Waves, Oversights

 Just an emotional response while travelling in open water.

 

There is an eerily similar visual experience of the Earth from the astronaut – 

Ron Garan from below link:

Homo Sapiens, Nikolaus Geyrhalter

(image∣Timothy Allen)

The work examines progress without retrogression. It is dark with hints of romanticism, inert yet stimulating. There is plenty of otherworldliness but familiar icons are abound.

(image∣www.darbiansphotography.com)

Goya's luster might shine on Lavier's car installation here, but minus the stunt. The whole scene throws perplexing questions to the mind, rather than light so to say. Undisclosed in the film, it is a mysterious car grave, manifested itself in an abandoned mine in Gwynedd, Wales.

(image∣www.nj.com)

Among others, the waterlogged imagery is equally indelible. If Ansel Adams were to celebrate nature, Geyrhalter would question our relationship with it.  Hurricane Sandy in 2012 provides such lead for the above.

(image∣www.where-is-this.com)

At times, sounds of buzzing insects or flapping birds flurried between the ears make a lasting impression. Thanks to the 5.1 sound effects and admitted by the director as audio mixing, they captivate the audience more effectively than roaring thunders.

(image∣Chris Luckhardt@flickr)

The 94 minutes of shootings, tells forbidden stories without words or music. The interiors of dwellings on Hashima Island (commonly known as Battleship Island) leave plenty of pause for thoughts.

 (image∣Arkadiusz Podniesinski)

'Homo Sapiens' is a film only in format, documentary for the convenience of classification. It is disquietingly art-house, so much so that it does not have a dialogue but still requires an admission ticket.

'Homo Sapiens' - an official clip

'Homo Sapiens' by Nikolaus Geyrhalter, was part of the collection of films shown during the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) in April, 2016.

Note: The stills above are selected from the internet due to the lack of official materials from the film. Credits as shown above.

Moments of truth, according to Tsui Kuang-Yu

Reality is day-to-day absurdities meted out, only we are too used to them.

Satires make better sense of real life, Shakespeare knows that.

In modern art, the Dadaists spearhead a new tradition; and until now, good humour, still stings the hardest.

A Hudson River dinner like it never is… 

An Arc de Triomphe selfie like it never is…

The Statue of Liberty, or perhaps Keith Richards like 

they never are…

An Eiffel Tower couple…

Tsui Kuang-Yu, Invisible City: Taiparis York

Video with sound 5’03”, 2008

The above video work (abridged in respect of copyright) was present in the joint exhibition under the title of Familiar Otherness: Art Across Northeast Asia

10.12.2015 – 17.1.2016, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre

Try “Rubbing the City: Beautiful Dirty Bubble” below, 

for more of him.

“我說真就真” , 崔廣宇

現實乃日復日的荒誕, 只是我們已見怪不怪.

譏諷始能反映生活, 沙翁最曉得.

在現代藝術裡, 達達主義者另闢新蹊. 迄今, 幽默這刺針還是最具殺傷力.

克遜河畔的晚餐似真還是. . .

凱旋門前的自拍似真還是. . .

自由神像, 噢或者Keith Richards似真還是. . .

艾菲爾鐵塔的戀人. . .

以上錄像(節錄篇) 來自「文化碰撞 穿越東北亞」展覽

香港藝術中心包氏畫廊, 2015年12月10日至2016年1月17日

還未過癮? 再試試上方的” 城市按摩: 美麗的髒泡泡” 吧.

Watch out, Invader

 

Space invaders in LED flashes.

 

Crowd pulling exhibition on a Sunday.

Many of Invader’s works were removed by the Highways Department in 2014 –

hence the exhibition title: ‘Wipe Out".

 

 

Inside a display case is a photograph of Invader sat shoulder to shoulder with the diseased King Kowloon (local graffiti writer) in 2001.

Homage to King Kowloon at the foreground.

 

Invader’s work in 2015.

 

Another one – quite missable to unaware public.

 

Invader has entered Hong Kong again. This time he lands with a much bigger bang, showing his works at PMQ under the sponsorship of the French Consulate. Tampering with straight anonymity that characterizes graffiti artists, he teases with the public (and his own ego) by wearing masks or appearing on photos under pixelated effects. His quasi-collaboration with authorities in participating in this solo event also stretches the boundary of graffiti art. The word “graffiti” is never mentioned in this gentrified setting.  In the minefield of audience-building, there lies fame on one side and betrayal of fellow comrades on the other. 

 

Wipe Out – Invader in Hong Kong

2-17, May, 2015 at PMQ, Hong Kong

 

當心 ,侵略者

 

<侵略者>又重返香港了. 這次的來襲更轟動,他的作品得以在PMQ展出並由法國領事館資助. 在公開場合, 他均帶上面罩或在照片上打格, 認同塗鴉藝術家的匿名作風, 玩弄神祕感之餘亦險墜入自我膨脹之虞. 今番他與不少官方團體合辦個展也拉闊了塗鴉藝術的界線. <塗鴉>二字在這個優雅的場中不曾出現. 在建立觀眾為目標的地雷陣裡, 除了名利以外卻暗藏著同儕的背棄.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Morellet or a Turrell?

 

On an unremarkable day before noon, I happened to find slashes of rainbow on the pavement. It is a daily intervention, sneaking in and out effortlessly. Is there an audience for sights with no museum walls?

 

 

The pavement at Landmark, Queen’s Road Central.

The other side.

Bands of prism formed by triangular edges of glass that elicit light streaks on ground.

 

 

 

是 Morellet 還是 Turrell 的作品？

 

在一個平凡不過的早上，我察覺行人路上投印着斷續的彩虹。它們偷偷的，來去如逸;但每天的介入幾可肯定。沒有美術館的牆壁圍繞，事物得不得到觀眾的注視？

 

（現場為皇后大道中，置地廣場前。天虹光影由三菱鏡狀的玻璃幕牆末端折射而生。）

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows of Dan Perjovschi

Marker drawings on opaque windows in gallery context

Drawings on glass pane '1'

Details on glass pane '1'

Details on glass pane '1'

Details on glass pane '1'

Drawings on glass pane '2'

Details on glass pane '2'

Details on glass pane '3'

As it were... ephemeral drawings on timeless subject, frameless sketches beyond boundaries.

Dan Perjovschi, Window Drawings, Site specific drawings, 2015, Dimensions variable.

Selected works from the group exhibition of "South by Southeast" at Osage Gallery, 7 March - 3 May, 2015, in which anything and everything from the notion of 'south' (or in contrast to 'west') are studied.

Grain of rice in many shades

Ian Abell and Alex Welch, A Grain of Rice, 2015, Bronze

Commemorating its 150^th anniversary, HSBC commissioned twin sculptures – one installed in Hong Kong (above) and the other in London.

 

 

The humble grain of rice, transformed in size and materiality, stands with high confidence amid the bank’s legendary history and the imminent rise of China.

 

The 10.36 metres tall installation might represent a trophy of present success, an obelisk of past glory or a beacon for future. It is found on the southern side of the bank’s HQ.

The official statement of collective effort in the past to achieve present success is duly noted. But like potato and other common staples, exemplified among many languages, the sign of rice also has the obvious derogatory undertone of peasantry engrained within. The conflicting identities, wittingly or otherwise, are encrypted in the simply shaped curvature; and incidentally, a grain is seldom portrayed in isolation.

 

The dull patina of bronze on the outside is met with luscious shades of gold inside. Just like the word – dough in English, “rice” also embodies the notion of money in the Chinese language.

 

This solitude reminds one of the status quo of the bank – a multi-national “orphan” that cannot count Britain, China or any other countries its sovereign host. Correlate the series of foul plays the bank was penalized in different countries without the cover of any government, one might find traces of hint to such thought.

 

The fugue exposition of signs, generating recollections of achievements, prophetic statements and perhaps the self-realization of a limbo existence, are what make this installation laden with aftertastes.

 

 

More public art in Hong Kong at here.

 

 

Great Blur

 

 

  Nadim Abbas, Zone II, mixed media, 2014

is when art and moral persuasion, installation and shop display are intertwined…

 

 

 

“Every time we take out the trash, go to the toilet, sweep/vacuum/mop the floor, we participate in the Sisyphean drama of modern hygiene and waste management: to purge out of plain view any unsightly reminder of our excesses and inevitable degradation. Nadim Addas has decided to request all construction waste and litter be produced during the installation period be retained and exhibited in a grid of fifty-six custom made clear plastic boxes. The function of these plastic boxes mimics the kinds of household containers used to store away the clutter of daily life; while the exterior typology mimics the Man Cheong Street housing complex in Kowloon, one of the classic examples of hyper-dense housing developments…” 

excerpt from artist's statement

 

A work from group exhibition in ‘Unseen Existence: Dialogues with the Environment in Contemporary Art’

Hong Kong Arts Centre, 12 Dec, 2014 – 15 Jan, 2015

 

 

 

 

大朦朧

 

是當藝術與道德學說，裝置與櫥窗擺設正相互糾結…

 

唐納天《領域II》，混合媒體，2014

 

「每次我們清理垃圾、上廁所，清掃／以吸塵器打掃／抹地板，就參與了一場關於現代衛生與廢物管理的永無休止而徒勞的戲劇中：在當前混亂的情勢下，針對我們過度而不可避免的惡化環境作出的醜陋的提醒。參考了堆填區的設計，唐納天決定用在裝置期間產生的建築廢料和廢物，放置於預先訂製的五十六個透明塑膠盒中，組合成作品《領域II》。這些塑膠盒被製成模仿各種用於存儲日常雜物的容器。形式上，它們是參照九龍文昌街上住房的外型設計。九龍文昌街是其中一個超密集發展的早期經典例子。四個自動、由電腦程式控制的吸塵器會於不同的時間，在這些塑膠盒之間游走，並將持續在展覽期間在畫廊中去除灰塵和其他外來微粒…」

 

作品來源：‘Unseen Existence: Dialogues with the Environment in Contemporary Art’ 聯展

香港藝術中心，二○一四年十二月十二日至一五年一月十五日