Public Parking Publication | Manitoba

Parking Lot is our lax interview series where we get to really know a creative. We get to learn about what they've been up to creatively, some random facts about them, some telling ones, and just about anything else that comes up. In this episode with got in touch with multi-directional creative, Agnes Wong. The Eindhoven via Toronto-based creative share with us her experience living in the Netherlands and how that is informing the way she thinks through her work, where she would like to see her creative pursuits go in the future, some of her earliest impulses, and what she's been curious about lately.

Public Parking: Are you currently in the Netherlands?

Agnes Wong: Yes! I am in Eindhoven currently, a smaller city in the southern part of the country. The climate is fairly similar to what I'm used to in Canada, except with a whole lot more rain.

PP: How did you ended up there?

AW: It actually was a bit of an accident...a few years back I stumbled upon an image of a cute city with colourful lines of row houses by the water. I'm not sure exactly why, but back then I just assumed that it was Amsterdam. Then it became my dream to go to the Netherlands.....and that's when I discovered the Design Academy Eindhoven, where I'm studying right now. It almost seemed like the perfect plan. It was only until a few months ago that I realized it was actually Stockholm in the image that I saw...

PP: What has your experience there been so far?

AW: It really has been an experience of all sorts. It was all new to me- from Europe itself to the school's approach to creating and everything in between. That being said, I got to try out so many new courses and practices that I never would've before: documentary (!), architecture (!), mapping (!), philosophy (!)...It was also interesting seeing their education system in Europe, which is quite different from here. Apart from being graded on the outcome of our work, there is a strong focus on process, social issues, as well as our attitude and potential to become a designer. There's quite an emphasis on being a well-rounded person, and not just a product/graphic designer, which I found refreshing. I'm still in the process of (re)discovering myself as a designer, previously an artist, or somewhere in between....

PP: It looks like you make work that seem to flow within a variety of mediums.How did that way of working come into being for you ?

AW: It wasn't intentional, but while studying visual arts in high school I found myself fascinated by what the world of design had to offer, and I think that naturally began to be present in my work. Having worked more with video before that, I began to try out different practices, and I found that I truly didn't have a favourite medium. I also really like new things, and get bored of repetition easily. And so it became my approach to working- usually starting with a visual concept or intangible feeling I can't stop thinking about, research, and then the translation into some sort of form.

PP: As a designer, what are you looking for when begin a project?

AW: "How would someone who is unrelated to the field of design approach this?" That, and I always try to keep it relevant and simple.

Fragments, Inkjet print on photopaper, 2016

Fragments, Inkjet print on transparency film, 2016

PP: For your "Fragments" series which you had for Proof 23, what did you initially propose when you applied for the show? How did the work change or follow through from proposal? It is very visually interesting...what were you interested in the way you composed the images...

AW: We had to apply to Proof 23 with an existing body of work, and at that time, Fragments was my latest work, and the work that represented both visually and conceptually what I was interested in creating in the near future. Fragments was developed from a line of thought I had prior to graduating from high school, the feeling of being between things/states of being, and the idea of being comprised of different pieces of identity at once. I was so obsessed with this idea that one project wasn't enough, and immediately after I developed Between This and That, which was my first attempt at printed matter. Regarding the composition of Fragments, I liked the idea of things (or people) that weren't fully complete. Like websites that weren't fully loaded, or ideas in progress. Most of my work contained the visual element of negative or blank space- as a sort of visual representation of a non-existent world that my ideas come together in, unrestricted by geographical, logical, or cultural constraints. Therefore it was my intention to have the prints displayed on a large empty wall (white to match the photo), spread out and "fragmented". That was the overall mood I had in mind for the series.

PP: We really love your 11:11 series, tell us the process you took to shooting that series and how/why you transcended it into film, gifs and prints?

AW: Thanks! I was very interested in exploring a non-existent, or entirely composed field in my work- without limiting myself to a certain location or an identity. I liked the ambiguity it allowed me to work with, and the freedom to create an image that fell somewhere in between photography, design, objects, wearables, and performance. I knew what I wanted to photograph before the actual composition of the image, so I spend a lot of time in putting together the separate image pieces into a composition and make most of the decisions then. When the image or concept still lingers in my head after the series is finished then I begin to develop it with another medium, another way to explore it with a new perspective- gifts, film, textile, etc.

11:11 series , 2016

Between This and That

PP: What new works are you working on now?

AW: I'm currently looking into different approaches to experience design through smell, hearing, touch, taste- anything but visual.

PP: What is something that you've been currently curious about?

AW: I have been quite interested in sound lately. I was working on a soundscape for a short film, and I found the process really fascinating. And now I'm looking at ways to work with audio in design. Art books and printed matter are another thing I can't stop thinking about these days...its interactivity and tangibleness combined with abstract ideas and imagery are really intriguing for me.

PP: Who is a relatively new creative you are currently excited about?

AW: They're not that new, but I only discovered their work recently. Muller van Severen- they are a design duo (consisting of a photographer and an artist) who create "furniture". The word furniture is in quotations because while their work is very much object-based, there's this impractical, space-conscious (?), and very graphic feel to it that I find so inspirational no matter to what aspect I apply it to, be it graphic design or concept.

Muller Van Severen

PP: What are you finding surprises you about yourself in terms of how you create now or think about your work or just in general?

AW: It would be how completely different the work I hope to create now is compared even to a few months ago. I am really fascinated by how it just keeps on rolling to reveal new ideas that are only slightly related to the previous work. Like that word game "Shiritori" where you are supposed to say a word that begins with the last part of the word said by the previous player. And it goes on and on....it's fun to look back at how your work has progressed.

PP: Having been there for quite sometime, now what would you say are some big differences between how design is approached in North America versus the way the Dutch approaches it in terms of aesthetics, purpose, and function

AW: Dutch design has its own very distinct style. You can spot it almost immediately, although it's quite hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, I'll give it a try. I think it's quite minimal and experimental in form, with a heavy emphasis on process, social issues, and sustainability. The term "crisis design for the future" is something that stood out for me when looking at the work at Dutch Design Week this year. The work is also quite colourful, and more playful than the sleek and refined design that we are used to seeing from Milan, etc.

PP: Can you remember an early memory of making something that you can look back as being a creative impulse?

AW: Maybe creating my first film. I don't exactly remember how old I was, but I somehow had the urge to create a short film to a song for an English project, and I had absolutely no idea about how film-making was done or how to edit videos. I distinctly remember listening to the song and just marking down the time and writing in what the scene should include...I even remember using sepia (!) and "old film" filters in movie maker for it. Now that I think about it, it was really gutsy of me to take on something so spontaneously, I wish I will remember to do something like that now...

PP: Given unlimited resources, what creative venture would you like to take on?

AW: I would want to take on a large scale interactive project. Something that encompasses a wide range of mediums and fields and allows me to try out and experiment with them in different ways and combinations. I would also like to try working in a team. It sounds vague, but I like it more like that.

PP: Ok, finish this line: it's never too late to...

AW: ....change your mind.