Hoo Fan Chon is a Malaysian visual art practitioner based in George Town, Penang. By reframing everyday life with irony and wry humour, his works observe the oscillations and toggles between social classes, the official and the informal, the highbrow and the lowbrow.

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Hoo Fan Chon (b. 1982) is a Malaysian visual art practitioner based in George Town, Penang. By reframing everyday life with irony and wry humour, his works observe oscillations and assimilations between social classes, the official and the informal, the highbrow and the lowbrow.

︎ email ︎ cv

Chowdry Stall



One of the sundry stores outside of Hin Bus Depot Practical English / Malay phrases booklet Zine by HASA / Hasanul Isyraf Idris Project advisor & assistant Mahedi posing next to the Chowdry stall.


OPEN GATE
2015 Jun, Hin Bus Depot (George Town, MY)

Curated by Sachiko M, a project by Japan Foundation Asia Center

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Chowdry Store
Customised mobile food cart, assortment of sundry products, snacks & etc., dimensions variable, 2015

Mobile cart customization: Trevor Hampson, Alex Lee

Project advisor / assistant: Md. Mahedi

Zine: HASA / Hasanul Isyraf Idris
I have always been intrigued by the visual explosion of diminutive items in shop displays, and wanted to create such a system of display and exchange in which we could negotiate value and make sense of function while enjoying beautifully packaged items. This installation is set in the former Hin Bus Depot, which has gradually reinvented itself as one of the most happening art and cultural hubs in Penang, with programmes catering for local and overseas audiences. Jalan Gurdwara, along which it is located, has a sizable Bangladeshi population, mostly migrant workers in the construction sector. I study Bangladeshi material culture through the sundry stores located outside Hin by reappropriating a mobile food cart as a self-service vending stall. Items are sold at the same retail price as outside Hin, featuring a selection of sundry goods, snacks and entertainment products alike.

Chowdury Stall also features a multilingual zine for the Bangladeshi readers, Kakrol (lit. “spiny gourd”), made by HASA / Hasanul Isyraf Idris. This zine was inspired by the practical English- and Malay-language phrasebook made for the newly arrived migrant workers.


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© Hoo Fan Chon