, resistance and controversy


Measurements: 43.18 x 43.18 cm

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1977

Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1977

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84040

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Prototype 1977:
Police Room 619, Sanlam Building, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa; Office of Harvey Milk, San Francisco City Hall, U.S.A.; Nowhere Bus
events: Where Steve Biko was tortured, where Harvey Milk worked, where the Sex Pistols’ bus is headed.


Measurements: 35.56 x 81.28 cm

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1970

Prototypes 1970s: Prototype 1970

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84036

Description: The series of works on paper titled Prototypes 1970s consists of 10 wallpaper designs documenting events that occurred in each year of the decade between 1970-1979. Each image is a repeat pattern with the potential to be reproduced as wallpaper, utilizing wallpaper as a tactic for re-printing and re-distribution. This allows for the dissemination of documented horrors and undeterred optimism and resistance, turning history into an infinitely reproducible image file.

Think “1970s” and some immediate optimistic associations come to mind, such as sexual liberation, the invention of the mobile phone, the birth of IBM, Apple and punk rock. But this was also the era of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Cambodian genocide, the Kent State massacre, the AIM stand-off, the Lebanese Civil War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Apartheid in South Africa, the Cultural Revolution in China, Jonestown, the Love Canal disaster, etc. Chen conveys a social history of the decade by using a combination of less known terrains of violence and resistance with recognizable landmarks, gestures, and visual encoding that have long entered into collective memory. As with every era, we are faced with the incongruity and paradox of simultaneous but divergent events.

Prototype 1970:
War, children, it's just a shot away
Four dead in Ohio
I Love Beijing Tiananmen
events: Channeled through popular song lyrics, the violent events of the Vietnam War, Kent State Massacre and Chinese Cultural Revolution are tempered by the bittersweet hopefulness of Jimi Hendrix.


Measurements: 58.42 ¼ x 78.74 cm

Collection:

Date Made: 2016

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rocks: 1965 (Mariner 4 reaches Mars; Bloody Sunday Selma to Montgomery March)

rocks: 1965 (Mariner 4 reaches Mars; Bloody Sunday Selma to Montgomery March)

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84043

Description: This series of drawings is a continuation of preceding works that juxtapose landscapes with disturbing events that occurred in those places. Focusing on the troubling social history that humans are accustomed to causing on Earth, I pair the “discovery” of the seven other planets of the Solar System with appalling events that happened at the same time on our home planet. Our understanding of the universe is limited by anthropocentrism; as we gain more knowledge about the universe in our effort to better control our condition within it, awareness of our vulnerability only grows

Photo (75): Jeff Wells


Measurements: gouache, watercolor, graphite on Stonehenge White Vellum

Collection:

Date Made: 2017

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egg MUSEUM: Popo’s Scissors

egg MUSEUM: Popo’s Scissors

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84051

Description: eggMuseum
I selected objects from the CU Art Museum for their elusive origins, spotty records of ownership, and associations with the historical Silk Road. The inquiry into these objects was intertwined with personal narrative, drawing parallels between how objects travel from their origin to their ultimate destination with my family’s journey from China to Canada, during which my parents and grandparents shed most of their belongings while enduring periods of conflicts across vast geographies. A series of egg tempera studies serve as the undercurrent of the installation. These studies combine imagery from a small black-and-white photograph of my mother and grandmother with a pair of hand-forged scissors passed down through generations. The hands that I depict in the egg tempera studies, showing the various uses of the scissors, have become interchangeable between my grandmother's, my mother's and my hands. For instance, in one study, my hand replaces my grandmother’s, tenderly brushing my mother’s hair from her eyes. The studies forge an intimate link to my past as I give form to my memories of the images, objects and their attendant stories as relayed by my mother.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x 2”

Collection:

Date Made: 2017

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rocks

rocks

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84042

Description: This series of drawings is a continuation of preceding works that juxtapose landscapes with disturbing events that occurred in those places. Focusing on the troubling social history that humans are accustomed to causing on Earth, I pair the “discovery” of the seven other planets of the Solar System with appalling events that happened at the same time on our home planet. Our understanding of the universe is limited by anthropocentrism; as we gain more knowledge about the universe in our effort to better control our condition within it, awareness of our vulnerability only grows

Photo: Jeff Wells


Measurements: 7 drawings (unframed)

Collection:

Date Made: 2017

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rocks: 1781 (telescope observation of Uranus; massacre of slaves on slave ship Zong)

rocks: 1781 (telescope observation of Uranus; massacre of slaves on slave ship Zong)

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84045

Description: This series of drawings is a continuation of preceding works that juxtapose landscapes with disturbing events that occurred in those places. Focusing on the troubling social history that humans are accustomed to causing on Earth, I pair the “discovery” of the seven other planets of the Solar System with appalling events that happened at the same time on our home planet. Our understanding of the universe is limited by anthropocentrism; as we gain more knowledge about the universe in our effort to better control our condition within it, awareness of our vulnerability only grows


Measurements: gouache, watercolor, graphite on Stonehenge White Vellum

Collection:

Date Made: 2017

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rocks: 2016 (Juno achieves orbital insertion maneuver around Jupiter; missile downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17)

rocks: 2016 (Juno achieves orbital insertion maneuver around Jupiter; missile downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17)

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84044

Description: This series of drawings is a continuation of preceding works that juxtapose landscapes with disturbing events that occurred in those places. Focusing on the troubling social history that humans are accustomed to causing on Earth, I pair the “discovery” of the seven other planets of the Solar System with appalling events that happened at the same time on our home planet. Our understanding of the universe is limited by anthropocentrism; as we gain more knowledge about the universe in our effort to better control our condition within it, awareness of our vulnerability only grows


Measurements: gouache, watercolor, graphite on Stonehenge White Vellum

Collection:

Date Made: 2017

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egg MUSEUM: Mama & Popo in Sichuan I

egg MUSEUM: Mama & Popo in Sichuan I

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84047

Description: eggMuseum
I selected objects from the CU Art Museum for their elusive origins, spotty records of ownership, and associations with the historical Silk Road. The inquiry into these objects was intertwined with personal narrative, drawing parallels between how objects travel from their origin to their ultimate destination with my family’s journey from China to Canada, during which my parents and grandparents shed most of their belongings while enduring periods of conflicts across vast geographies. A series of egg tempera studies serve as the undercurrent of the installation. These studies combine imagery from a small black-and-white photograph of my mother and grandmother with a pair of hand-forged scissors passed down through generations. The hands that I depict in the egg tempera studies, showing the various uses of the scissors, have become interchangeable between my grandmother's, my mother's and my hands. For instance, in one study, my hand replaces my grandmother’s, tenderly brushing my mother’s hair from her eyes. The studies forge an intimate link to my past as I give form to my memories of the images, objects and their attendant stories as relayed by my mother.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x 2”

Collection:

Date Made: 2017

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egg MUSEUM

egg MUSEUM

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84046

Description: I selected objects from the CU Art Museum for their elusive origins, spotty records of ownership, and associations with the historical Silk Road. The inquiry into these objects was intertwined with personal narrative, drawing parallels between how objects travel from their origin to their ultimate destination with my family’s journey from China to Canada, during which my parents and grandparents shed most of their belongings while enduring periods of conflicts across vast geographies. A series of egg tempera studies serve as the undercurrent of the installation. These studies combine imagery from a small black-and-white photograph of my mother and grandmother with a pair of hand-forged scissors passed down through generations. The hands that I depict in the egg tempera studies, showing the various uses of the scissors, have become interchangeable between my grandmother''''s, my mother''''s and my hands. For instance, in one study, my hand replaces my grandmother’s, tenderly brushing my mother’s hair from her eyes. The studies forge an intimate link to my past as I give form to my memories of the images, objects and their attendant stories as relayed by my mother.

Photo: Jeff Wells


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Date Made: 2017-18

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egg MUSEUM: Mama & Popo in Sichuan III

egg MUSEUM: Mama & Popo in Sichuan III

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84048

Description: eggMuseum
I selected objects from the CU Art Museum for their elusive origins, spotty records of ownership, and associations with the historical Silk Road. The inquiry into these objects was intertwined with personal narrative, drawing parallels between how objects travel from their origin to their ultimate destination with my family’s journey from China to Canada, during which my parents and grandparents shed most of their belongings while enduring periods of conflicts across vast geographies. A series of egg tempera studies serve as the undercurrent of the installation. These studies combine imagery from a small black-and-white photograph of my mother and grandmother with a pair of hand-forged scissors passed down through generations. The hands that I depict in the egg tempera studies, showing the various uses of the scissors, have become interchangeable between my grandmother's, my mother's and my hands. For instance, in one study, my hand replaces my grandmother’s, tenderly brushing my mother’s hair from her eyes. The studies forge an intimate link to my past as I give form to my memories of the images, objects and their attendant stories as relayed by my mother.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x 2”

Collection:

Date Made: 2018

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Matter: Calendar I

Matter: Calendar I

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84063

Description: Matter
Calendar I
media: face cream, foundation (Blush Cream, Medium Beige, Porcelain, Natural Ivory), blush (Blushing Glow, Crystal Rose, Pink Blush, Medium Beige, unidentified), eyebrow liner, lipstick (Super Lustrous, Rum Raisin, Wine With Everything, Moon Drops, Love That Red, All-Day Beautiful Pink, Mauve Lustre, Lot 8022H), graphite on paper

The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 23” x 23” x 2” (framed)

Collection:

Date Made: 2018

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egg MUSEUM: Popo’s Scissors: Cutting Hair

egg MUSEUM: Popo’s Scissors: Cutting Hair

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84049

Description: eggMuseum
I selected objects from the CU Art Museum for their elusive origins, spotty records of ownership, and associations with the historical Silk Road. The inquiry into these objects was intertwined with personal narrative, drawing parallels between how objects travel from their origin to their ultimate destination with my family’s journey from China to Canada, during which my parents and grandparents shed most of their belongings while enduring periods of conflicts across vast geographies. A series of egg tempera studies serve as the undercurrent of the installation. These studies combine imagery from a small black-and-white photograph of my mother and grandmother with a pair of hand-forged scissors passed down through generations. The hands that I depict in the egg tempera studies, showing the various uses of the scissors, have become interchangeable between my grandmother's, my mother's and my hands. For instance, in one study, my hand replaces my grandmother’s, tenderly brushing my mother’s hair from her eyes. The studies forge an intimate link to my past as I give form to my memories of the images, objects and their attendant stories as relayed by my mother.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x 2”

Collection:

Date Made: 2018

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egg MUSEUM: Popo’s Scissors: Cutting Nails

egg MUSEUM: Popo’s Scissors: Cutting Nails

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84050

Description: eggMuseum
I selected objects from the CU Art Museum for their elusive origins, spotty records of ownership, and associations with the historical Silk Road. The inquiry into these objects was intertwined with personal narrative, drawing parallels between how objects travel from their origin to their ultimate destination with my family’s journey from China to Canada, during which my parents and grandparents shed most of their belongings while enduring periods of conflicts across vast geographies. A series of egg tempera studies serve as the undercurrent of the installation. These studies combine imagery from a small black-and-white photograph of my mother and grandmother with a pair of hand-forged scissors passed down through generations. The hands that I depict in the egg tempera studies, showing the various uses of the scissors, have become interchangeable between my grandmother's, my mother's and my hands. For instance, in one study, my hand replaces my grandmother’s, tenderly brushing my mother’s hair from her eyes. The studies forge an intimate link to my past as I give form to my memories of the images, objects and their attendant stories as relayed by my mother.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x 2”

Collection:

Date Made: 2018

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Matter

Matter

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84052

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.

Photo: Meccay Photograph


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Date Made: 2018-19

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Matter: Foundation I

Matter: Foundation I

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84053

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Blush II

Matter: Blush II

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84056

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Eyebrow Liner I

Matter: Eyebrow Liner I

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84058

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Foundation II

Matter: Foundation II

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84054

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Blush III

Matter: Blush III

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84057

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Lipstick I

Matter: Lipstick I

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84060

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Blush I

Matter: Blush I

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84055

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Lipstick II

Matter: Lipstick II

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84061

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Eyebrow Liner III

Matter: Eyebrow Liner III

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84059

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

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Matter: Face Cloth

Matter: Face Cloth

Artist: Millie Chen

Work ID: 84062

Description: Matter
The media for this new series of drawings consists entirely of partially used cosmetics found in my mother’s home during the process of clearing her belongings following her death. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with the matter that remains, I embarked on a journey of documentation, photographing anachronistic everyday objects before I gave them away, disposed of them, kept them – or used them. When I sorted through the makeup, I realized that I needed to make use of this matter as drawing media, and that I needed to keep drawing with this matter until all of the makeup was consumed. I structured the makeup in a methodical manner as a way of marking my mother’s relationship to these tools, for instance in how she used them as an interface for public interaction. Using up the makeup was also an act of transformation for me, a way of documenting and contemplating my mother’s everydayness.

In going through the overwhelming matter left behind, I began to experience an anxiety of optimistic objects, not only pertaining to the loss of my mother but also to what matters in how I continue to live. How do we deal with the onerous accumulation of stuff in our lives? The things we accumulate are signs of our belief in a brighter future, and they become informative archives of human existence; but they can also become a ball and chain, evidence of a deluded certainty in endless consumption.

What is the matter we need to hang onto after we lose a loved one? As I grapple with this question, I embark on a process of letting go, of finding peace in the finite.


Measurements: 10” x 10” x ¾”

Collection:

Date Made: 2019

Materials:

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