Urich Lau

Coming from a distant country, I came to REAL PRESENCE both as an artist and a traveller. I am a person who likes to travel as light as possible, so for this trip, I did not bring any tools, materials, not even my present context of work back in Singapore. I wanted to go to Belgrade open-minded, and see what i can create there using what is available. I hoped that in this way, I could create a work that is sensitive, or even specific to the context of Belgrade.

During the first few days staying there, I tried to conceptualize a few ideas that could be sensitive to REAL PRESENCE, but i also want to be careful not to overdo it that the working idea cannot be taken out of the context.
With the generosity of our kind hosts and curators, there were already available materials and facilities at the museum at our disposal. What we had in abundance were huge rolls of sturdy brown industrial paper, and of course, the spaces in and around the museum.
What I also saw as another opportunity for my working material were the other artists and their works. However, I did not intend to openly collaborate with the artists, rather, I did like to see how my work can be installed with some of the artist's works. So as to create another plane of visual dialogue.
I set out to cut big squares of paper - as many as I could - that were 19 in total, and then folded each piece into a ball. One piece of paper is about 2.5 metre square, so you could imagine the size of a folded ball is about 1.5 metre in diameter.
After which, with all these balls I set out to install them into some of the exhibits in the show. The choice of selection was based on the perception of an interesting potential visual language, that would not hinder or disrupt the already existing visual language and concepts of the works. Rather, I hoped to negotiate and collaborate with the works.
Hence, the paperballs that I created had the similitude as myself, as a traveller, as an adaptable element.

Urich Lau, visual artist