Image of the City @ Night of Ideas 2019城市的意象 @ 思想之夜 2019
Curatorial statement
Night of Ideas 2019 presents Image of the City, screening programmes of five shorts from Hong Kong artists, Howard Chi-lai, CHOI Sai-ho, Doreen ETZLER, Jo LAW and PUNTak Shu. By unfolding the localized experience of the urbanity of HongKong, the five video artists intervene the collective memories of long-gone heritages and contemporary architectures and depict the complex identity of the city into concise imaginations.
For representing the congested living condition in Hong Kong, The Doors compressed the time and space of Nam Shan Estate, one of the most iconic public housing in Hong Kong. The rhythm of the neighbourhood and communal life in the estate is composed of the movement of the doors of flats.
By appropriating the historical footages from the government and the pop music from the 1960s, The 1960s For Me interpreted a poem by Ya Si into vivid audio-visuals. The pattern of hustling and bustling lives in old Hong Kong is reconstructed with the fading memories of factory working, agogo dancing, riot protesting, etc.
As apart of the ‘Nature Cut’ series, Film 2 HK 1995 investigated the prosperous cityscape and culture in the 1990s through the deconstruction of a feature film, Young and Dangerous (1996). By cutting out the dialogues and actions of the characters in the film, the architectural space is no longer a backdrop of the plot but the subject of the recut.
Following with the narration from a synthesized speech, the after-image of memories of a fast-paced environment is illustrated in Read Only Memory. The intensive anxiety of mobility and regulatory system is conveyed via juxtaposing the overlaid machine noises with the kaleidoscopic visuals of the interlocking escalators in Festival Walk, a functional yet theatrical shopping mall.
Being a creative testimony of the ephemeral and first artist village in Hong Kong, Oil Street Artist Village, Bombastic Verse documented a forceful contemporary dance in ex-Government Supplies Depot. The dissatisfaction and rage against the government’s eviction decision are expressed through an embodied experience of the disappearing space.
策展人語
思想之夜 2019 將呈現城市的意象－放映節目包括香港藝術家鄭智禮、蔡世豪、Doreen ETZLER、羅頌雅與潘德恕的五個短片。五位錄像藝術家通過揭示香港城市化的本土體驗，介入了已消失的歷史建築和當代建築的集體記憶，並描繪城市中複雜身份而成的簡潔想像。
《門》為了再現香港的擠逼生活環境，緊縮了香港其中一個最具代表性的公共房屋－南山邨的時空，以不同單位大門的移動而譜成一個鄰里與共同生活的節奏。
《我的六零年代》通過挪用來自六零年代的政府歷史片段與流行音樂，演譯也斯的詩而成生動的視聽效果，以工廠工作、搖擺舞蹈、暴動示威的褪色回憶重構而成舊香港的忙碌與喧鬧生活模樣。
《Film 2 HK 1995》作為「Nature Cut」系列的一部份，通過解構香港電影《古惑仔之人在江湖》（1996）而審視香港繁榮興旺的城市景觀與文化，透過剪去片中人物對話與動作，建築空間變成這重剪的主體而不是劇情的背景。
《純屬印象》描繪了一個節奏急速的環境的記憶殘像，背隨著人工合成語音的敍述，並置疊加的機器嘈音與一個集功能性與戲劇性的商場－又一城中交錯扶手電梯的萬花筒式影像，以傳達對流動性與監控系統的強烈焦慮。
《打樂十八層之身體福音》作為對香港第一個短暫的藝術村－油街藝術村的創意見證，紀錄了於前政府物料處的一場有力的當代舞，以在消失中的空間的身體經驗，表達了對政府的逼遷決定的不滿與忿怒。
event details /
Image of the City @ Night of Ideas 2019
Time: 6：30PM- 10：30PM, 31 January 2019
Venue: Hong Kong Design Institute
Artists: Howard Chi-lai, CHOI Sai-ho, Doreen ETZLER, Jo LAW and PUN Tak Shu
Curators: John Chow, Joseph Chen
Media Art Partner: Videotage
Co-organizers: The Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, Hong Kong Design Institute
城市的意象 @ 思想之夜 2019
時間：2019年1月31日 6：30PM – 10：30PM
地點: 香港知專設計學院
藝術家: 鄭智禮、蔡世豪、Doreen ETZLER、羅頌雅、潘德恕
策展人: 周皓風、陳敬元
媒體藝術伙伴: 錄映太奇
合辦: 法國駐港澳總領事館、香港知專設計學院
