|
|
| Waiting for a telepathic note Dita Birkenšteina, Art critic Review of Frank Chu exhibition at The Gardens art space, Vilnius, 15.02.–14.03.2014. | |
| As far as i remember, i had never been inside a planetarium and, possibly, would actually never have tried to find such a place if i did not know that one could not only see celestial spheres there but also encounter art and even travel in time. At least that’s the case at the vilnius planetarium. the journey began as i stepped across the threshold: the first thing i noticed was the interior that, it seems, had possibly not changed for some thirty years and had even retained that specific mixture of the smells of linoleum and wooden panelling. to get to the exhibition itself, one needs to somehow figure out, all on one’s own, how to get to the first floor, as there are neither direction signs nor really anybody to ask for directions. maybe it is even for the best, because on my way up i managed to study some half a dozen star charts and a couple of globes, which, knowingly or not, formed a nice prelude to why i had specifically sought this place out – because of the story of frank chu, a truman1. Chris Fitzpatrick, curator and director of the Objectif exhibitions art space in Antwerp, has cooperated with frank chu on a number of occasions and arranged exhibitions with his participation at both larger and smaller events, both here, in neighbouring estonia at the ART IsT KuKu nu uT art festival in tartu, and in exhibitions of a broader scale, for instance, the San francisco pavilion at the Shanghai Biennale (2012). this year, an exhibition named after frank chu has travelled to the lithuanian capital and occupied The Gardens art space, which has resided at the vilnius University planetarium for the past couple of years. it seems that it would be quite a challenge to find a more suitable location for the display. But all in good time. to begin with, let us clarify who frank chu is and what that has to do with The Truman show. Frank Chu (born in 1960) is a movie star of an intergalactic scale, better known on earth as a professional protester of considerable standing and one of the most famous eccentrics in San francisco. he firmly believes that his life has been documented without his knowledge and consent and has been broadcast on the televisions of 12 galaxies as a reality show called The Richest Family. chu claims that all footage used in the tv series has been shot with various high-tech gadgets (cameras that can vanish and appear out of thin air), telepathic surveillance equipment and other technological wonders. As a result, frank chu was unaware of his starring in the show until the mid 1990s, when loyal denizens of other galaxies began telepathic communication with chu. | |
 View from the Frank Chu exhibition at The Gardens art space in Vilnius. 2014 Photo: Maya Tounta Publicity photo Courtesy of The Gardens art space | |
| While earthling tv channels are still waiting for The Richest Family premiere, the show has met with dizzying success in other galaxies. Nevertheless, irrespective of positive ratings, the star of the show has not yet received a cent from any of the involved 12 galaxies for his contribution to the show. in the end, it turns out that frank chu has been cheated of royalties amounting to somewhere between three and fifteen billion US dollars. that is far from the end, as it appears that not only avaricious agents from other galaxies but also a number of former American presidents are to blame for exploiting chu and for financial machinations. the list of culprits, no doubt, includes Bill clinton, gerald ford, george W. Bush, vice president Dick cheney and other politicians.2 in the hope that, by drawing as much attention from the public as possible, he could make himself heard and prove the guilt of the said officials in their years-long fraud against the chu family, frank chu has been staging protest campaigns in the streets of San francisco since 1998, day after day. he has also been regularly sending letters to news agencies, urging them to report about the dangerous conspiracy of the 12 galaxies and persistently trying to attract mass media attention, achieve the impeachments of the offenders and reclaim his royalties. the larger the crowds – starting from rush-hour traffic jams, street parties and festivals to demonstrations – the greater the chance of also meeting chu. Where else can one gaze into space if not in a planetarium? Although chu does not identify himself as an artist, his bizarre occupation, having drawn fitzpatrick’s attention, manages to end up in an exhibition room from time to time. And, it seems, this is not only due to the eccentric narrative; undeniably, the manner in which chu has chosen to voice his protest is a tastefully arranged stage entrance, from his unpretentious protest walks down to the unique posters that are his trademark. chu has a whole array of protest signs, each designed according to a definite template: five to seven rows of text on a dark background displaying consecutively the name of the accused politician, the number of galaxy populations, descriptions of news channels and rockets or launch sites, specific facts about the achievements of inter-galaxy communities and similar information. Several of the recent signs, some of his earlier ones and a sound track of chu reading a letter composed for the press were put up for scrutiny in the circular corridor of the vilnius planetarium. All this evidence of protest serves as notes left by the curator to be followed to find frank chu. clues instead of a destination, because the story is neither about chu’s graphical culture nor his skill at staging an elegant protest nor about aliens manipulating or stealing from us. instead, the story is about something not quite discernible by eye or ear. maybe this is a stimulus to reflect on what we know about the order of the Universe, maybe about human determination to oppose the immeasurable wrong and the resolve to follow one’s own convictions, or maybe it’s about something quite different. the curator, mainly by his apt choice of the venue, has offered the viewer wonderful material to take and mould. And let me guess – the planetarium is so fitting a frame for the exhibition’s conceptual content that we could just as well have done without the clues left by the curator, if only chu had been ready to send the visitors a telepathic note or two. Translator into English: Sarmīte lietuviete 1 Truman Burbank is the main character of the film The Truman show (Director peter Weir, 1998) who, completely unawares, has become property of a television company already before his birth, and his entire life has been broadcast as a tv reality show. 2 Chu has succeeded in finding out that the nefarious intergalactic agents are capable of not only controlling human bodies and minds but also reincarnating their identities in duplicate in other galaxies. Among them, the protester has named former Soviet Union leaders and KgB agents, who were the first to start telepathic communication with chu, as well as several former presidents of the United States who have been reincarnated in the bodies of later presidents. this explains why chu called for clinton’s impeachment even after clinton was no longer in office. | |
| go back | |
