GLOSS

Gloss (2019) was developed as part of Chan’s Master of Fine Art by Research at UNSW Art & Design. The project explores the discourse around 山寨 / shanzhai—the Chinese practice of imitating or counterfeiting Western brands—through both a written dissertation and a multimedia installation of the same name.

Shanzhai has been perceived by some as a symbol of resistance through its associations with grassroots innovation and irreverence for copyright. Others claim that there are limitations to the subversive potential of shanzhai in the context of contemporary Chinese neoliberalism, which is complicated by a strong state-market alliance. Chan’s thesis considers these contradictory narratives of shanzhai, exploring the central question: How can artistic practice employ shanzhai strategies to critically examine myths about creativity and ownership in the global rise of China? To investigate this, Chan adopts the playful alter ego Chamele No. 5—a caricature that co-opts and exaggerates the gendered and racialised stereotypes projected onto her in the past.

The project’s theoretical framework draws on the writings of Laikwan Pang, Aihwa Ong and Jane Park, as well as the creative projects of Shanzhai Biennial, Fatima Al Qadiri, and Stephanie Syjuco. Building on these rich conversations in diaspora studies and artistic practice, Gloss explores the productive potential of piracy, mimicry and mistranslation, which are conceptualised in this project as strategies of “shanzhai style.” Highlighting intimacies between representation, technology and power, Chan aims to raise important questions about today’s creative economies – how they intersect with race, class, gender and nation, and their potential to morph and transmute along the rogue flows of capital. 

The Project Space, Cement Fondu
March 7 - April 7 2019