Fan Gu:"Hounds of love"

In this interview, we speak to Fan Gu,he creates work within the 4D department of Fine Art.

What is the title of your work?

"Hounds of love".

Summarise the work in 5 words

Hounds of love are hunting.

Talk us through the process of creating your work

It’s a narrative of self-stalking in a park. I mainly focused on gay cruising and tried to recreate this eros-chasing game in such an exposed place. Dressed as a typical gay man from San Francisco in 1970s, I played the characters of the stalker and the target in two videos and merge them into one narrative.

‘This man is trapped in his own sexual desire. He is hunting for love and also hunted by love. He is horny also cowardly.’

And the title is from Kate Bush’s song Hounds of Love (1985).

I was trying to dig into the homoeroticism culture both back in history and in today’s society, taking an in-depth look into their behaviours and thoughts. It’s a narrative of self-stalking in a park. I mainly focused on gay cruising and tried to recreate this eros-chasing game in such an exposed place. Dressed as a typical gay man from San Francisco in 1970s, I played the characters of the stalker and the target in two videos and merge them into one narrative.

I was initially inspired by a Chinese movie themed on homosexual, Eastern Palace, Western Palace, and got the idea of using park as a semi-public space, as a symbol of the conservative society with limits, discrimination and oppression.

Then I went to the Hampstead Heath, which is said to be the most popular gay cruising site in London, took photographs of the tissues and condoms in the bushes and actually witnessed several men wandering about. At that time I could really get into the character of a man looking for fun with strangers in a public park: I was nervous, anxious, looking around all the time, unaware of but excited about what would happen.

Hal Fischer’s book "Gay Semiotics" portrays the ‘gay fashion’ in San Francisco in 1970s, around where (USA) and when (60s, 70s) the gay community stood up against the authority and sought liberation (Stonewall Riots) and those men became the role archetype. I’m also using the hanky codes to enrich the character. Sophie Calle’s works offers a different perspective of recording an event or filming a narrative. Normally the film and photograph works adapt the first-person view, from which the viewers gain the experience of being present in the narrative. What if I reverse the positions or separate the view? There is no recorder, no observer when I, the maker, the character, the audience are all equal. The final videos will contain two screens recording the same event, and merge into one at the end.

The voiceover comes from my study on the play Mother Clap’s Molly House, 2003. I spent one afternoon in the National Theatre Archive Room for research and went through the whole play as well as the platform and rehearsal recording, the reviews from the critics and finally chose five parts from the script which depict their fear, lust, confusion and pride.

How is the work “site-specific”?

For the history and its rich culture, I aimed to find the similarity in homoeroticism from the past and the present and the contrast within it, if any, which shapes the behaviour pattern of those people. The action, the costume, the lines all contribute to transform this modern park over time and location for that moment.

You can follow Fan Gu on instagram @erikforsal_