Betta talks to Mum

(A project in the works for ThisIsCurating 1 - 40, curated by Joel Mu at First Draft, Sydney)

Mum, born 1952, Kuala Lumpur
Likes gardening, Tai Chi, tea drinking, reading and writing.

On Untitled (Footballs), 2006:
Footballs…
Yes.
There’s always something about your work, Betta, that’s suspended. I’m sure that there’s some, um, some meaning to that. Looking at the short description that comes with any piece of work, going by the title itself, will already give an indication. But to actually ask what it means, that’s for each one of us to interpret.


On Drawing Machine, 2006:
Do you know what it is?
Well it can be many things; it’s um, a simple device, for making circular shapes.
That’s true.
It’s also adjustable. And it seems to emulate a clock.
It is a clock mum!
Oh! Heeheehee.
Heeheehee, you like that?


On having an artist child:
So how do feel about having an artist as your child?
A pleasant surprise…
Oh, why is that?
…And it continues to be a surprise.
It doesn’t require a whole lot of understanding, or sacrifice as a parent. We just go along with what you’re doing.
[Both laugh]


On Making Night, 2006:
The making of night itself is supposed to be very, very complex. So many things have to come together before it can happen. It was the simplicity of it that struck me most.
Is it a bit god-like, you think?
[Long pause] No.
Are you sure?
Yes, I’m sure.


On Mare Clausum (Closed Sea), 2006:
It may seem all over the place, but actually there’s a certain balance to it. And the multi levels and layers, there are so many ways of interpreting it. I don’t see it in that real sense of sailing. It’s just floating, lifting oneself, perhaps even dreaming, or daring to dream. When I actually saw it at the exhibition, it was quite astounding, the space that was taken up, and the effect was so immediate. You could straight away know that this work has something to do with spaciousness.