Pleased to share that Ho Tzu Nyen’s first exhibition in Belgium will be presented by Bozar. The internationally renowned artist explores big questions in his ambitious artworks that bring together deep research, popular visual culture, and new technology. From documentary research to fantasy, his work combines archival images, animation and film in installations that are often immersive and theatrical.

For Bozar, Ho Tzu Nyen is creating a new work titled P for Power, which builds upon his earlier work The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia. At a moment in which the notion of power is being challenged and reconsidered, not least in the light of worldwide challenges to democracy but also in relation to developments in AI, his work dares to face pressing political and philosophical issues head-on.

Two other large-scale installations are presented at Bozar and map out the artist’s vision. T for Time (2023) is a one-hour real-time video installation in which Ho examines Time as both a working material and an elusive concept. Across two overlapping screens, algorithmically altered found footage and hand-drawn animated after-images unfold in chapters that move from global clock standardisation to intimate family stories, accompanied by a continuous solo saxophone. Rather than providing answers, the work opens a series of questions about Time as a lens for understanding Southeast Asia’s cultural differences.

Time Pieces extends this reflection through an installation of 43 screens of varying sizes and durations. Bringing together videos, animations, apps, and digital models, the installation explores multiple ways of measuring and imagining Time, from fleeting one-second loops to 24-hour cycles, forming a deliberately unruly celebration of Time’s heterogeneity.

— Courtesy of Bozar