Ho Tzu Nyen
Ho Tzu Nyen | Singapore b.1976 | Zarathustra: A Film for Everyone and No One (production still) 2009 | High-definition digital video, single channel, colour, sound, 24:30 minutes, ed. of 3 | Commissioned for APT6 | Supported by Osage Gallery, The Puttnam School of Film and the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts. An initiative of the National Arts Council’s Arts Creation Fund. | Images courtesy The artist and Tzulogical Films | Photograph: Olivia Kwok
b.1976 Singapore
Lives and works in Singapore
Ho Tzu Nyen’s practice ranges across filmmaking, painting, performance and writing, and investigates the forms, methods and languages of art; the relationship between the still, the painted and the moving image; and the construction of history. His films expose the apparatus of cinema by mixing varied genres from music video to documentary, creating highly artificial sets, or by making cameras, crew and lighting a key part of the action. For APT6, Ho will produce two new films. Zarathustra: A Film for Everyone and No One 2009 draws on the writings of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche — which explores the potential of humankind to overcome their environment — as well as music Nietzsche inspired: ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ by Richard Strauss, famously used by Stanley Kubrick in his 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. H the Happy Robot 2009, a modern fable created for the Kids’ APT about the nature of technology, features a cardboard robot named H who eventually becomes obsolete. Set in a future Singapore, the work will be presented within a specially created cardboard environment, inviting children into H’s world.
Exhibitions (solo): The Substation, Singapore, 2003. Exhibitions (group): Singapore Biennale, Singapore, 2006; 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, Japan, 2005; 26th São Paulo Bienal, Brazil, 2004. Film festivals: Cannes International Film Festival, France, 2009; Hong Kong International Film Festival, China, 2006; Bangkok International Film Festival, Thailand, 2004.
