Anko Chang

Graduates

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Painting and Drawing

ankochang1994@gmail.com

My artwork has been about exploring the story arc of value in my lifetime. A diverse background between East, West, new and old gave me a yearning for self discovery, and then for social commentary. Upon self reflection of my role as an artist, I gained a strong urge to define art/artists and their value to the world. Influenced by the evolution of society and the etiologies of obsolescence, I compared the subjective value of artworks and artists to modern currency. I realized that my definition of art is the notion of a human being expressing subjective value with an objective language. At the same time, I feel displaced in time as a painter. I am a futurist with antique tool sets. I started using technology and video projections to give life to my inanimate paintings with the belief that painting can become a four dimensional experience.

Metempsychosis, 2019, Oil, Servo motor, Arduino board, and fiber on Masonite 31 x 56.2 in.

Metempsychosis is a painting depicting a scene in a timeless space of not the past and nor the future personifying art in a time of universal belief. As the world continues to move towards advanced technology, where computers are replacing cognitive, humanistic attributes incrementally, where does this sense of belief go? If art, like religion, is established by our system of belief versus scientific fact, then, what role does art play in our society at such time?

Fortune, 2019, Oil, glitter, and 24K gold leaf on wood panel, 48 x 48 in.

Fortune is my first piece and my transition into mobile art. Using stylistic inspiration from Asian culture, the Chinese Zodiac is used to represent generalizations embodied by each of the twelve signs. Ironically, the piece challenges the viewers to scratch beneath the surface and dig into the deeper, darker concepts behind the symbolism in the painting. Fortune discusses the paradoxical nature of our society. Economy and value established by society have become a large part of our life and our personal sense of worth. People are often “blinded”, “deafened,” or forced to hold their tongue for the sake of these values. At the end of the day, what is value? Is it paper? Is it currency? Is it rock? Is it a diamond? Or were these items simply imparted with value by humans? “Precious” 24 karat gold leaf is placed next to “cheap” commercial black glitter to encourage the viewer to challenge the relative value imparted on these materials. The twelve paintings are designed to represent time and the timelessness of value. Every year, the painting of the corresponding zodiac sign of the will be moved up, representing the changing nature of value in society and the persistent importance of value in society.

Untitled, Chicago., (No.1 and No. 2) video projection 168 x 180 in.

This project is a two-channel projection working in conjunction with the Public Light and Space class of SAIC’s Art & Technology Department. Untitled, Chicago is a video projection/installation giving life to the cold and barren Lurie Garden of Millennium Park during the lonely winter of Chicago. The projections use the city flower of Chicago, the chrysanthemum, to illuminate the entrance to the gardens and activate the space into a scene of transition between seasons. Untitled, Chicago, No. 1 projects blooming emoji-con chrysanthemums and emoji-styled hands to speak to Chicago’s urban setting. As a hub for international visitors, the emoji-chrysanthemum, Cherubs, act as a universal language understandable by all visitors to the gardens. As a counterpart to the social media symbolism of Untitled, Chicago, No. 1, Untitled, Chicago, No. 2 welcomes spring with a humanistic quality. Utilizing video of the artist’s hand and geometric chrysanthemum patterns it continues the motifs of the installation in a reworked presentation. Untitled, Chicago, was presented on March 12th, 2020 at Lurie Garden of Millennium Park, Chicago, IL.

Art is Dead, 2020

Art is Dead started as a passion project in October 2019 when I was trying to research on the meaning of art and painting in this meta-modernist society of technology alongside countless global issues constantly happening. In fact, it has driven me to think about what’s the meaning of art in a larger and broader assessable term to people. Especially, it is believed by many art philosophers, professors, and critics like Arthur Danto, Andrew Falkowski, Walter Robinson, and others, that art zombification (formally called Zombie Formalism) is the current trend of art produced nowadays. Conceptually derived from a painting project, Art is Dead started with 76 stickers, with a goal to recognize what art is now in this day and age. The project was a collaboration of people around the world directed by SAIC MFA candidate, Anko Chang with the help of other artists and art lovers including LA-based photographer, Alex Jeedlaf Hernandez.

Anko Chang - In Money We Trust: Creation

In Money We Trust: Creation, 2018, Oil, acrylic, ink, and American currency on glass, 4.5 x 11 in.

In the course of human history, currency has shifted from precious metals to fiat (paper). This past century has seen a further shift from physical currency to systems of credit and debt. At its core, this intangible system is based all on our trust in each other. Now, money is not gold, but trust. However, trust can be manipulated. It can be made fiction. It can be distorted. Trust can be created just as it can become destroyed.

String Theory

Untitled, Chicago. No. 1

Untitled, Chicago. No. 2

Back to group

More graduates