elusive, more problematic, and – in a way- more deeply meaningful than anything so easily boiled down to an image. All the three landscape installations: “Pipe me not”, “Six Degrees” and “Raise” have illustrated a series of dynamics and playful adventures with visitor’s interaction and with ironic meaning of the weight of balloon and soil; to remind and to encourage people to “Communicate” outside their circles and to give a chance for people to “Speak Up”. These landscape installations exemplify how direct observations of landscape, art and urban phenomena can blossom into artistic endeavors, human interaction investigations, and open-ended inquiries; offering a refreshing dimensions of experience to the perceivers. “me.you.we”
A breathe-taking waterfront of Victoria Harbor, the latest addition of the Hong Kong Government’s Headquarter, along with all the buildings standing behind and historical richness of this urban edge of the City; how can one not be impressed with such a magnificent parkscape and the immense presence of the seascape? Such an unique site context set the conceptual ground to the formation of the project ‘me.you.we’ that landscape architecture students from the Hong Kong Design Institute have designed three unique projects which highlighted intangible components of life in the vibrant city of Hong Kong for the 2014 edition of ArtALive@Park Project. Based on the observation from everyday life, the students examine on the dimension between ‘private and public’, ‘individualism and collectivism’. These projects investigated into the basic component of our community, “me.you.we”, and further developed to support and to expand positive communication, dedicated to raising social awareness and to reinvent a public open space as a place to gather and exchange ideas through its design that magnify, calibrate or transform visual, auditory and physical communication experience.
“me.you.we” features a combination of landscape art installation, human design intervention and public programs (including performance art and balloon guided tour) which extended its efforts beyond the boundaries of an outdoor furniture or simple art installation, but to heightened precision and clarity to voice out and to reinforce the meaning of place making. What these projects aim to do is far more difficult. The lived experience of Hong Kong rarely conforms to the images that we associate with it; it is infinitely more
Pipe me not
“Pipe me not” was inspired by the mechanisms that govern the various forms of communication that occur between humans. Verbal communication, through ubiquitous in our daily lives, is in fact far more complicated than most of us realize. We rely on language to transmit our ideas – but more often than not, they are changed, deformed, and translated before they reach our intended targets.
It is our hope that Pipe Me Not will provide an opportunity to consider the complexities of the speech act, a window transformed into the true human nature of our “Mis”- communication and disordered network of communication that we hope to allow people to find their own ways to communicate at the end.
Six Degrees
“Six Degrees” directs our attention to the often-subconscious co-operative behavior of Hong Kong’s citizenry. As in any successful metropolis, individuals are only able to effectively function when in concert with the quiet choreography of family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and passersby. Six Degrees is an interactive landscape installation cum park bench that portrays the dynamics of individuals’ interaction within society at large- an allegory for the formation of communities through the cooperation of their constituents.
Viewed from within, sparsely scattered triangles are connected by sinuous tethers to a hexagonal frame. Viewed from outside, a beautifully intricate network of strings emerges, ebbing and flowering in response to its users, an organic dance of bodies in synchrony. The concept of the installation derives from a psychological theory with the same name. According to the theory, we can be connected to any person within 6-steps. “Six Degrees” is formed by hexagonal shapes with sparsely scattered triangles and nets. The angle variations find between each corner of a hexagon represent the different means of how people connect like a point. The installation thus represents the formation of a community. When you are appreciating this piece of artwork, we hope the user could meet someone new here with the art piece stands.
Raise
A solitary gigantic “Red” balloon rises into the air, reaching to the sky; carrying the ground below with it. Beneath, a series of contradicting grey colored balloons bursting from below represents pessimism and negativity of human emotion, living in a stressful metropolis city. The irony of air lighter than the earth, we subvert this common perception to turn it the other way around. The long used of balloon has been used as a symbol of innocence, hope, optimism and the limitless nature of dreams, the balloon acts a double for the individual who holds its string – a way of taking to the skies and moving beyond our limitation. A sea of smaller red balloons, are given to public on the weekend to exemplify the user’s happiness and sharing the positive message to encourage their imagination. Through this interactive landscape art installation, we aim to create a relaxing and carefree atmosphere, which allows people to enjoy & relax. We would like to cheer-up our Hong Kong people by our artwork, finding their own ways to enjoy the place, the park and to further encourage them to hold on to their dreams and positive attitude and let go of negative emotions under such immensely stressful working and living condition in Hong Kong.
STUDENT PROJECT | ArtAlive@Park 2014 – YOU.ME.WE | Hong Kong China | Hong Kong Design Institute
Design Team: Hong Kong Design Institute High Diploma in Landscape Architecture students lead by project team members and artist/consultant.
Curator/Project Team Leader:
Sara Wong, Yasmin Chir, Alex Chang
Collaborating Artist:
Adrian Wong
Fabrication Consultant:
Ricci Wong@ LAAB
Acknowledgement:
Sheila Levrant de Bretteville
Photographer:
Sing and Cow
Other Photo Credits:
Hulu Culture
Students
Yasmin
Alex
Student Team Members
Team 1: Raise
Law Yat Man (Michael)
Or Chun Hin (Justin)
Wong Chung Kwan
Wong Ka Po
Yim Wan Ting
Team 2: Six Degrees
Chan Wing Kin
Cheng Hiu lam
Cheng Hiu Nan
Chiu Cheuk Lun
Lee Ka Ying
Ho Hiu Chi
Ho Wing Shan
Lam Mei Ho
To Hiu Ching
Yip Tsz Lun
Team 3: Pipe Me Not
Chau Chung King
Ho Fan Ho
Lam Ching Hang
Wong Sze Ki
