The Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC has awarded a 2023 Summer Visual Grant to Mo Kong for their upcoming display, “Swift Island Chain.”

Mo Kong is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher. They are currently residing in NYC. They received an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. They have been the subject of solo exhibitions at Queens Museum (New York), CUE Art Foundation (New York), Cuchifritos Gallery (New York), Artericambi Gallery (Verona), Gertrude Gallery (Stockbridge), Chashama (New York). Their work has been included in the RISD Museum, SFMOMA, Children's Museum of Arts, Mana Contemporary, Noguchi Museum, Spring Break, ARTISSIMA, Make Room Gallery, Hesse Flatow Gallery, and Island Gallery. They also received fellowship/residency from Sharpe-Walentas, Macdowell Colony, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Triangle Art Association, The Drawing Center, City Artists Crops Grant, Mass Moca Studio, Vermont Studio Center, Lighthouse Works, and Artists Alliance LES Studio Program. They have been finalists of Artadia, NYFA fellowship (Architecture/Design), and Van Lier fellowship. Their work is mentioned in Hyperallergic, Artforum, Art in America, Cultured magazine, Artnet, Bomb magazine, Artpaper, CoBo Social, Wall Street International, SFMoMA Public Knowledge, etc.

Through the reconstruction of post-pandemic office environments and work aesthetics, Swift Island Chain explores racial melancholia and high-context/low-context information gaps experienced by Asian immigrants. It will take the form of foldable office furniture with fan-shaped working areas forming a closed circle. The angles of individual components can be adjusted to meet specific needs, with workstations, separated into individual 'islands.’ The screens separating these work areas will be composed of 3D printed ceramic and handmade kelp-infused paper panels inscribed with verses of Chinese poetry translated by a trained artificial intelligence. Edible bird’s nest lamps will cast light through the partitions and project the text onto surrounding surfaces. 

In Chinese literature, swifts are often compared to wanderers who have difficulty finding a sense of cultural identity in a new environment. The translation of a selection of verses containing swifts from classical Chinese poetry will directly reflect the AI’s three learning stages: a word-by-word translation, a contextual version, and a version preserving the original rhyme scheme. The whole process of translation explores the transition between two cultures and highlights the things that disappear during this process. A feedback mechanism will be introduced to test the sentimental value of translations and determine the accuracy of the translations by comparing them with the original text. This raises the question of whether racial melancholia will be inherited by the machines humans create. 

Please visit Mo’s Instagram and website for more information.