LANGUAGE AND TEXT: ARTISTS
TSANG TSOU CHOI
Born 1921, Hong Kong
Artist and his work (2004)
Background
Tsang Tsou-Choi has expressed his belief that his family is the rightful
ruler of Kowloon, an area of Hong Kong, by writing his claim on lamps, pavements,
walls and pillars. Tsang Tsou Choi has been writing graffiti on the public
signs and buildings around Hong Kong for the past several decades. His work
has been illegal and he has been arrested and is constantly removed.
This graffiti is quite noticeable because graffiti is a relatively unusual
phenomena in Hong Kong. He uses Chinese brush and ink and uses walls, lamp-posts,
street signs, postboxes for his art. In a definitive political gesture,
he has often placed the graffiti in particular places that indicate his
opposition to the British Rule and now influence upon the city. These include
areas such as the Central Government Offices or around the perimeter of
the Victoria Park, areas with high pedestrian traffic where the texts have
visibility but not offence.
Artworks
The contents of the writing usually contain his name, his title (King or
Emperor of China, Kowloon or Hong Kong,). It may also include a list of
20 or so ancestors, with new additions from time to time; the names of some
famous Chinese emperors and phrases such as, ‘Down with the Queen
of England’
Artworld
As a local eccentric, he received significant attention in the months leading
to the hand-over of Hong Kong back to the China with local and overseas
media press interest because photographer, Simon Goh had first contacted
Tsang Tsou Choi and documented his life and work.
Later an art critic, Lau Kin Wai arranged an exhibition of Tsang Tsou Choi’s
work in the art gallery of the Goethe Institute, called The Street Calligraphy
Of ‘The King of Kowloon,( Tsang Tsou Choi, Agfa Gallery, Goethe
Institute, 24 April- 17th May 1997). This aroused considerable controversy
to treat a graffiti creator as an artist, and Lau was accused of elevating
calligraphy of a sociological intent to that of aesthetics.
Since then, other artists have appropriated his style and source material
for their own work. The work of the world's oldest graffiti artist is now
on the official list of ‘Hong Kong identity symbols to be protected,’and
one piece of wood he painted sold for HK$8,600 (US$1,100) at auction last
year.
Artist’s quotations
“I don't care about money and fame,” he told COLORS recently
in an increasingly rare interview (his “manager” now restricts
access). “They should just give me back the throne. I am not an artist–I
am simply the King.”
Now that his poor health has forced him into a retirement home, he continues
his calligraphic campaign on towels, plastic cups and bed sheets, and tells
visitors that Donald Tsang–the chief executive of Hong Kong–is
an impostor, and that he should have been elected instead.
References
universes-in-universe.de
Clarke, David Subaltern Writing, Tsang Tsou Choi: the King of Kowloon,
Art Asia Pacific issue 29, 2001- Art and Language p.69
skidmore.edu
Greenberg, M. Words, Words, Words, Skidmore News, Vol 76, Issue
18.
Here, he author discusses the subversive meanings behind the calligraphy
of Tsang Tsou Choi.