"Last year I was invited to be artist in residence in the Department of Philosophy at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. I was keen to create an on-going dialogue with Lingnan that also linked with my interest in the relationship between books, libraries and knowledge and what may happen when language and the visual arts conflate."
For over three months, Dyer, in collaboration with the library staff and philosophy students, transformed the library with a series of ultimately ephemeral interventions titled Words for Pictures, prompting staff and students to reflect on the critical and social intention of the work. Shredded text spilled from library shelves, black painted books were inserted amongst the Chinese and English language sections, and in the most controversial and ambitious work, Dyer requested that all the books in the general reference section be flipped around, spines hidden with only the page leaves revealed, blanking access to titles. This last work was particularly pertinent as reference sections at Lingnan, and libraries generally, have become increasingly digitalised.
The Reading Installation
Dyer explained, "I'm interested in the changing role of the book, the fact that so much is going digital. Is paper as necessary as it was in the past? What is a library? What is truth and what is fiction? The Internet has a variety of realities that change all the time, faster than the realities reflected by books."
China has definitely stimulated this high-energy artist. She's flawlessly adapted herself into Beijing culture, riding a bicycle around town, the city's cultural delights, and working with other artists. "I make more adventurous work here because I have better access to facilities, production rates are low and I can try ideas very quickly. In Australia it can be more difficult to start a major project due to material and labor costs. Here I feel freer to take risks, to be open to potentials in production and outcomes."
Dyer remarked that her own creative process has accelerated while living in China. She feels stimulated by the art communities around her in Beijing and Hong Kong. "Since the 1990's art world focus has been increasingly on China and now the market is booming. Artists, collectors and curators are flocking here -- for residencies, to set up galleries and purchase work. The Chinese artists and arts precincts in Beijing remind me that anything is possible. Living here is like walking a tightrope between cutting edge art and rampant consumerism. I want to be right here, in the center of this activity."
(China.org.cn June 26, 2008)
