COPYRIGHT-FREE, BONNIE/A PICTURE BOOK/AM I NOT HERE?

Guan Rong

The film is called Am I Not Here ? Directed by Mike HJ Chang, visual artist currently based in Singapore and Guan Rong. It is an autobiographical documentary film about his life in the U.S. as an artist and as a person in general. 50 min.

There are two books come together with the film as a set. Copyright-Free, Bonnie, is a collection of self-selected notes, writings, short stories, homework, and letters from 1997 to 2008 by Guan Rong. It contains writings in both English and Chinese without translation. 145 pages. A Picture Book contains a number of collections of small drawings he did between 1999 to 2005, notes from two very important and influential classes he took while in college, and some selected images from his appointment books from 2000 to 2009. 78 pages.

There are 300 copies of the book in total. A unique package was made for each of the first 100 editions. Every package and every DVD case is made and hand-drew differently by Guan Rong.

This project started in 2008, which was created in celebration of Guan Rong, living in the U.S. for 10 years, since 1999. Three items together is a set of books and moving images with memories of the time he have spent thus far in the U.S. It is a collection of assemblages to display a montage of his everyday life and art activities. Without chronological order, the writings and drawings are very much in flux. Giving himself an image as a wild-child, the books and film shows his love for everyday life in general.

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