Malaysian photographer Eiffel Chong presents his signature series A Matter of Life and Death at the Art Dept by VWFA. As a selection of visual short stories, he comments on the excesses of globalization, the deterioration of a society driven by materialism over community, economic prosperity over natural preservation.

Chong begins with an intuitive documentation of places inspired from his research or arbitrary wanderings around Malaysia. Visually drawn to the connection between objects in space he creates dramatics mysteries that weave together memory, nostalgia and dystopian dreams. After scrutiny and reflection, surreal narratives are then inferred through a careful choice of titles which suggest melancholia, alienation, and states of collapse.

For A Matter of Life and Death each image presents an alternative type of lament towards the negative excesses of capitalism that exploit landscape and community for commercial gains. Visually Chong’s work monumentalises silence through his personal sense of disillusionment and imagined memories. Whether buildings in progress, empty billboards, clinical interiors or seductive trees each exudes a type of narrative tension, the anxiety of what could happen next.

"These images are stories of long forgotten memories, or places that are hidden from the public. Each story gives rise to another memory, anecdote, or tirade against an imagined enemy.

Though it is only fictional and sometimes historical, it still acts as a warning to us: We can make mistakes; we can lose all this; our world could something of the past if we are not careful." Eiffel Chong.

Artist Biography
Eiffel Chong (b.1977) graduated with a MA in International Contemporary Art and Design Practice from the University of East London. His group exhibitions include: Tanah Ayer: Malaysian Stories from the Land, Selasar Sunaryo Artspace, Bandung, Indonesia, 2011; Angsana: Southeast Asian Photographers Taking Flight 2902 Gallery, Singapore; 2011; CUT2010: Parallel Universe, Valentine Willie Fine Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur & Singapore, Sangkring Art Space, Jogjakarta and, Manila Contemporary, Philippines, 2010; Deadlines: An Art Exhibition About Things We Just Can't Seem To Escape The Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2010; Al-Kesah: Once Upon A Time In Malaysia Map White Box, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2010; Eyes wide Open Selected Photos From The First Singapore International Photography Festival, The Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Different But Same, Wei Ling Gallery, Kuala Lumpur; Paradise Lost, 2902 Gallery, Singapore and A New Wave of Responsive Images, Nikon Ginza Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey and Silent Auction at London College of Communication, London, 2008. Chong also participated in the Singapore International Photography Festival 2008, Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore and has won numerous awards for his photography.

His first solo exhibition Before the World Fell to Pieces opens in September 2012 at Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur.