“Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy” is an immersive, site-specific installation that

explores the stages of simulation via a whimsical and discombobulating three-part

experience.

To be viewed in parallel with the artist’s Kabinett within DE SARTHE’s gallery booth,

the installation is an amalgamation of reality with a futuristic past-present that alludes

to the cyclicality of copying in the evolution of creation. Encased in an architectural

structure composed of two Art Basel booths connected top-to-top, the form of the

installation is reminiscent of a monument or memorial arch, standing 7-meters tall

amidst the standardized layout of an art fair.

Copy of Copy - Home Sweet Home:

Mak2’s exploration of authorship as well as copycat culture begins with her Home

Sweet Home series, which are triptychs on canvas composed utilizing the popular

life simulation game “The Sims” and each painted by three different craftsmen hired

from the Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao.

The artist began using “The Sims” as way of fabricating an alternate and idealized

copy of reality, through which she can fulfil her personal fantasies otherwise

unachievable. Constructing new environments using game elements modelled after

objects from real life, the imagery she creates, though manipulated, evokes an eerie

familiarity.

However, in actualizing the virtual settings via paint and brush, the physical

replication inevitably differs from what was originally imagined, owing to the

craftsmen’s varied use of technique, color, and interpretation. As such, the resultant

triptychs not only elucidate the unavoidable disparity between reality and fantasy, but

in being filtered through another layer of distortion, raises a question of whether

creativity and originality exists within the process of imitation.

 

Copy of Copy of Copy:

The installation will comprise of two Art Basel booths connected top-to-top. To be

situated adjacent to DE SARTHE’s location on the floor, the bottom half of the

installation will be an exact replica of Mak2’s Kabinett within the booth.

 

While the artist will exhibit triptychs from her Home Sweet Home series inside the

regular booth, the faux booth will feature reproductions of the artworks, painted to

mimic a triptych within a singular canvas.

As if experiencing déjà vu, a sense of displacement occurs as viewers realize the

difference between the two booths. In the transformation from a triptych to a singular

canvas, the artwork becomes dissociated from the original concept and exists as an

entity of its own. While a visual simulacrum, the absence of its distant conceptual

genesis raises the question of its nature as an original artwork.

 

Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy:

Above the faux booth in reverse is yet another replica of the booth – in this booth,

however, the walls are mouldy, the space is overgrown with weeds and vegetation,

and the paintings have deteriorated and are in disarray.

Since the dawn of art, humanity has created visual replications of their experiences

and beliefs using the same set of techniques via the different mediums of their times.

Perceiving the installation as an architectural structure in its entirety, the heavily

embellished ceiling alludes to the historical practice of ceiling-painting found from

caves to chapels.

Within this monumental space, the ceiling reflects the artist’s visualization of a

dystopic future, and Mak2 asks: In a future, possibly 200 years from now, in which

art fairs become an antiquated format of exhibition be it due to digitalization or

apocalypse, will artists still scavenge past resources for inspiration? Will the

documentation of contemporary art become a basis for their reinterpretation? Will

they copy from what they have seen?