Newsletter No. 401

No. 401, 19.8.2012 3 如果《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》的讀者來看展覽，最吸引他們的 大概會是《洞起來》。這件藝術作品由四個像小山丘的物 體組成，它們是故事中的兔子洞。創作者之一 林嘉玲 說： 「從一個角度看，會覺得是一樣大小的，但慢慢走近，卻 會發現是另一回事。」原來是作品運用透視錯覺，令大小 不同的兔子洞在某些角度看起來體積相同。最大的一個 可容一人鑽進去，體驗一下愛麗絲在兔子洞內的光景。 慣常到大埔海濱公園的遊 人，大概對公園的景致都 很熟悉。但透過《反影》， 可看到不一樣的風景。這 個觀景箱設有四十九個 長柱體，各裝有放大鏡膠 片，產生四十九個不同的 景象，帶給遊人獨特的視 覺體驗。 大埔素來是騎單車的熱門 地點。如想享受騎乘樂趣卻怕摔車，可以試試《騎椅》。 設計團隊一員 何子偉 說：「我們嘗試把單車解構後放到 長椅中。」參觀者不妨坐上長椅，踩動踏板，來一趟靜止 的旅程。 五件作品的構思意念，除了劃分天地的地平線外，還包括 真實與想像的界線、內與外的分際、遠與近的畛域。雖然 是處理相同的大主題，但五件作品反映出五組學生的獨 特性格和心態。 展覽開幕以後，各組須負責作品的保養維修，並擔任導賞 員向公眾講解作品。鍾教授自豪地說：「我們的藝術品在 最近的十號風球下絲毫無損，比起公園內其他設施更能 抵受颱風的蹂躪，顯示它們品質真的很不錯。」 展覽直至9月30日結束。 Art in the Park N ext time when you say ‘The sky’s the limit’, make sure that you’re not at Tai Po Waterfront Park, because you may find that the sky there will deflate your pep talk. Sky Lines , one of the five installation artworks made by students of the CUHK School of Architecture, creates a touchable sky with a dense shower of suspended white and blue threads. This year, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department invited the School of Architecture to design and install site-specific works in Tai Po Waterfront Park for the annual ArtAlive@Park project. Named ‘Sensing Horizons: Five Excursions into Intimate Immensity’, the CUHK project aims to explore the dialogue between the horizon and human senses with five installation works in the park. Architecture as Public Art Many in Hong Kong may think that architecture is about construction, in diametrical opposition to art as pure creativity. One may ask: ‘Why should architecture students be involved in designing public art?’ Prof. Chung Wang- leung Thomas at the School of Architecture is one of the curators of the project. He explains, ‘Architecture as both an academic discipline and profession is actually concerned with the “art of designing well” of the built environment, that is, to realize building designs that both look good and work well. So in training our students, the emphasis is on the creative fusion of technics and aesthetics. In other words, you could say architects should aspire to design buildings that are works of public art serving the community.’ As the CUHK project is part of the 20th Anniversary of the School of Architecture, the school tried to engage as wide a range of students as possible. The five teams comprised second- and third-year undergraduates, year-out students, as well as postgraduates of master’s programmes, and alumni. Professor Chung, together with Prof. Hui Mei-kei Maggie and Prof. Poon Ho- lun Allen , were curators of the project, guiding the students through the design process and organizing the exhibition in the park. He says, ‘We treated the entire project like it was taking place inside a design studio, in a serious but fun way, with a collaborative format and two-way dialogue between teachers and students rather than one-way instruction. Our collaborating artist Ivy Ma also gave us lots of early inspiration.’ And the entire preparation period took over five months. It was a big test of everyone’s interest, effort and commitment. Beyond the Horizon Inspired by kite flying, a popular activity at the park, creators of Floating Petals also wanted to harness the wind. Their artwork makes the wind ‘visible’ through the wind-driven movements of its artificial ‘petals’ planted in water. With pendulums under them, these red translucent acrylic panels on steel stems move in the direction of the wind. Lovers of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will surely find Looking for Alice adorable. The artwork features four cone-like objects on a lawn. These brown cones are of different sizes. Lam Ka-ling Chloe , one of its creators, says, ‘From a certain angle, the four cones are seemingly of the same size because of perspectival illusion. But as visitors get closer, they’ll discover the actual size of each cone.’ The biggest cone can accommodate a visitor and make him or her feel like Alice going down the rabbit hole. Visitors of the park can get a kaleidoscopic view of the location by looking at Lenscape , a room-sized viewing device equipped with 49 cuboids. Each cuboid is installed with a magnifying plastic sheet. All together, they give visitors a unique visual experience. Tai Po is a popular spot for cycling. If you want to enjoy biking without worrying about falling over, try Ridethebench , an artwork combining parts of park benches, barrier railings, bicycles. Ho Tsz-wai Jimmy , one of the creators of Ridethebench , says, ‘We dismantled bikes and put them together again to make a bench.’ They encourage visitors to physically interact with the artwork by pedaling this ‘stationary bike’. Conception of all five works started with pushing the idea of the horizon beyond the boundary between earth and sky, to include boundaries both real and imaginary, interior and exterior, far away and close up. Although dealing with the same theme, each work strongly reflects the distinctive character of the individual student group. After the opening of the exhibition, the teams have had to deal with the maintenance of the artworks, and give weekly guided tours to the public to explain their installations. ‘As a testimony to the quality of our artworks, all of them withstood the recent typhoon signal no. 10 in the open air without any damage, surviving the typhoon battering much better than other structures in the park!’ says Professor Chung proudly. The exhibition runs until 30 September. 藝綻公園 2012 網頁： art alive @ park 2012 website: www.artaliveatpark2012.hk