1. 22 Sculpture 21.9
The Asia Society and Museum
New York
The Asia Society and Museum commis-
sioned nine artists to create long-term
installations in conjunction with a
major renovation and expansion of its
New York headquarters. The installations,
including pieces by Heri Dono, Yong
Soon Min, Vong Phaophanit, Navin
Rawanchaikul, Nilma Sheikh, Shahzia
Sikander, Sarah Sze, Xu Guodong, and
Xu Bing, were unveiled at the redesigned
building’s opening
ceremony last November. The projects,
an eclectic mix of materials, settings, and
approaches, are as diverse as the cultures
of the artists themselves, who hail from
China, Thailand, Laos, Pakistan, India,
and the United States.
The selection committee, which
included Vishakha N. Desai, Senior
Vice President of the Asia Society and
Director of the Museum and Cultural
Programs, chose artists whose work
would reflect the range of contemporary
art being produced in Asia and by
artists of Asian descent.“In the United
States there is a tendency to see the
pre-modern, traditional arts as the only
authentic cultural expressions of Asians
and Asian societies, and to devalue
artistic forms of the 20th and 21st century
that have been influenced by the West as
somehow“impure”or“derivative,”Desai
says.“Commissioning these major pieces
for our new facility is part of our ongoing
commitment to foster a more inclusive
way of looking at Asian arts and to
reveal the tremendous dynamism of the
Asian artists at work today.”
For the main lobby and visitor center,
Navin Rawanchaikul constructed a two-
seater sofa disguised as a tuk tuk,
a small, brightly colored, three-wheeled
taxi common throughout Thailand. A
cross between a car and a motorcycle, the
tuk tuk can navigate small streets impass-
able for normal cars. The name comes
from the sound of its four-stroke/
550-cubic-centimeter engine. Tuk Tuk
Scope comes complete with a steering
console and wheels, but no engine.
Rawanchaikul painted the roof of the tuk
tuk with cartoon images drawn from
the lives of taxi drivers and their pas-
sengers. Comic book exclamations such
as“Fooosh”and“Let’s Go!”dot the roof,
evoking the hectic pace of
traffic, life, and change in Bangkok.
The Garden Court, a café and perfor-
frankoudeman, courtesy of the asia society
Commissions
Clockwise from above right: Installation view of banner commissions: (left) Shahzia
Sikander, Midgets to Monsters, 2001; (right) Nilma Sheikh, Carrying Across, Leaving
Behind, 2001. Xu Guodong, Garden Viewing Rock, 2001. Lingbi stone, installation view.
Navin Rawanchaikul, Tuk Tuk Scope, 2001. Mixed media, installation view.

2. Sculpture November 2002 23
mance site, houses three projects,
including pieces by Heri Dono and Xu
Guodong. Of the nine commissioned art-
ists, Xu’s style reflects the most traditional
sensibility; his work was inspired by his
father, a hard stone landscape artist.
Cut from a complete limestone, Garden
Viewing Rock is a monumental example
of scholar’s rocks, which the Chinese prize
for their natural shape, texture, and color.
Xu embellished the rock’s naturally occur-
ring indentations, holes, and textures,
transforming the material so that the
work resembles interconnected ravines.
He also engraved the inscription“xiang-
shi-shan-ren-zhi”(“made by a mountain
man who tames rocks”).“This work
challenge[s] the traditional notion
of natural garden rocks.” Xu says. “After
20 years of research, I have learned
that carving natural rocks enhances
their appeal. This is a revision of the
aesthetics of traditional ornamental
garden rocks.”
In contrast, Dono’s ethereal piece
inhabits the upper reaches of the space.
Three suspended figures, encased in
translucent fabric cocoons, appear
to swoop through the court’s trees.
According to Dono, Flying in a Cocoon
reflects the powerful sense of change in
Indonesia today.“The figures resemble
developing embryos (symbols of regener-
ation that inspire hope and new energy)
that are protected by cocoons, not unlike
butterflies,”Dono says.“Yet for the butter-
fly to fly freely, it must first
go through a developmental phase as
a caterpillar.”
Perhaps the most engaging project is
also the one most likely to be missed.
Sarah Sze’s Hidden Relief sits tucked
away in a bright corner near a bank of
elevators on the top floor of the Asia
Society’s public exhibition space.“My
work is often placed so that it is an
unexpected discovery—the viewer
comes across the site without warning,”
she explains. A sturdy tripod of flood
lights supports a fragile network of
measuring sticks, levels, Q-tips, pen
caps, bottle rings, wooden sticks, and
plastic plant fronds. Layers of con-
toured construction paper emerge from
the walls, cascading over and interlacing
with the other elements of the structure.
Separated from viewers by a stretch of
orange tape, the intricacies of Sze’s work
invite close inspection while invoking
a sense of physical vulnerability. Visitors
offered various meditations on the work’s
meaning: a Chinese landscape painting
made three dimensional; Bonsai co-
opted; architectural model gone mad. If
the Asia Society’s aim is to present works
that encourage the public to explore
the meaning of contemporary Asian art,
these installations are a good place to
start.
—Amy H. Blankstein
Information on recently completed com-
missions, along with quality 35mm slides
or transparencies and an SASE
for return of slides, should be sent to:
Commissions, Sculpture, 1529 18th Street
NW, Washington, DC 20036.
Left: Heri Dono, Flying in a Cocoon, 2001. Mixed
media, installation view. Right: Sarah Sze,
Hidden Relief, 2001. Mixed media, installation
view.
frankoudeman, courtesy of the asia society

3. 24 Sculpture 21.9
Photocred