Blue Night 11: Tragic 2

The Malaysian art world of the 1990s was confronted with the powerful rise of young artists of Chinese descent. Tan Chin Kuan is a prominent figure of this movement and, through his profound speculation on human nature and love, he has created his mysterious world of night, the series of "Blue Night." The first piece was produced in 1987 and, initially, it was composed merely of planes. The character in this work stares at the viewer and tries to pull him into that world. However, in this work, there is no such figure. Instead, the world of 'Blue Night' spreads out into real space and the red stretch of area points out the direction. This is a world where we get glimpses of the human nature. Silhouettes of despair and insanity are projected on the windows. There stands upright a human being wearing a mask and chessmen-like black human forms outdoors. In this world, would tragedy also befall to the man and woman who are the only ones showing their faces? (NT)