Heman Chong & Ken Liu at Swiss Institute
Legal Books (Shanghai)
June 22–August 19, 2018
Swiss Institute
38 St Marks Pl
New York, NY 10003
USA
Swiss Institute is delighted to present Legal Books (Shanghai), an exhibition and bookshop by Heman Chong and Ken Liu. This marks the inaugural library exhibition in SI’s Library and Reading Room at Swiss Institute’s new home at 38 St Marks Pl, in the heart of the East Village.
Legal Bookshop (Shanghai) is a selection of books relating to the legal system in China. For this project, originally conceived as part of Heman Chong’s 2016 solo exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, the artist invited and hired Ken Liu, who works as a lawyer, translator, programmer and speculative fiction writer, to make a personal selection of books that informs Liu’s understanding of the law in China.
Via email, Chong wrote: “I would like you to select books that are readily available in bookshops in Shanghai that touch on the idea of the law; including both fiction and non- fiction books. They can be textbooks that law students use for their studies, books that lawyers use for reference, copies of the legal acts, novels where characters get entangled with the law, books that touch on the history of the law, maybe even books on scientific laws. I want you to interpret the idea of ‘the law’ when you think about this list.” Liu’s resultant selection of books is available to browse and purchase at Swiss Institute.
Though some of the choices may seem obvious, such as Laws and Regulations of the People's Republic of China in Common Use, and The Comprehensive Explanations on the Laws of the People's Republic of China, in addition to books that introduce the idea of laws and their histories in China and other countries, others are more idiosyncratic, for example: a chess manual; a book that touches on prosody in poetry; a book on programming algorithms and game development; a book on urban planning; a guide for LEGO builders; a book on principles of physics and laws of nature; a book on the governance of a nation and rules of economic development; a book on social norms and etiquette; and a book on philosophy enquiries concerning human society. A full list of books is readily available upon request.
Together, as literature and as objects, these various books describe a collection of limits, rules and systems whilst offering a glimpse of a cultural imaginary.
Heman Chong envisions the bookshop as an open-ended platform, which he has consistently utilized within his practice. Other bookshops include: LEM1 (2012), a collection of 3000 science fiction and fantasy books sold for £1 at Rossi & Rossi Gallery in London; LEM2 (2016), a nomadic curbside retrospective of the Polish science fiction writer, Stanisław Lem at the 20th Sydney Biennale; andBecause, The Night (2017), a nocturnal bookshop that is installed in 72-13, a major theatre venue in Singapore that is open only between 10PM-4AM.
Press Contacts:
Nadine Johnson, Nadine@NadineJohnson.com
Evan Lenox, Evan@NadineJohnson.com
+1 212-228-5555
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