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Image of multimedia installation with elements of shadow puppetry

Hammer Projects: Lap-See Lam

Lap-See Lam is a Stockholm-based artist whose animation, films, virtual reality, and sculptural works consider how mythology, popular culture, and fiction can both define and alter perceptions of the self and cultural belonging. This exhibition features Lam’s immersive video installation Tales of the Altersea (2023), a work inspired by the ruins of a dragon-shaped ship that Lam could see from her studio window in art school. In 1990 the ship sailed from Shanghai to Gothenburg, Sweden, with the intention of serving Chinese food to European customers across ports in the North and Baltic Seas. The gastronomic venture didn't go as its owner had hoped, and the seafaring restaurant would eventually be abandoned. The ruins of this historic vessel serve as a jumping-off point for Lam’s dreamlike story of loss, memory, and resilience.

Hammer Projects: Lap-See Lam is organized by Pablo José Ramírez, curator, with Jessi DiTillio, curatorial assistant.

Hammer Projects are single-gallery exhibitions highlighting the work of contemporary artists from around the globe, often presenting new work at a pivotal moment of an artist’s development. Ongoing since 1999, Hammer Projects is a signature series within the Hammer’s exhibition program.
Hammer Projects is presented in memory of Tom Slaughter and with support from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. Lead funding is provided by the Hammer Collective. Generous support is also provided by Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy, with additional support from the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.
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