Opening at OC gallery

Sino Group proudly presents Reverse Reality, an exhibition curated by Selina Ho for four Hong Kong leading artists, Beatrix Pang, Doris Wong, Hanison Lau and Florian Ma to showcase their new works which have been informed and conceived by their experiences in Portland, the United States.

During their one-month residency in Portland which is a place well-known of its alternative culture, the artists have used a variety of on-site materials and mediums to address how they work across cultural borders and to negotiate spaces and ideas from a distance. Their works are now displayed to explore their relevance to the realities which are relegated in our culture, and how the artists approach the cultural difference.

Interested in history and memories of urban life of a city, Beatrix Pang undertook a tumblelog project, "Bear wants your story" (http://bearwantsyourstory.tk/) to collect stories from different walks of life in Portland, and present them in a soundscape. Doris Wong used to challenge the authoritative value and perception by using the strategy of original and copy. She has collected museum and gallery invitation cards in Portland since the residency, and created the replicas of these by-products of global art mechanism. Hanison Lau’s sculptural installation usually refers to Chinese cultural and poetic properties to fabricate ready-made materials and lost objects. He collected many discarded objects that he found near his living area in Portland, and then fabricated them into a miniaturized Chinese classical garden to ease cultural communication. Florian Ma is used to turn urban scenery into conceptual visual elements. Using the Worksound gallery as his laboratory, he worked out five installations by mediating between light and space, as metaphors of exchange between the two worlds.

It is the first time Hong Kong artists have been collectively shown in Portland. Born around the 1980s, and active in artistic creativity since early 2000, this group of artists are representing the leading young Hong Kong artists of contemporary art, and running their collective-initiative to extend their artistic dialogue and to confront their mobility.

In coincidence with the exhibition, the artists will share their exchange experience at the C&G Artpartment on 21 Feb, 2009. The talk will be moderated by the curator Selina Ho and be responded by guest artists Jaffa Lam and Warren Leung Chi Wo, both of them have been the recipients of Asian Cultural Council fellowship. Meanwhile, to document the artists’ works, words from the curator and reviews by guest writers, Ella Pau, Stella Fong, Vivian Ting and Yeung Yang, an exhibition tabloid will be launched at the opening.

Exhibition
Artists: Beatrix Pang, Doris Wong, Florian Ma, Hanison Lau
Curator: Selina Ho
Venue: OC gallery-G/F, Olympian City 1, 11 Hoi Fai Road, West Kowloon
Date: 30 Jan-1 March, 2009 ( Mon-Sun 9 am-9pm )
Opening: 30 Jan 2009 6:30pm-8:00pm
(Music performance by Brown Note Collective)
Enquiry: 2132 8718

Artist talk
Dialogue with Hong Kong leading young artists:
From American dream to reality
Speakers: Beatrix Pang, Doris Wong, Florian Ma, Hanison Lau
Guest respondents: Jaffa Lam, Warren Leung Chi Wo
Moderator: Selina Ho
Venue: C & G Artpartment ( 3/F, 222 Sai Yeung Choi Street S., Prince Edward, Hong Kong)
Date: 21st Feb 2009
Time: 3:30 pm-4:50pmEnquiry: 23909332

A Curator’s note

This exhibition took its point of departure from an artist residency and exchange project in which four leading young Hong Kong artists went to Portland of the United States for a month to create new works conceived by their experiences.

The participating artists, Beatrix Pang, Doris Wong, Hanison Lau and Florian Ma, set off to Portland in Oregon in early September 2008. During their residence they employed different media to address the ways they worked across cultural borders and negotiated spaces and ideas from a distance.

Portland was chosen as their destination for because the artists are fascinated by its alternative culture, towhich sis unique in America. , this place is different from the mainstream culture in America. Portland has been active in alternative movement,cultural do-it-yourself, DIY and, micro-business, and socially engaged , as well asand socially engagedthe community was enthusiastic about in environmental conservation and land-use planning. Its liberal social environment has nurtured a diverse culture and an organic art scene that have attracted flocks of young artists from other states and overseas. For the first time, works of Hong KongYet Iit is unprecedented that the works of Hong Kong visual artists have been collectively shown in Portland,,. and Theytheir works were displayed together with those of other two other artists from, of France and Portland respectively.

Born around the 1980s, these four artists started to develop their works since early 2000. They connected on this occasion to take a detour for artistic exposure, and confronted their mobility. The title of this exhibition, Reverse Reality, is adopted to express their attitudes and desires of intervention in their art practice contexts, life experiences, as well as local and global realities. Coincidently, the literary meanings of “Reverse” give an account for the context of this cultural exchange and the time and space replacement involved. In this context, the notion of reality is subjective, and provokes mutations in accordance with individual perceptions and experiences.

This group exhibition features the distinguished works they produced in Portland. I find myself asking these questions: What do their works mean to us if they are displayed in Hong Kong? Are these works relevant to the realities which are relegated in our local culture? How do the artists approach the cultural differences in their works? When revealing their cultural references, are the works connected with the artists’ development?

Amongst them, Hanison Lau is most concerned with confronting the cultural boundaries between the West and the East. Hanison has been interested in fabricating ready-made objects, and articulating the differences in materiality, to develop distinctive visual properties and sculptural characters. The “Portland Classical Chinese Garden” was completed by Suzhou craftsmen in 2000 to serve as a symbol of friendship between Portland and Suzhou which became sister cities in 1988. Having observed that Portland locals are unfamiliar with the garden, Hanison collected many discarded objects in his neighbourhood, and then fabricated the objects into a miniaturized garden. The mini garden, “Su Yuan Recreated” is based on his cultural decoding of the names of nine scenery spots of the Garden and transforming them into visual sculptural forms poetically arranged in a harmonious manner. Hanison tenderly employed familiar materials to build an intimate communication with Portland people, to evoke their imagination about Chinese culture, and shape his role of an interpreter between the two cultures.

As a contrast to Hanison’s translation of the complementary and communicative properties of objects, Doris Wong takes a critical view on the dogmatic value of objects that she conspicuously “displays” their copies in accordance with the context of the venue and exhibition. She copies original objects by hand to compel viewers to explore the intention of her works and her critical subjects which are usually drawn on authoritative and mundane objects. Pinning her criticism on the local institution of art, she has copied Hong Kong Biennial Art Exhibition catalogues, and has produced reflexive art museum mini models. In Portland, she collected and copied the flyers and invitation cards of the museums, galleries and art spaces, recycling the idea of this global art mechanisms. She framed the originals and copies of these by-products of art and displayed them as pictures. Although her copy is a direct reference from the object and proposes no change to the substance itself, her work accommodates a new meaning for interaction with a particular cultural context.

The other two artists, Beatrix Pang and Florian Ma are sensitive in their relations with the city in terms of time and space, and express themselves through the chants of immaterial “sound” and “light”. Beatrix explores the stories and memories of urban life through photography and video. Ambitiously interacting with the local people of Portland, she undertook a tumblelog project, "Bear wants your story" to collect the life stories of the common people by street interviews. Wearing a bear mask, a symbol of fairytale, for narrative and communication purposes, Beatrix was at first confronted by Portland people who hesitated to communicate, which made her critical to grasp the relational aesthetics of participation and human relationships. The role of the “Other” is relatively inevitable, and the position and view of an outsider/stranger are unveiled in her encounter with another society. Beatrix found her way out by intermingling the voices of passers-by with the city noise and composing them in spontaneous, repetitive and fragmented manners parallel to the trivial moments of her past works. Culturally transitional, her work renders the audible inaudible, offering us a soundscape of the city, both foreign and familiar to Hong Kong.

Florian Ma turns urban scenery into conceptual visual elements through image manipulation in order to examine different metaphors and methods. He is interested to manipulate western master imageries, including Disney and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Last year he created flashing neon signs of hidden porn advertising and Busty Hooker as a symbol of prostitutes to evoke a socially portrayal space of Yamatei. He also installed a lighting system repeating yellow and blue colour to represent the time and aura change from day to night in the district. Further to his light project, Florian made five site-specific installations at the Worksound gallery in Portland, exploring the metaphors of the exchange of two different worlds by negotiating their differences in time and space. He covered up the window facades of the gallery with blue and yellow digital printed transparent stickers, reversing the boundaries between the inner and the outer, artificial and natural, day and night. Other works are driven by motor and computer manipulation, to mobilize light and interplay colour and light, transmitting the rhythms and qualities of light and shadow, that we can contemplate two imagined territories. In addition to bowls of water and fish, obscure blubs light, and foreign objects, a transit landscape and unfamiliar romance are expressed.

As interpretation of the works could only be extended through dialogue, I particularly thank Ellen Pau, Yeung Yang, Stella Fong and Vivian Ting for their intelligent writings on the works for the exhibition tabloid. Thanks also go to the C&G Apartment for organising the Artist Talk (on Feb 21), and to the guest respondents, Jaffa Lam and Warren Leung Chi Wo. Above all, I wish to thank Sino Group’s ‘Art in Hong Kong’ for presenting this exhibition, and the Home Affairs Bureau and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council for their sponsorship.

Selina Ho

策展人語

是次展覽伸延自四位香港年青藝術家在美國參與的藝術駐場及交流計劃。2008年9月初，彭倩幗、黃慧妍、劉學成、馬浩賢往俄岡勒州的波特蘭一個月，就地取材以不同媒介，表達個人處於不同時空、文化的經驗和回應。

波特蘭的另類文化在美國獨樹一幟，它開放的社會氛圍孕育出多元的文化，吸引了來自國內外五湖四海的年青藝術家，營造了一個有機活躍的藝圈。是以香港視覺藝術家屬意於波特蘭進行創作，在當地首度聯展。

這群年青藝術家均生於近八十年代，2000年開始一直持續發展視覺藝術創作。他們是次出走投射了香港年青藝術家的流動能量。Reverse Reality(逆向‧現實)就是引自出走作為一種態度，以及介入的意圖，尤針對創作環境、生活經驗、本土現實以至全球化的問題。另外，Reverse一詞有逆向和交換替置的含意，意味著兩地文化和時空的交錯；Reality同時強調現象學中個人對現實經驗的詮釋，以及他們對轉移現實的感知探索。

現正在OC藝廊展出的，大部分是這群藝術家在波特蘭完成的新作品。展品雖然創作於波特蘭，卻深深體現藝術家自身創作的脈絡，及在文化差異間的自處方式，正反映出藝術家與本地文化千絲萬縷的關係。

四名藝術家中，劉學成對中西文化的溝通尤為關注。他一直善長挪用現成物，特別是日常生活物件，透過重組物料的差異，創作出特殊的雕塑意象。在波特蘭駐場期間，他發現當地一座由蘇州藝匠於2000年建成的中國園林建築，旨在促進波特蘭與姊妹城市蘇州的文化交流和友好交往。學成聽聞當地人對這座外來的園林一直深感隔膜，於是取意該園九個景觀的中文名稱，將中國抽象的典故轉化為具體的意象，重組一個富有詩意的微型蘇州園林。他採用住所附近收集得來的棄置物件，對波特蘭巿民來說份外親切。作品不但發掘中西文化溝通的可行性，吊跪地展開對中國文化的想像，更強調我們乃置於文化夾縫中的註譯者。

當劉學成一直追求以物質協調和溝通的可能，黃慧妍卻質疑物件的價值規範和在非/展示場域所產生的變數。黃慧妍一直透過手作複製物品的方式，引發觀者注意她批判的對象和意圖。她複製的對象，一般是具權威或生活規條的物件。針對本土藝術機制，她曾複製香港雙年展特刊，以及製作博物館迷你模型。延伸至波特蘭，她收集了當地博物館、畫廊和藝術空間的邀請咭，然後進行手繪複製。針對全球化的藝術機制，她將藝術宣傳附屬品的正本和複製本像畫作般置於框架展示。雖然她運用直接參照的方法，複製對象本質上未有改變，可是在特殊的文化環境和展示情態中卻產生全新的互動意義。

其餘兩名藝術家彭倩幗和馬浩賢分別透過「聲」、「光」，審視自身在時間和空間上與城市的關係。彭倩幗的作品一直探討都市生活的記憶和故事。她今次在波特蘭進行《熊要你的故事》計劃，在街頭隨機地向過路人進行簡短訪問，收集他們日常的生活故事，以近距離接觸本地人。熊是童話故事的象徵，倩幗帶上了北極熊面具，吸引當地人跟她說故事。但溝通似乎失效，面對著一個陌生的社群，她處於「他者」的角色，一直跟強調群眾參與和人類關係的關係美學拉扯。倩幗最終收錄了波特蘭城市的聲音和一些路人的回應，一如她以往的作品，強調不可明釋、隨機且片斷地出現，以呈現跨時空的過渡和瞬間狀態。她以故事/記憶跟現實保持距離，最終還是棄用語言，反強調聲音對環境、身份的想像。

馬浩賢喜歡將城市的景象化為概念的視覺元素，運用機械及影像操作裝置以探索象徵意義及表現秩序。他多採用西方的象徵圖像，如迪士尼和雪姑七友等。去年他以光管製作隱喻黃色事業的「麻甩仔索油地」霓虹廣告和象徵妓女的「情迷大波雞」，並將展場燈光轉換，由黃變藍，反映油麻地日夜景況和社會空間的不同感官刺激。在波特蘭期間，馬浩賢為當地Worksound畫廊的特殊場地製作了五個裝置，以隱喻著兩地時空差異的磨合。浩賢在整個展場入口的正面窗排鋪滿以電腦打印的黃色和藍色透明膠貼，移換室內/外，人造/日光，晝/夜的關係，表達他對時空反差的感官和意義。另外，他亦透過摩達和電腦程式操縱，以光影的移動、光影和顏色的互動，變奏出兩個地域相遇所未完成的想像。加上水和游魚、燈泡和異地風物的擺設，為這時空磨合增添不少游移和陌生的張力。

對以上作品的詮譯只能透過對話得以伸延，為增加對作品解讀的層次，感謝資深策展人丁穎茵、方詠甄、楊陽和鮑藹倫，在展覽刊物中分別為這四名年青藝術家撰寫文章。四位藝術家也將(於二月二十一日)分享波特蘭的交流經驗，感謝分享會的協辦團體C&G藝術單位，以及資深藝術家林嵐和梁志和屆時擔任回應嘉賓。最後，承蒙信和集團「香港藝術」主辦是次展覽，以及民政事務局、香港藝術發展局的資助，計劃得以完成，謹此致謝。

何翠芬

By Portlandnews

Doris Wong

Doris Wong
Flyers of Portland art spaces and museums
Acrylic on paper
Size varies
2008
黃慧妍
波特蘭藝術空間和博物館的單張
塑膠彩、紙
尺寸不等

To write about Doris Wong’s work entitled “Flyers of Portland Art Spaces and Museums” is rather like reviewing copied paintings by the skillful workers in Dafen Village, Shenzhen. Familiar assessments of craft, style, and originality seem useless here. The painting is neither so skillfully rendered that we are amazed by the artist's craftsmanship, nor so imperfect as to suggest the artist's authorship. They seem to be a product of manual labor rather than gestural expression. And yet what can one possibly say?

We should not be mistaken, however, as the work should not be taken at face value. Doris frequently engages in pure reproductions in her “creation”, but they are actually complex and multi-layered. Throughout the years, the artist continues to develop her familiar technique of copying images and objects, and creates obsessively crafted and wickedly humorous work. From an insider’s view, she challenges the authoritative structure of the art world by questioning art’s fundamental definitions and uncovering the absurdity of art production to the audience.

For the “Reverse Reality” exhibition, Doris reveals a selection of contemporary art publications that she grasped from the art spaces, galleries and the museum during her residence in Portland, the United States. Stretching across the wall, the publications are neatly framed in various sizes, and are divided into two reciprocal pairs with each pair juxtapose symmetrically along the axis. Upon a closer look, you will realize that one of the pairs is mirror-like painted reproductions that are made by the artist.

The essence of this work lies in its contradiction in nature. Rather than being a means to elucidation, it tends to foster obscurity. The contrast between “meaning and meaningless” becomes significant while perceiving the work. What at one glance seemed to us to have a meaning, we then see something completely meaningless. The artist disrupted things, and brought new orders and ideas through disharmony. The suspension between fact and fiction, real and counterfeit, sense and nonsense, has manifested itself as a state of wonder, or as a deeply unsettling condition. Doris’s work aptly deals with this uncertainty.

Another interesting feature is the subtle interplay between real and counterfeit, original and reproduction in the work. Today, counterfeit industry has bloomed in the global trade. Counterfeit art, on the other hand, is of no exception. Thousands of shipping containers leave Hong Kong for the United States, packed with products made in China, following numerous scandals between the world’s biggest consumer and producer. Among them, Chinese copy artists in one village export around five million paintings a year, presumably playing the role of the world's biggest exporter of counterfeit art.

Being an unusual Chinese “copy artist”, Doris, however, does not intends to examine the aesthetics of copying in the contemporary art context. What interests me is that a fake or a reproduction becomes “real” in the artist’s creative endeavor. Strictly speaking, the artist doesn’t really “create”, she reproduces in a process of “cultural recycling” (Nicolas Bourriaud, Postproduction, 2002). Artists revive objects, reactivate forms, pirate copyrights, and manipulate existing social, cultural and economic systems. The recycling of existing objects or ideas, even fake or reproduced ones, eventually lead to unique art ventures. It also reminds us the famous Venetian casino where everything is a simulated copy: gondola, canal, historical building, sky and daylight. The irony is, the simulated scenery absurdly leads to a “real” experience.

For those who have seen the original exhibition in Portland, the re-staging of the show in Hong Kong is perhaps a reproduction or a replica. Likewise, the writing of this text inevitably differs from the first-hand experience of the original artwork. It aimed to be true to the artist’s practice and attempted to provide the reader with the primary evidence of the artist’s concepts and ideas. Yet, the text remains a secondary, if not a reproduced narrative of the original artwork by slipping into the cultural recycling “spin” after all.

Stella Fong



書寫關於黃慧妍的作品《波特蘭藝術空間和博物館的單張》就像審視深圳大芬村油畫技師所繪畫的複製品一樣。從一般審視作品的角度來看，作品的技術、風格、或是否富原創性似乎都毋庸考究。黃慧妍的繪畫，固然並非務求表達令人讚嘆的工匠技術，更不在於強調藝術家的創作者身份。她的繪作看似是人手精工製作出來的產物，並無情感表達可言。那又教人如何說起？

然而，這作品絕不在於表面的價值衡量。黃慧妍多次採用純複製的方法「創作」，當中意義多重而複雜。過去多年，她一直嘗試複製影像和物件，創作出風趣又幽默的作品。從藝術家的內行人角度出發，黃慧妍藉質疑藝術的基本定義，向觀眾揭示藝術生產過程的荒誕，並挑戰藝術世界的權威架構。

於是次「逆向‧現實」的展覽中，黃慧妍選擇了一些在美國波特蘭逗留期間在博物館、畫廊和藝術空間收集到的當代藝術印刷品，然後進行複製。它們每幅的大小和裝裱不一，分成兩組在展牆上左右對稱地懸掛著。但仔細一看便會發現，右邊的一組作品只是左邊展示印刷品的手繪複本，由藝術家仿製而成。

這作品的特別之處在於自身存在的矛盾。當我們接觸這作品時，發現它不以解說作為手段，反而彰顯其含渾性，彷彿藝術家將「曉有意義」和「不知所云」這兩種相反元素一併放進作品中，加以對比，成了作品重要的一環。那一刻間，作品看來富有意義的，當下一刻卻似乎全沒意義。藝術家將物件及其語境一一拆解，從不協調中尋找出新的秩序和意念。遊走於事實和虛構、真實和假裝、有意義與無意義之間，產生一種懷疑和不安的狀態。黃慧妍的作品正玩弄這種意義的不明確。

另一有趣的地方是，這件品體現了真實與假裝、原作與複本之間微妙的互動。今天仿製工業在全球貿易大行其道。藝術複製品也不例外。成千的貨櫃船盛載著中國製造的產品由香港駛往美國，令世界兩大消費者和生產者的醜聞接踵而至。其中，中國每年出口五百萬幅藝術複製品，想必成為世界上最大出口複製藝術的國家。

作為非一般的中國「複製」藝術家，黃慧妍無意審視當今藝術界的複製美學。我認為她將膺品或複製品轉化成「真跡」的創作手法尤為耐人尋味。嚴格來說，藝術家並沒有進行「創作」，反而活現整個「文化循環再用」的過程（歐布西，《後期製作》，2002年），是當代藝術的嶄新手法之一。一方面，藝術家將生命力重新注入物件，令它的形態活靈活現﹔而另一方面，她又甘冒剽竊版權之名，嘲弄現有的社會、經濟、和文化制度。黃慧妍的作品也讓我想到著名的威尼斯人賭場。那兒的貢多拉、河道、歷史建築、藍天及陽光…種種事物都是栩栩如生的複製品。諷刺的是，這模擬的場景卻又成了荒謬的「真實」經驗。

對於曾經在美國波特蘭看過此展覽的人而言，是次展覽將展品在香港再重現或許也是一種再造的複製品而已。同樣，本文書寫也無可避免有別於對藝術作品的親身經歷。文章以忠於藝術家的創作方向為要務，旨在提供第一手資料，讓讀者得以瞭解藝術家的創作概念與思考。無論如何，文本即使不算是對這作品的模仿，也是一種對該作的二手陳述，隨時又被捲入文化循環再用的漩渦。

方詠甄(翻譯:丁穎茵、何翠芬)

Florian Ma's site specific work at Worksound

馬浩賢Florian Ma
Living under light, Fish
tank, bulb, wooden stand, rope, wire, fish
150 x 60 x 290
活於燈光下，魚
水池、燈泡、木座、魚、繩、線

Cheerful cheers
bulb, glass, painting, sculpture, plant, plastic basket, wooden panel, wire.
愉快地乾杯
燈泡、玻璃、畫、雕塑、植物、膠籃子、木板、繩

Moving light, Machine
motor, plastic fabric, bulb , rope , wire
200 x 60 x 280
燈光移動機械
摩達、膠纖維、燈泡、繩、線

馬浩賢Florian Ma
Know Each other Gradually
19”inch DVD, LCD Monitor , 30mins , Play in Loop
漸漸地相互熟悉
19吋DVD、 LCD影視屏、三十分鐘循環播放

馬浩賢Florian Ma
Daytime Inside Nighttime Outside
Mirror, wooden panel, metal stand, sticker on mirror , and transparent sticker on window
Stand : 75x70x110cm
日間在內，夜間出外
鏡、木板、鐵架、貼紙、透明膠貼

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC-oRF2iKoQ

There is no blind at my home. Everyday I am waken up by the first ray of light that shines through the window. It strikes me and kicks me out of bed. The nature orchestrates all activities on earth.

It is always said the turn of human civilization and rise of urbanization started when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. We can work day and night. Time is never ending or beginning. It was the wake of the industrial revolution. By covering up the window facades of the gallery with blue and yellow digital printed glass papers Florian Ma’s “Daytime Inside Nightime Outside” turns the gallery to a cardinal space for contemplation and the outside is the unknown void. Dyed light shone across the digital refractive film fills up the gallery space. Visitors are like fishes in a bowl swimming in this omnipresence electromagnetic wave.

Lately after more than a hundred years of the tungsten light bulb, we discovered another type of artificial light – the changing color light LED. It was said that China will lead this solid state lighting revolution because we have not been conquered by the old tungsten. And then different color theory and psychology suggested that color light can induce different ambient mood and vice versa. Today, we see the world largest light bulb factory invented “Colorliving” a LED light system that color light can be set according to your mood. Lights do not only separate time of the day, space of consciousness; all these familiar dualistic properties of our culture, is now complicated with texture and substance which is setting for our mood and behavior. Fishes swimming in the bowl in “living under light” is a helpful correlation because fishes never sleep or in a more scientific term we never see them sleep. The slowness and linearity of “Moving light, machine” is a phenomenal contrast to the nature’s speed of light and the string theory of the universe. It is a self referential argument of our diminutive ability to understand the science and physics of our presence. Our changing understanding of time begins with Einstein's Special Relativity. With absolute time abolished, the concept of 'now' becomes ambiguous. John Wheeler and Richard Feynman added to the mystery proposing a theory where light moves backwards and forwards through time. “Cheerful cheers” is probably a positive and most sincere expedition following this line of thought. More recently John G Cramer suggested that it might be possible to send signals backwards through time. Most physicists are skeptical, but again Florian Ma “Know Each other Gradually” suggests that messages from the future do not lead to logical contradiction. If we try hard enough, I believe we can sense the future. Moving from the use of neon light in the urban context, Florian Ma’s works is minimally symbolic and romantically individualistic in this exhibition to inquire about the physical ambiguity of time and space, now and then, here and there and hence everywhere.

Ellen Pau

我家沒有窗簾。每朝清晨，第一柱陽光從窗戶射進屋內，把我從床上狠狠地照醒。大自然指揮著地球萬物的旋律。

常聽說，人類文明的轉捩點與都市化的興起正是始於愛迪生發明了電燈泡。自此，我們可以畫夜不分地工作，難以分辨何時才是每天的開始與終結，並以此見證了工業革命的開端。馬浩賢在他的《日間在內，夜間出外》中，把畫廊櫥窗以藍色與黃色的電腦印刷玻璃紙覆蓋，畫廊轉化成一個供冥想的空間，而此中心外的世界則成為未知的空白。染了色的光線照射到數碼菲林上，光線折射穿梭於畫廊的四周。參觀者就像缸中魚兒一樣，在無所不在的電磁波浪中暢泳。

在鎢絲燈泡面世超過一百年後，我們發明了另一種人工照明方法：可變色發光二極管(LED)。有說中國將會領導這場固態照明革命，因為我們仍未被舊的鎢絲燈完全征服。隨此發明而來的顏色和心理學理論則認為，不同色彩的光能夠誘發出不同的心理環境，反之亦然。今天，全球最大的燈泡製造商發明了 Colorliving，此發光二極管照明系統能夠隨用家心情而改變顏色。光線不再只是用來區分畫夜和時空。這些我們熟悉的二元分野，如今被調控我們心情與行為的組織和物料複雜化了。在《活於燈光下，魚》中，缸中游泳的魚兒正關係到這一狀態：魚從不會睡覺，或者科學點說，我們從未見過牠們入睡。

《燈光移動 機械》所呈現的緩慢和線性與自然光速和宇宙弦理論構成相違的現象。這是一自我指涉的論證：我們難以理解人們自身存在背後的物理與科學。我們對時間認識的改變始於愛因斯坦的狹義相對論。當絕對時間不再存在，我們對何為「現在」的認知亦變得模糊。而約翰‧惠勒 (John Wheeler) 和理察‧費曼 ( Richard Feynman) 提出一套光線可以在時間來回穿梭的理論，則令事情更加詭秘。〈愉快地乾杯〉應當是在這條思考軌跡上一起正面和真誠的探索。最近，約翰‧Ｇ‧克拉默 (John G Cramer) 更提出我們可以把訊息傳回過去的可能。雖然大部份的科學家對此存疑，但馬浩賢透過《漸地相互熟悉》而再一次提醒我們，從未來而來的訊息不一定導致邏輯矛盾。如果盡力嘗試，我相信我們可以感應到未來。把霓虹燈帶離城市的實用環境，馬浩賢的作品既是簡約的象徵性，又是浪漫的個人化。在這場展覽中探究時間與空間在物理上的模糊性：現在與未來，此地與那方，以至無論何處。

鮑藹倫(中文翻譯：何禹旃)

Opening of the exhibition in Portland

Worksound gallery

Lan Su Yuan Recreated

涵虛 Cosmetic

錦雲 Brocade Cloud

浣花春雨 Flowers Bathing in Spring Rain

知魚 Knowing the fish

鎖月 Moon-locking

畫舫煙雨 Painted boat in Misty Rain

沁香 Permeating Fragrance

倒影清漪 Reflections in Clear Ripples

半窗擁翠 Half a window Clustered in Green

Portland and Suzhou became sister cities in 1988. Portland Classical Chinese Garden was opened in September 2000. The Garden is located on a common land and run by a non-profit organization, “Portland Classical Chinese Garden”. Chinese Garden designers and craftsmen from China were invited and built the Garden according to the design from Ming Dynasty as an authentic scholar’s garden in Suzhou. The aim of the Garden is to cultivate an interest of Chinese culture in the local community. In the meantime, the Garden is also a testimony of the friendly cultural exchange between the two sister cities.

This work is named “Lan Su Yuan Recreated ”(再現蘭蘇園). Collecting materials from the neighbourhood such as abandoned stuffs and garbage was the first step in creating this work. With these abandoned materials, a local Portland-styled “Lan Su Yuan” was created. After talking with some locals residing in Portland, it was found that most of them have not visited “Lan Su Yuan” before. Their feelings towards a Chinese garden in a Western city were mixed with unfamiliarity and foreignness. Therefore, this work was made with materials they are familiar with so as to recreate “Lan Su Yuan” in a new way, and yet retaining the essence of traditional Chinese culture.

-by Hanison Lau

在遙遠而陌生的國度裡
剛巧與自家事物撞個正
在滿佈皓星的天空下竟是靈石清波
奇亭巧榭
別有一壺天地
是似曾相識
是身同感受
恰遇他鄉故人
訴不盡人間風月
我不是為本國代言
只是在落差中找尋那靈犀一點通
為此作些注釋而以

---劉學成

Poem emerging from the unwanted

What can you make out of trash like sponges, tissue wipes, fragments of old rug, and cracked trunk? A cinematic setting of Eliot’s Waste Land or a blizzard garbage compactor robot keeping company with Wall-E? Instead Hanison Lau sees the light and beauty in these unwanted objects to emulate the poetics of Chinese garden – a sophisticated union between natural landscape and man-made feat of engineering. Inspired by the harmonious landscapes of water, stones, pavilions, and poetry in the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, Lau comes back with an intriguing installation of the abandoned objects to create a tactile poem that transcends the ambience of a spiritual utopia for one to reconnect with the traditional culture.

Lau’s poetry of leftover starts playing with the names of the architecture elements in the Portland garden, such as Hall of Brocade Cloud and ‘Reflection in Clear Ripples’, a lounge house, and infuses traditional aesthetics and contemporary imaginations into the materiality of the unwanted. The result is a daring interplay between materials and the artist’s thoughts in constructing a poetic space exploring the cultural complexity and elegance of the past and what it means to our vacuous present.

The centre piece of this ‘garden’ is an installation known as ‘Knowing the Fish’. On a basic level, the work refers to the square pavilion in the Portland garden where visitors can appreciate the fish swimming in the pond gracefully. It also draws inspiration from the famous dialogue between the Daoist philosopher, Zhuangzi, and his friend, Hui Shi, of what fish enjoys. Whilst Hui Shi challenges Zhuangzi being a person cannot possibly know whether a fish is happy or not, Zhuangi arguing that by observing how fish darts around the river, he feels the happiness of fish as the creature is being itself in its own natural habitat. To re-enact the philosophical debate over the joy of fish, Lau puts two chairs in the manner of ‘face-to-face dialogue’ among which lies the ‘contemplative pond’ – a yellow sponge mattress attached with blue patches of cleaning tissues. This construction is concise and yet powerful in materializing the multi-layered readings of ‘knowing the fish’: it can be a reminiscence of sharing a water scene with friends or a stimulating discussion of what is a true nature of fish, and perhaps, being itself. Its simplicity leaves infinite space urging viewers to ponder upon what to know about, how we can understand the meanings of the ‘fish’ and to whom we can share a meaningful debate.

In further exploring cultural significance of the scenic garden, Lau’s ‘Cosmetic’ transforming the Tower of Cosmetic Reflections, the only two-story building within the garden into a philosophical treaty of what nature means to human. Like the original tower, this piece offers a refreshing perspective that encourages audience to appreciate the flow of life. Upper part of this piece is a white paper-mâché showing the solid, yet fluid faces of a rock mountain. With delicate lighting design, the mountain casts a hazy shadow that magnifies itself to be a formidable presence, as if it was alive. Interestingly, another half of the work is a black, twisted paper-cutting of a landscape that almost feels like a crude imitation to the white hill. Light and dark, unframed and framed, a towering sculpture and its flat representation… create striking contrast that seems to be an artist’s version of Taiji diagram, embracing the organic balance between yin and yang, emptiness and fullness, and stillness and movements. In spite of the variations in texture, colour and perspective, the crisp and deep curve lines can be easily discerned from both forms of the landscapes in conveying a sense of holistic harmony. Such an antithesis gracefully suggests that energy can be found in minimum and free flowing thoughts are revealed in the medium. ‘Cosmetic’, as its names hints, is thus, a cosmos within an artist’s universe, rendering the invisible.

Clearly, Lau’s ‘Lan Su Yuan re-create’ is anything, but nostalgic construction of a Chinese garden. And yet, it strives to be a contemporary poem exploring the essence of the traditional garden: aeons are but a moment and beauty is always within grasp.

Vivian Ting

(Vivian Ting received PhD researcher from the Department of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, UK. Her research explores material culture theories and traditional aesthetics in examining human-object relationship in historical context. )

棄物之詩﹕「蘭蘇園再現」

老枝破框冒出鬧烘烘的綠意，裂縫順著枯木流淌成一道河流…誠然，破窗框、殘枝、海棉墊、舊椅子…盡是無用之棄物。而劉學成卻化無為有，從中發掘出中國園林—自然山水與人工建築和諧協奏的詩歌。去年波特蘭之旅讓劉氏從古色古香的「蘭蘇園」取得靈感，透過當地棄置的物品將傳統庭園山水亭樓、無形無相的意境轉換成有形有質的當代詩篇。這篇棄物之詩將當代想像與古典美學融冶一爐，以無用的日常物重新詮釋蘭蘇園各景觀的典故。於是富時代氣息的物料與藝術家的巧思共譜出如詩似畫的簡約空間，探究傳統豐富的蘊藏及其對當下無根文化的啟發。

「蘭蘇園再現」其中一件引人入勝的組件名為「知魚」。知魚亭本為三面臨水的榭臺，供遊人細賞遊魚從容出遊的勝景。所謂「知魚」並不止於觀魚，更在於對人生自適的反思。遙想莊子與好友惠施於濠梁散步，莊子看見水中魚群悠悠然戲水，以為「魚之樂」莫若此。惠施卻質問莊子是人而不是魚，何從得知魚的感受。殊不知莊子眼中既無人無魚之別，只想到魚遊於水正是順其本性怡然自得，那就是「樂」。由閒暇觀魚到哲人知魚，劉氏將兩張舊椅子設置得像面對面的交流，兩椅之間又設一潭海棉墊與抹車紙相映成的「省思池」。這簡潔有力的裝置許是與友人魚塘戲水的回憶，又或是重現如何「知魚之樂」的爭論，令作品平添了幾層不同的解讀。究竟我們所知何事何物﹖何謂自然自適的生命﹖又何從與人建立深層的交流﹖

傳統園林的景致不但取裁自古典文學藝術，更借鑑於道家「天一合人」的態度，劉氏的另一組件借「涵虛閣」之名，進一步探索人與自然環境關係。涵虛閣是園內唯一的兩層木樓建築，俾遊人登臨山水，以遺襟懷。物如其樓，劉氏的「涵虛」亦置放於高處以另一角度審視大千世界虛實相交的面相。是作上半部份由白暟暟的混凝紙拼貼成一座座遠近高低各不同的山峰。加上精心安排的燈光將山岳一幢幢的投影映現於牆上，使之如巨靈神降臨般高深莫測。而下半部但見框架內一片左折右疊的黛黑剪紙山景，仿若如那座白峰的倒影。白與黑、不著邊際與嵌框架、矗立的雕塑或平面的剪紙…種種對照倒似是藝術家的《太極圖》，包含著陰陽、虛實、動靜之間微妙的張力。有趣的是，即使兩組山色的質感、顏色、情態不盡相同，但所呈現的線條卻同樣如斧劈刀削，令作品有無、虛實等異趣一一諧協起來。「涵虛」所包含不獨是難以捉摸的虛空，而是喻妙於微，發目所未見的弘外之音。

「蘭蘇園再現」以當代想像重現傳統園林「物映心境，而為物化」的意境，而非一味沉溺於古老文化的餘緒。這是一篇有形有相的詩歌，力求捕捉歷史流光間，萬物無言無聲的大美。

丁穎茵