SITE Santa Fe — The Fun in Fung

The seventh SITE Santa Fe biennial will come and go with a prevailing spirit of collaboration.

By Steven Biller

Seen right: SITE Biennial curator Lance Fung
Photo Courtesy SITE Santa Fe

Lance Fung exudes a fearless, almost whimsical, sense of discovery, defying so many art-world conventions since revealing his unorthodox plan for Lucky Number Seven, the seventh biennial exhibition at SITE Santa Fe.

Admittedly, the curator’s concept of inviting 23 emerging artists with no U.S. “market” to create art on site either on their own, with a designated assistant, or with other biennial artists — only to see their work disappear when the exhibition closes — stands in stark contrast to former exhibitions. And it looks wildly foreign compared to other would-be curators’ pitches with catchy, provocative, and thoughtful themes and brand-name artists to anchor their shows.

“Each [previous] biennial had a curator with a strong individual voice,” Fung says. “Mine is based on collaboration, and people are coming out of the woodwork to help.”

That’s not to say the artists Fung has selected lack quality. On the contrary — and in another act of defiance — Fung spent a year researching curators and art institutions and ultimately dialed up 19 of them, from SSamzaie Space in South Korea to the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe. Each of Fung’s chosen artists received $7,500, an assistant, and the immense support of the Santa Fe community rushing to help them realize their art at SITE or at other venues in town. However, they could not accept money or materials from galleries or collectors.

“My proposal was not about being anti-market, but to do something totally outside what the artists would do in the studio — even collaborate,” Fung says. “I naturally selected artists aligned with that philosophy.”

Collaboration is the heart and soul of this biennial, which has no theme other than this: “By releasing some of the control and power and allowing others to share in the vision seems as if it can be chaotic, but the process is quite controlled. The momentum keeps moving forward.”

Fung explains: “The MFAs, schoolchildren, and people in the community have ingredients to help contribute. Artists supply us with a list of what they need — people, materials, transportation. We put an open call out to the city for plastic water bottles. [Artist] Hiroshi Fuji [of Kagoshima, Japan] will take people’s trash to create objects — one indoor, one outdoor. It capitalizes on the [conservationist] spirit of Santa Fe and elevates it in a way that moves you visually.”

Fung’s collaboration with art institutions around the globe ensures Lucky Number Seven will gain international exposure — and the critical reviews of the world’s art critics. How will they respond to the art in the biennial?

Indeed, the art itself was the toughest to explain. The artworks are ephemeral — that is, when the show ends, the art goes away. How exactly it goes away is something even The New York Times and the venerable magazine Art in America have explained improperly. Both publications, and many others, reported that the art would be destroyed.

However, Fung intones, “I don’t believe in destroying art. We considered the guidelines on how the work ends or is recycled back into the community. For example, the exhibition design consists of wood that will be harvested for Habitat For Humanity. Artwork will not remain in the physical form, but it will last in the minds of those who see it. There’s spirituality to this project.”

Even for SITE, a nonprofit space that encourages experimentation and risk, Fung’s vision is a leap of faith for director Laura Heon, who selected him after seeing The Snow Show, which paired artists with architects in creating ephemeral art from snow and ice in Finland.

Some say it’s curatorial suicide to select all emerging artists for the only international biennial in the United States. Most such shows, Fung says, have a formula or a quota for the artists: 70 percent established, 30 percent emerging, with 10 percent of those local.

“I’m not a formula guy,” says Fung, who lives in New York but spends most of his time traveling to meet with artists and exercise his eye. “Artmaking is about the process and communicating visually. Who in this art world is willing to risk and collaborate? I want a sense of discovery, a sense of play.”

The art-smart community of Santa Fe gets it. Fung’s enthusiasm has been infectious. After the artists have created their work — itself an educational opportunity for Santa Feans — and Lucky Number Seven opens, an appreciable schedule of educational programming will offer visitors a deeper understanding of this experience.

Lucky Number Seven appears June 22-Oct. 26, 2008.
Contact: SITE Santa Fe, 1606 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe; (505) 989-1199.