Terence+Koh+-+These+Decades+that+We+Never+Sleep,+Black+Light

Please change order of the main title.
 * These Decades that We Never Sleep, Black Light: a contemporary assemblage by Terence Koh**

Source: www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk

**Artwork Identification**
 * Title: These Decades that We Never Sleep, Black Light
 * Artist(s): Terence Koh b. 1970
 * Date: 2004
 * Period: Contemporary
 * Country of Origin: USA
 * Cultural/Ethnic Affiliation: Chinese
 * Medium: Crystal chandelier, paint, lollipops, vegetable matter, human and horse hair, mineral oil, rope from a ship found after midnight, glass shards, stones and artist's organic matter.
 * Dimensions: 190 x 72 x 72 cm
 * Museum/Collection: Saatchi Gallery
 * Accession Number: one
 * Current Location and Manner of Display: Phillips Depury Auction House
 * Provenance: Maureen Paley Gallery, London

**Introduction** Terence Koh, a contemporary Chinese American artist, born in 1970, created the mixed-media artwork //These Decades that We Never Sleep, Black Light// in the year 2004. Koh's often touches on cultural identity, sexuality, race and life and death. //These Decades that We Never Sleep, Black Light// is a more than a chandelier it is a paradox, a every day symbol of wealth and light was created with a dark sensuality and displays controlled chaos and physiological depth.

**Descriptive Analysis** These Decades that We Never Sleep, Black Light is mounted not unlike a typical crystal chandelier, it hangs from the ceiling and is wired to provide electricity. The shape of the piece is a large tear drop, starting with a single rope, gradually building chain by chain and layer by layer, collecting on a circular metal frame. Crystal, paint, lollipops, vegetable matter, human and horse hair, mineral oil, rope from a ship found after midnight, glass shards, stones and artist's organic matter all collect into one large form, creating a magnificent arrangement. The chandelier is over sized and is commonly mounted in a large white room, with no other objects near. This non-representational piece was created with the highest craftsmanship, strategically transformed with uncommon objects. How high off the ground is it? Can a viewer stand below it?

**Formal and Contextual Analysis** The work of Terence Koh is completely of the moment and rushes to collect and display a glimpse into a select and private world of several creatively active subcultures across the world. In the words of Kimmelman we find a deeper understating of Koh’s world, “Beijing-born, raised in Canada, now in New York, Mr. Koh, at 29, is one of the rising, globe-trotting stars of the art scene, having first gained attention for a Web site and zine called asianpunkboy.com. Narcissism is his métier, queer youth culture a starting point, his goal a luxurious, sometimes rather melancholy decadence that alternates with minimalism”(Kimmelman, 2010).

This apt description contains two important words melancholy and minimalism and both of these words are displayed in the work These Decades that we Never Sleep, Black light which combines objects such as rope and human hair representing a tie to a sexual subculture and the color black which is associated with death to form a ominous and psychological statement. A recent auction catalog created by Philip De Pury states, //“These Decades that we Never Sleep, Black light// takes the form of a chandelier bulging with sexual innuendo. Underneath the dripping crystals and bijoux is a concoction of human and horse hair, glass shards and the artist’s own blood and faeces. The work’s focus is close psychological ties between lust and death. The unceremonious flirtation between pleasure and pain is dangerous but simultaneously irresistible and is consequently what makes the work so beautiful. This duality is catalyzed by the consuming darkness, which transforms the array of found and sourced objects into one mass, and exemplifies Koh’s perverse approach to artistic production. As a highly fetishistic work that insinuates itself into the viewers’ subconscious, //These Decades// instills feelings of temptation and danger at the same time as loss is mirrored by physical desire” (De Pury, 2010, p. 112).

Found objects gathered to create a unique representation of mortality and sexual thrill held in the shape of a common recognized object. The piece holds court in its surrounds forcing the viewing to look up, at its side and beneath and becomes an ominous and titillating force of color and form. In the description for the Saatchi Gallery we find a strong understanding of the viewer’s response, “Taking the form of a boudoir chandelier, Terrence Koh’s //These Decades that We Never Sleep, Black Light// hangs with a tempting anticipation; its heavy weight dangles, both dangerous and beguiling, dripping opulent crystals and bijou. Rather than illuminating, the sculpture’s deadened black surface promises to devour. Flirting between pleasure and pain, lust and death, Koh offers a dark romanticism, filled with apprehension and possibility. “ (Saatchi, 2010) Modern, seductive and physiological, //These Decades that we Never Sleep, Black Light// may have the power to transport the viewer briefly out of their surroundings and to a journey through their own subconscious to face thoughts ranging from topics such as sex and death.

Any related artworks, such as artists that use human hair and or borrow the form of a chandelier? In both cases there are other contemporary Chinese artists that have used these, see for example the entry for Ai Weiwei on this site.

**Personal Interpretation** As a student of Art History and Interior design, I was initially drawn to this beautiful chandelier that has a dark sexual presence. This Neo-Gothic object is purely contemporary in every way: new, fresh, exciting and thought provoking. Because I am familiar with Koh's work, I assumed it had sexual undertones with the rope and hair, both references to sexual subcultures. What I enjoyed the most about the piece is the way the color coats the entire object, these amazing dark crystals are deep and endless. I would feel compelled to move towards the piece with fascination and wonder, pondering the connections between lust and death.

**References**
 * De Pury, Phillips. //Evening Sale Contemporary Art//: 2010


 * Online Sources**
 * Kimmelman, David . “Brimming from a Ray of Light, the Glare of Elusiveness” 7 February, 2007,  (December 2010)
 * Saatchi Gallery. “These Decades that we Never Sleep, Black light”. < http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/terence_koh_black_light.htm> (December 2010


 * Image Sources**
 * http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/terence_koh_black_light.htm