Peer to Peer: UK/HK Online Festival, running 11 – 14 November on https://peertopeerexchange.org, an online platform for cultural exchange between the UK and Hong Kong’s Visual Arts sectors as they interrogate topical themes of our time including art & activism, art in the digital realm and the climate emergency.

The festival has announced its programme of public events and panel talks, alongside an online exhibition of digital artwork including existing artworks and 5 brand new commissions from artists based in the UK and Hong Kong.

As part of Peer to Peer: UK/HK’s digital residencies, Videotage has nominated Hong Kong digital media artist Hui Wai-Keung who will be taking over Derby QUAD’s Instagram channel (@derbyquad) from 8-14 November. For his online residency with QUAD, Hui Wai-Keung will explore the possibilities of selected images being manipulated and fabricated as if seen through the perception and conception of a machine – or more precisely, Artificial Intelligence.

Artist Statement

As Derby QUAD keeps posting snapshots of film on their social media platform, some of the images are going to be downloaded, modified, and posted back in the “takeover” messages. The modified images normally have their “subjects” erased and only the “background” left. The emerging technology of machine learning had enabled a common image processing function to identify and extract the subjects. If it was a kind of artificial intelligence, this was obviously a metaphysical intelligence imposed by human beings. It is a thinking pattern to distinguish subjects from others. This project just lets the machine keep erasing the subjects it has discerned, until it is “satisfied”, and sees only a void in its perception.

Artist Biography

Hui Wai-Keung was born and lives in Hong Kong. He received his MFA from School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, and studied in Hong Kong Art School. Hui has exhibited locally and abroad, including ifva Awards, 404 Electronic Art Festival, and XXI Triennale. He is also active in artist-in-residency programs that are held in Europe and Asia, including ARCUS Project in Japan. He had his solo exhibition in Goethe-Gallery in 2017.

Having attempted various art forms, Hui Wai-Keung is now focusing on digital media, such as game, generative or algorithmic art. Hui is now researching the topics of expanded space and perception, such as the visual study of the fourth dimension. He believes it is time for art to go back to sublime, but a new definition of sublime.
Hui Wai Keung @ http://www.huiwaikeung.org

Peer to Peer: UK/ HK網上藝術節旨在鼓勵英國和香港視覺藝術領域之間有意義的文化交流，並建立持久的伙伴關係。一系列活動將於11月11日至14日期間在https://peertopeerexchange.org舉行，現正開放報名參與。藝術節將舉行網上展覽，展出駐英國及香港藝術家的數碼藝術，當中包括由兩地合作伙伴提名的藝術家，所創作的五件新委託作品。此外，合作伙伴將於社交媒體舉行一系列網上藝術家駐場活動，以及精心策劃的小組討論系列。

作為Peer to Peer: UK/ HK一系列網上藝術家駐場活動之一，錄映太奇提名了香港媒體藝術家許維強，於11月8至14日在Derby QUAD的Instagram (@derbyquad）進行駐場創作。許維強將透過一系列影像圖片，探索當利用科技—或更準確地說是人工智能—的感知與概念能力去進行控制和改造時，圖像形成的可能性。

藝術家自述

當Derby QUAD持續把不同影像作品的圖片在社交媒體平台上發佈，部份圖片將會被別人下載、修改以及接管作新的信息發佈。被修改過的圖片，通常被刪去了「主體」事物，只剩下「背景」。 隨著嶄新科技的出現，機器學習提供了一個普遍的圖像處理功能，能夠辨識和抽取圖片中的主體。如果這是一種人工智能，它明顯是人類強加的形而上智慧。這是一種區分事物的思考模式。這個計劃就讓機器刪除其辨别到的主體事物，直至得到滿足，看到的只有感知中的一片空白。(原文請參照英文版）

藝術家簡介

許維強出生及定居於香港，曾就讀香港藝術學院及於香港城市大學創意媒體學院修畢碩士課程。其作品曾於本地及世界多個地方展出，包括香港ifva、404電子藝術節、以及米蘭三年展等。許氏同時活躍於歐洲與亞洲的藝術家駐場計劃，包括日本ARCUS駐村計劃。他剛於歌德畫廊舉行個人展覽。嘗試過不同範疇的創作媒介後，許氏現時專注於數碼媒體，包括軟件、遊戲和衍生藝術。他全心發掘新藝術，嘗試創造有別於日常的思維和體驗，但也依然珍惜傳統的美學概念。許氏相信，藝術是時候回到崇高的境界，一個被重新定義的崇高境界。
許維強 @ http://www.huiwaikeung.org

Hui Wai-Keung: AI, Algorithms and Erasing the Image
Nominated by Videotage
Online Social Media Residency @ QUAD
8 – 14 November 2020

許維強: AI, Algorithms and Erasing the Image
提名：錄映太奇
藝術家數碼駐場活動：QUAD
2020年11月8日至14日