Talking shop with Ling Ang
The Anti-Christ of fashion.
Already an established film director, Ling Ang has also made successful forays into the worlds of photography, music and fashion. Totally in awe of this incredible talent, we caught up with the young director to chat about feminism, the convergence of cultures and what a fashion Anti-Christ would look like.
How did you get into film?
Ling: I grew up on the Gold Coast, where everyone always spent a lot of time on the beach. So while they were doing that I would be religiously watching music videos on V and Rage. I watched it that often that I could recite the top 100 music videos. My dad used to pay me out, saying “you fail your mathematics, but I give you a test on MTV and you get 100%.”
I love films, I used to spend all my pocket money at blockbuster, so I thought I’d give it a go. I did a diploma of film screen production. And since then I’ve just been studying myself. I’m mostly Youtube taught.
I know you are working on a big fashion project for this year, can you elaborate?
Ling: Well I’ve been going to a lot of fashion shows that have been curated really well with high end streetwear, which has been kicked off by the Asian market. I just thought there is definitely a niche market for that here in Melbourne. I want to bring it back to that cool ‘fuck off’ roots to we have here. So I’m creating a platform for that. I guess you could call it the Anti-Christ of fashion week.
I’m curating it like an exhibition because I want all the brands to go hand in hand with this feel of underground cool. It’s going to be a big project for me.
What else have you been working on?
Ling: I recently finished with the Karaoke Party, which was a video installation that I’ve been working on for the past 6 months. I shot three fashion films and co-produced them. It was exhibited to a full house in Singapore. I wanted to encourage the local creative industry and show people that we are not just about food courts and hot weather. We have our indie music, we have our electronic music and we do have our really cool street fashion. I’ve also been working on Darcy Baylis’ new music video. It’s very my thing. Lots of references to Instagram, very clean, lots of white.
Do you have any overall aesthetics, styles or themes that are prevalent throughout your films?
Ling: I feel like I’m super fly on the wall. I used to film DJs. My niche at the time apart from being a little Asian girl with a camera amongst the sea of men, would be filming everything candidly. It’s the same way I take my photos. I photograph people when they are least assuming. If they are looking at the camera I want it to be like they are looking at someone who they have known for a long time.
You mentioned that it’s a very male dominated industry…
Ling: Definitely. I don’t think I’m a hardcore feminist. But I guess I’m this new wave of feminism; I still shave my armpits and I love to wear make up and heels. But I direct films, I love to manage projects, I’m trying to show that the woman can be a boss. Any project that I’m working on, I try to have as broad an understanding as possible on what everyone does in the project so that when I’m directing them, I know what I’m talking about. When you want to be a director you have to play at who is going to be the alpha male, so I’ve had to show people I know what I’m doing.
Your works spans multiple genres, is that reflective of the growing cross-pollination of the creative industries?
Ling: You can’t be a one-man island anymore. You can’t just stay in your own industry. It’s all about collaboration. I feel like that’s how a lot of things are surviving. The co-production of unlikeliness.
Are there significant differences in the reception to your kind of work between Australia and Asia?
Ling: Singapore is a little bit more conservative compared to here. Australia is the new country of dreams; America is saturated. But now Australia is the country of dreams. Because we have such a young history we have such a clean state. When I first started I used to run away overseas all the time. But now I’ve realised because it’s such a clean state, I can make anything, I can be the pioneer.
To check out Ling’s work, head to:
karaokeparty.sg
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