Heman Chong has been described as an archetypal conceptual artist. Yet, with an expansive practice that has included the making of texts, objects, installations, and situations, and seen Chong take on at different times the various roles of writer, curator and artist, his practice escapes any simple categorisation.

Organised on the occasion of Chong’s first solo exhibition at STPI “Peace Prosperity And Friendship With All Nations”, this artist talk will see Chong speak to the diverse forms of his practice and the urgencies that have defined his work. As part of his presentation, Chong will perform Words, They, Wrote, a performance based upon texts written by other artists and accompanied by slides that contextualise the texts.

Words, They, Wrote, which is always deliberately performed within a symposium, lecture, panel discussion or exhibition space, encapsulates the complex entanglements between text, image and meaning-making. Chong sees the performance as an expanding series of proposals for imaginary exhibitions. For Chong, the list of texts is never complete. There will always be more words written and said. Just as no two artist talks – even by the same artist – are ever the same, no two performances are ever the same.