Tang Contemporary Art Gallery is hosting Malaysian-Chinese artist H.H. Lim’s installation, Hidden Treasures. It is inspired by a Chinese fable where a man who seeks to safeguard his riches by burying them in his backyard and posting a sign that says, “There are no riches here.” The exhibition explores our innate obsession for security.

Technique: Mixed-media installation

What are you trying to communicate with the dart piece?
The main underlying idea of this exhibition is doubt. I wanted to investigate this fragile conflict inside our minds and how it makes us deny reality and isolate ourselves in our imagination.

What do the darts signify to you?
The darts show the very precise point of what one really aims at in one’s mind. This installation shows that having a bull’s-eye to aim for doesn’t mean one can hit it, but if you do hit it, it is something to treasure.

What was your inspiration?
I was not inspired by any external phenomenon. The whole work is a product of my thoughts about the conflict between continuous doubt, our certainties and temptation.

The small, white painting with one dart stuck in it blends into the white wall.
It it is part of a wall installation with five hundred darts that miss the target entirely and one dart which almost hits the bull’s-eye. The center is not hit, though, because I think perfection always lies one more step ahead.

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