http://www.straitstimes.com/Life%252...ry_135089.html
July 3, 2007
Hoax halts printing of show catalogues
But the arts group behind the tale of a schizophrenic lensman says fooling the organiser was 'necessary'
By Adeline Chia
THE organiser of a photography festival has had to stop the printing of 500 show catalogues because of a hoax created by one of the exhibitors.
Phish Communications, organiser of the ongoing Month Of Photography, was not amused when it was revealed that an art collective had made up a story to accompany the photos it was showing.
The collective, A Dose Of Light, had said that the photos were taken by a Wu Xiao Kang, a Singaporean photographer who suffered from schizophrenia and killed himself. The group even started an online petition asking for the return of Wu's last roll of film from an unnamed German institute, garnering 100 signatures.
Its members had told Life! in a report yesterday that Wu did not exist and that the hoax was a piece of conceptual art to highlight the plight of schizophrenics.
Festival director Shirlene Noordin, 38, who wrote an essay in the catalogue introducing the group, said she was 'really upset' to have been kept in the dark.
'They can say it's art. But art is also about responsibility. I have sponsors, other exhibitors and the public to respond to.'
Members of the collective - Robert Zhao, 24, a fine art student in London's Camberwell College of Arts; Angelique Pan, 28, a Berlin-based artist; and Ang Song Nian, 24, a photography assistant at Nanyang Technological University - had taken the shots.
The pictures will still be shown at the exhibition, Out Of Focus, which is on at City Hall from Friday to July 29.
Ms Shirlene said: 'It's still good photography, well-composed and the colours are good. It's the motives behind it that I question.'
Ang said the group did not intend to delay preparations for the exhibition, but fooling the organiser was necessary.
'Our photos were designed to let the viewer experience the state of perception schizophrenics undergo. It didn't make sense to tell Phish and compromise the concept of the artwork.'
chiahta@sph.com.sg