#THINGSLEFTUNSAID
“In my opinion, only when you talk about something, it becomes abnormal. When you ignore it, then it becomes normal. Nobody ever talks about things that are normal. Like ever."
"#ThingsLeftUnsaid" is a series of artworks created by Taiwanese artist - Kung-Ching Lee, 30, known as George Lee. In this series, the artist explored the boundary between normality and abnormality by packaging situations that he considered weird while the majority of society thinks otherwise with visual presentation.
Thank you for coming. George, is it? Or should I call you Lee?
Thanks for having me. George is fine. It's easier for foreigners to remember and pronounce. That's why I always used my English name instead of my Chinese one when I am abroad. It saved a lot of trouble.
Could you tell us how did this series start? What's the story behind it?
A story? More like a question, a question that I have been asked quite often before I began this ongoing project. As you have already known, I was a visual designer before I enrolled in MADtech. Therefore, I had a hard time adjusting my mentality from a designer to an artist. When others saw my artworks, they often asked "I didn't see you in your artworks. What do you try to say?". After a few self-questioning and self-analyzation, I realized that I want to share knowledge and experience with the world. I seek a connection with the audience with my works. You can say that's how this motivation was the tinder of this series.
George talks to his bears from time to time. Imaginative, or pure madness?
George creates a unique meme style in this series.
So these meme like illustration are your way to find a connection to the world? Why did you choose this form in the first place?
I am fascinated by these memes circulating on the internet, sharing ideas in the form of images and texts. All memes started with one single idea. When this idea was accepted and recognized by the others, it would be spread out again, again, then again. Thus began the circulation. The recognition of the idea forms a connection between the creator of this meme and the audience. The connection might be a shared experience, belief, or action of support. If I am to seek a connection/ or resonance with the world, meme seems to be the best starting trial point.
"ThingsLeftUnsaid" is an interesting name. What are the things that are left unsaid? By whom?
As I mentioned before, I have been looking for a voice that is missing in my works. Then again, I asked myself “You are already talkative in real life, what else you haven’t said to people?”
Then it hit me. Yeah, what else I haven’t said. Therefore, the title "Things Left Unsaid" came to my mind. "Things Left Unsaid" are not just about things that the society doesn't talk about but also the things that I been keeping in his mind. I used to be afraid of speaking up my mind because of the pressure and judgment from society. If the majority of society act one way in a certain situation, you become a weirdo or troublemaker when you do it differently or question about it. That's bullying, in a way. Now that I am "smuggling" these questions in my artworks. I feel more freely and willingly to address them to the public because people seem to have higher tolerance and open-mindedness when it comes to art.
"My Silence Does Not Equal My Agreement"
- KUNG-CHING LEE
“That’s the point. Who decides what is normal and what is not?!”
You put a # before ThingsLeftUnsaid. Is there a particular reason?
"#", this new language created by the development of technology plays a crucial part in this series. Hashtag was created to categorizing objects on the internet so it's easier to find similar articles. Nowadays, Hashtag also serves as a way for people to summarize a situation in real life. One time, someone said #EpicFail to people who failed to jump over a river and ended up soaking wet. I found this usage of "#" very interesting. It not only describes a situation in a few words but also lighten up something serious, in a sarcastic way. First of all, I have always been a fan of sarcasm. Secondly, if I am going to sugar-coating something abnormal to modern society, hashtag seems to be the right toping.
It seems to me that each drawing addresses a different issue. How did you record these questions and doubts?
Like every millennial that were showered with technology, I document all the questions and doubt I have encountered in daily life in my iPhone. I also put a checkbox in front of every issue to see which one I haven't employed in my drawing yet. You know, to keep my workflow away from chaos.
You put a # before ThingsLeftUnsaid. Is there a particular reason?
"#", this new language created by the development of technology plays a crucial part in this series. Hashtag was created to categorizing objects on the internet so it's easier to find similar articles. Nowadays, Hashtag also serves as a way for people to summarize a situation in real life. One time, someone said #EpicFail to people who failed to jump over a river and ended up soaking wet. I found this usage of "#" very interesting. It not only describes a situation in a few words but also lighten up something serious, in a sarcastic way. First of all, I have always been a fan of sarcasm. Secondly, if I am going to sugar-coating something abnormal to modern society, hashtag seems to be the right toping.
It seems to me that each drawing addresses a different issue. How did you record these questions and doubts?
Like every millennial that were showered with technology, I document all the questions and doubt I have encountered in daily life in my iPhone. I also put a checkbox in front of every issue to see which one I haven't employed in my drawing yet. You know, to keep my workflow away from chaos.
Archive of issues that George wants to address.
“Sketching is the hardest and most crucial part of the workflow as it need to sets up the desired atmosphere of the image”
George employs stock photos in his artworks.
You mentioned stock photography websites as a source of your references. Is it for the composition?
It's not only for the purpose of the composition reference.
To make sure the images match what society considers normal, I browsed through online stock photos for reference, creating new hashtags out of hashtags. I would call it an act of "artistic revenge". These stock photos were staged to meet the expectation of normal situations. I then use these photos as references to create something abnormal. Here is a photo of a typical housewife and here is a photo of baby playing. And woala, together they represent our programmed mind that on a certain day we have to behave a certain way which we should have done every single day.
What I found most intriguing part of this series is that the images seem to be normal. Yet, when you look closer and read the texts, you will find the dissonance between the images and texts. Was that intentional?
That's a good observation. Glad my intention is obvious. I want to create a contrast between what it appears to be and what it's really about. Not only it's more interesting but also an emblem of reality. Everything seems to be normal at the first glimpse. Only when you look closer or dig deeper, then you will see all the abnormal issues that are hiding under the perfect illusion. The same goes to how we share our opinion. When the majority holds the opposite voice to yours, we act it's all normal while a lot of thoughts popping up in our minds that want to get out so desperately. Now that the characters in the images talked about it, it no longer remains normal.
How long does it usually take for you to finish one work?
From sketch to coloring, it's about 3-4 days. It will take longer if there are more details in it.
That's is quite long for merely a single issue. Do you consider it necessary to invest this much of time on one drawing?
I felt that I have to. The thing is, you add value and importance to an artwork when you spend time building details. People will see the effort you made and therefore understand how much it means to you. At least as an artist, I can't even believe the message I embed in my artwork if I won't spend time in it.
As a visual designer who used to present his work digitally, you seem to embark on an analog tryout with this series. How do you feel about it?
It was a great experience for me. I have developed a few ways of presentations in this series. The general concept is to make each drawing have a resemblance of stained glasses. Therefore I employed mostly transparent materials such as celluloid sheets and tracing paper. I also discover the usage of back projection with tracing paper as the projection screen. In an attempt to seek feedback and connection with the audience, I also designed an interactive system, with the help of my tutor Jan, which allows audiences to make their own # on each drawing. However, it didn't work as well as I expected. I will spend more time on that.
Did you seek the resemblance of stained glasses out of religious reason?
Interestingly, you are not the first one to ask this question. Not at all, I didn't choose stained glasses due to religious reason. In the beginning, I am purely fond of the beauty and calmness that radiate towards its audience. I would stand in front of each stained glasses and admire each detail. I thought about the story and the possible message that was embedded within the stained glasses. Then I realized that the glass smiths spent so much time on a single stained glasses to tell a single story is no different to what I am doing. We devote our time to tell the world what we stand for, our believes. With this stained glasses style, I also hope the audience will be drawn to the detail I put it in while the messages permeate to their mind subconsciously.
Is there any obstacle you have encounter so far with this series?
The first obstacle will be the feedback of the audience. Due to different background and upbringing, some people can relate to an issue while others can not. Some people think it is interesting while others think it's not worth mentioning. It makes me question myself if I should focus on more common issues that the majority can relate to. Then it hit me. If I did it this way, then it will be a huge conflict to why I started this series. I will be leaving more things left unsaid.
Then this conflict formed the second obstacle. Since I am not filtering the issues, how can I make it understandable to those who have a hard time relating to issues they have no experience with. I think the dynamic between the text and image is the key.
First public exhibition in KINK
So from my understanding to your last answer, there will be no issue that you wouldn't address in your work?
Yes, as it will leave things unsaid. However, I will choose the appropriate way to package this issue before present it to the world for discussion.
Last but not least, what's your plan for this series? What will be the possible development you have in mind?
For sure I will keep making more sketches and drawing in this format. In the meantime, I will gradually focus on trying different media such as animation and sketch video. The only thing remains will be to force the world thinking about the boundary between normality and abnormality. You know, make people uncomfortable, in a fun way.
The first demonstration of back projecting and the animated version of the series.
