As a contemporary artist‭, ‬are you willing to let the work be bought out by a single institution‭?‬

— Sep 20, 2018 by YIART

In the art collection world‭, ‬it is common for a‭ ‬young artist’s certain artwork series‭ ‬to‭ ‬be bought out‭ ‬by collectors‭. ‬But if the act of buying out occurs in a museum institution‭, ‬and the length of the work of the buyout includes not only the past but also the future‭, ‬it is indeed a new thing in the art‭ ‬world‭.‬

On August 21‭, ‬2018‭, ‬M‭+‬‭, ‬the museum of visual culture in‭ ‬Hong Kong’s‭ ‬West Kowloon Cultural District‭, ‬announced that‭ ‬they have‭ ‬acquired‭ ‬the‭ ‬full‭ ‬archive‭ ‬of‭ ‬digital art duo‭ "‬YOUNG‭-‬HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES‭"‬’s‭ ‬work‭. ‬The project acquired by the museum is‭ "‬YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES‭: ‬THE COMPLETE WORKS‭ ‬‭ (‬YHCHANG.COM/AP2‭)",‬‭ ‬the acquired works‭ ‬contains‭ ‬the‭ ‬text‭-‬based‭ ‬animations‭ ‬of‭ "‬‭ ‬YOUNG‭-‬HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES‭" ‬published in the past‭ ‬through their‭ ‬official website‭,‬‭ ‬including hundreds of‭ ‬drafts‭, ‬lectures‭, ‬and related galleries installations‭, ‬in total‭ ‬more than 500’s past and future‭ ‬works‭.‬‭ ‬But now we have a question‭, ‬will this‭ "‬buyout‭"‬‭ ‬action‭ ‬will‭ ‬monopolize‭ ‬the‭ ‬spontaneity of‭ ‬artist ‬future creation‭? ‬According to‭ ‬M‭+‬’s explanation‭, ‬in general‭, ‬the‭ ‬digital‭ ‬artists will have‭ ‬more than one edition‭ ‬of their work‭. ‬M‭+ ‬only‭ ‬acquired‭ ‬one of the three to five copies of the existing works‭, ‬YOUNG‭-‬HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES‭ ‬still able to sell the rest of‭ ‬editions‭. ‬The‭ ‬collection‭ ‬of‭ ‬‭"‬‭ ‬YOUNG‭-‬HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES‭ ‬‭"‬’s‭ ‬future‭ ‬new‭ ‬work‭ ‬will‭ ‬carry on with‭ ‬this practice.‭ ‬Each‭ ‬of the acquired work‭ ‬will have two artist proofs‭, ‬one‭ ‬belongs to‭ ‬the artist and the other one delivered‭ ‬to M‭ + ‬on a‭ ‬six-month cycle.

‭"‬‭ ‬YOUNG‭-‬HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES‭ ‬‭" ‬was launched‭ ‬in 1999‭ ‬by South Korean artist‭ ‬Young-Hae Chang‭ ‬and American artist Marc Voge‭. ‬Over the past two decades‭, ‬the group has used the internet as a‭ ‬platform‭ ‬to publish‭ ‬their‭ ‬artistic creation‭ ‬and become the‭ ‬pioneer‭ ‬of‭ ‬internet art experiment‭. ‬Animated with bold text and synchronized music‭, ‬the content of the work mainly explores the phenomenon of media‭, ‬technology‭, ‬politics‭, ‬economy and mutual relationship in the globalization chain effect‭. ‬The portfolio is translated into 26‭ ‬languages and has been exhibited at several international‭ ‬museums‭ ‬and institutions‭ ‬such as the Tate Modern in London‭, ‬the Centre‭ ‬Georges‭-‬Pompidou in Paris‭, ‬and the Whitney Museum of American Art‭.‬

Aim‭ ‬to be one of the world's largest‭ ‬museums of Modern and contemporary‭ ‬visual‭ ‬cultural‭, ‬M‭+, ‬which will open in 2019‭, ‬is eager to take root in Asia and conceive the birthplace of future innovations‭.‬‭ ‬Its collection strategy has been controversial in the past‭, ‬and its collections have been‭ ‬criticized by some of‭ ‬the artists‭ ‬as‭ "‬rubbish‭" ‬and the freedom of curation was also‭ ‬questioned‭. ‬According to the museum's announcement‭, ‬the curator‭ ‬team has observed‭ ‬“YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES”‭ ‬for a long time‭. ‬As the‭ ‬feature‭ ‬of the M‭+‬’s‭ ‬collection‭, ‬M‭+‬‭ ‬does not set the lower limit of the number of future works of‭ ‬“YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES”‭. ‬The museum believes that this‭ ‬will help‭ ‬“YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES”‭ ‬to enhance its international image‭ ‬by providing a bigger‭ ‬platform‭ ‬to present their works‭, ‬but‭ ‬declined‭ ‬to disclose the purchase price of the work‭.‬

For the artist‭, ‬the‭ ‬expectation‭ ‬returned‭ ‬of his own creation‭, ‬in addition to the‭ ‬reputation‭ ‬and benefit‭, ‬is probably rewarded by the academic community and‭ ‬acquired‭ ‬by academic institutions such as museums‭. ‬The‭ ‬acquisition‭ ‬of‭ ‬‭"‬YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES‭ ‬‭"‬’s complete work‭ ‬is‭ ‬reasonable‭ ‬accepted‭ ‬because of‭ ‬their‭ ‬work’s duplicable feature‭. ‬The artist still retains the copyright owner of the works.‭ ‬At the same time‭, ‬M‭+‬‭ ‬also plays a positive role in the development of contemporary visual art‭ ‬by giving‭ ‬the‭ ‬artist a high degree of recognition,‭ ‬witnessed the growth and transformation of the artist's various stages of creation‭, ‬and accompanied the artists to grow‭ ‬further.

Figure 1: M+ Façade 3D Visual © West Kowloon Cultural District Authority 2018

Figure 2: Exhibition space of “In Search of Southeast Asia through the M+ Collection” © West Kowloon Cultural District Authority 2018