Interview: NDSM (Come To) Light artists Alice Wong & Crys Leung

In this edition, we speak with visual artists Alice Wong and Crys Leung. Anyone who recently took an evening walk at NDSM may have already passed their new project without even realizing it: the work Cohesion is because it is so big that it cannot be seen at a glance.

How did this project start for you?

Alice (A): Last August, we were asked to participate in this open-air exhibition. At that time, we were on a summer vacation together. We had never done a project in the public space before, but we decided: “Why not?” This is the seventh project we're working on together, and we were excited to challenge ourselves with something new.

It's always fascinating to work with a new medium. I call myself a “story designer”: I love to embed narratives in my work, and it works well to use different media for that. If a certain story is best told in a podcast, I'll create a podcast. If it needs to be shown with a chair, then I'll push myself to make a chair. If it has to be a circle, we'll make a circle.

What a nice, open-minded attitude! How did a concrete idea come about then?

Crys (C): We had to think deeply about how best to make a work of art for the public space. We wanted to do something that wasn't too technical, with lots of wires and cables.

A: We also focused on the text that explains “(Come To) Light”: it was about inclusivity, visibility, bringing people together, about what is seen and what is not. After that, we sat in a café for a few days and thought about this in the context of NDSM. We agreed that this is a place where everything happens, but also a place that people call home. For many people — from migrants to artists — NDSM has been a kind of gateway. What histories does this area have, how can we bring them together, and what should be visible here after this pandemic? That's when we decided to name the project “Cohesion”.

When you stand next to it, you can't see exactly what it is

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C: It was not an option to use high-end technology, such as cables, programming, TV screens, or anything else that is susceptible to damage.

A: We wanted to make something analogous that, as a medium and concept, still manages to bring people together well. At one point, we looked at the NDSM map and asked ourselves, “Why don't we just create one big circle?” The first idea was to create a huge shape, almost one kilometer wide, that would cover the slopes and various buildings such as the Hilton hotel. That was kind of our male ego talking; we wanted to do something really big and paint the walls all over.

C: That's when we were confronted with reality. We couldn't just place a piece of art in so many places, so we made the circle smaller. That's when we started glow-in-the-dark paint to consider, or thermoreactive material, or anything that would invite people to touch the work.

So the goal was to keep it analog yet interactive?

A: Yes, it was supposed to surprise people and make them wonder, “What is this about?” We wanted to make something light-reflective.

C: Next, we spent a lot of time researching materials — a big part of this project. We've reached out to suppliers in many different countries to find material that can withstand wind, rain, and outdoor temperatures. This turned out to be 3M Stamark road marking tape.

A: We needed a lot of help from friends. Making the proposal, writing out the concept, setting up the material inventory; it all took a lot of math. Without the help of all these people, we would not have been able to make this circle.

C: And since the project is called 'Cohesion', it has even more meaning.

Can you tell us more about what 'Cohesion' symbolises?

A: We've created a circle that's too big to see at a personal glance — that's what it starts with. When you stand next to it, you can't really see what it is exactly. A line? A circle? Am I inside or outside? We want people to ask themselves these kinds of things and give them different meanings.

We can't really judge the things we see until we look at them from different perspectives and have the full picture in front of us. Especially nowadays, everyone clings to different information, assuming that what we know is the correct version. But we seldom realize that one perspective isn't always better than the other — it's often just the knowledge that fed us or what we've been told. Together, all these perspectives contribute to our reality, and that is what the circle should symbolize. In addition, by placing the circle in this specific spot, we remind the audience that, despite our differences, we must keep coming together in physical space.

The work already brought people together, even when it wasn't there yet

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How do people respond to work?

C: People respond to it in different ways. Sometimes they come to us to talk to us. But today, people also started parking their cars next to the line — something they're more likely to do if the line is a little thinner. That way, it matches their perception of real signage. And when we swept the ground before we could attach the road marking tape, we received compliments from some police officers for keeping the area clean.

A: All these public reactions and incidents made us realize that even though we created the whole circle, it's impossible even for us to see the full picture, and therefore the different ways of dealing with it.

What is it like for you to show work in the public space? What do you find valuable or important about that?

C: This is the first time we've done a project in public space, and also the first time we've talked to so many different people throughout the process. Because we do something with the surface on which people walk, everyone had to cooperate. At one point, a car was in the way, and we had no choice but to go find that person. After all, it's hard to keep drawing a circle if you skip a piece and the lines are no longer connected.

Would you like to work in the public space more often?

C: We could certainly do it again, but maybe on a smaller scale. In the future, we will also take more account of external factors, such as weather conditions.

A: Working in public spaces means working automatically with many different people, and that requires commitment from all sides. That can be challenging, but it also brings cohesion.

By doing this project and talking to a lot of people, we became part of this area ourselves. And our recognisable, bright green suits helped with that, too. The process itself became almost a performance in itself. It's not like people wake up on a Monday morning and work is suddenly there. As we worked on it, ran around and widened the circle bit by bit, people started questioning it. So that's another layer: the work was already bringing people together, even when it wasn't finished.

C: Sometimes, however, we couldn't keep talking to people; we don't have all day, and the project has to be completed! Until last week, this led us to the following conclusion: the circle is the result, but cohesion is the process.

The exhibition '(Come To) Light' can be visited free of charge at NDSM in the winter of 2021 - 2022, with different durations and dates per work.

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