Artist’s Syllabus: Scotty So
Testing Grounds Emporium, 438 Queen St
Melbourne Art Library was delighted to welcome Scotty So to lead our Artists’ Syllabus in November 2023.
Scotty So discussed opera divas, gay men, and cross-identification while reading an extract from Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics by José Esteban Muñoz (1999).
Artists’ Syllabus invites local artists and designers to select and share a text that has been influential to their practice. By sharing selected passages, the artist will give unique insight into the significance of the text from their perspective. Through this exploration we will seek to discover the direct, tangential or unexpected ways the text has had an impact on the artists’ chosen discipline/s, creative process, and approach to presenting completed works. In group discussion, we will untangle the themes explored in the text and bring attention to those formative passages which sparked an ‘ah-ha moment’ or cemented in the mind. More broadly, we will get together to exchange our ideas (and our reading lists).
Supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grants and Michael Robertson.
Image: Supplied by the artist.
Scotty So is a Melbourne-based artist who works across media, using painting, photography, sculptures, site-responsive installation, videos, and performance. Driven by the thrill of camp, he explores the often-contradictory relationship between humour and sincerity referencing lived experience. Born and raised in Hong Kong, So’s work has been shown in Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Europe.
Represented by MARS Gallery in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia).
Scotty So discussed opera divas, gay men, and cross-identification while reading an extract from Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics by José Esteban Muñoz (1999).
Artists’ Syllabus invites local artists and designers to select and share a text that has been influential to their practice. By sharing selected passages, the artist will give unique insight into the significance of the text from their perspective. Through this exploration we will seek to discover the direct, tangential or unexpected ways the text has had an impact on the artists’ chosen discipline/s, creative process, and approach to presenting completed works. In group discussion, we will untangle the themes explored in the text and bring attention to those formative passages which sparked an ‘ah-ha moment’ or cemented in the mind. More broadly, we will get together to exchange our ideas (and our reading lists).
Supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grants and Michael Robertson.
Image: Supplied by the artist.
Scotty So is a Melbourne-based artist who works across media, using painting, photography, sculptures, site-responsive installation, videos, and performance. Driven by the thrill of camp, he explores the often-contradictory relationship between humour and sincerity referencing lived experience. Born and raised in Hong Kong, So’s work has been shown in Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Europe.
Represented by MARS Gallery in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia).