Exploration

It’s pretty rare that I take time off from the studio, as I find having this much time to focus on my work again is a great opportunity. That being said, I’ve realized that I haven’t done too much exploration of the urban and rural areas outside of my daily commute. Like when in studio, it’s amazing what you can find when you dedicate time to something – and especially if it gives right back to your work.

As you’ll hopefully see in the following pictures, Hong Kong is so visually diverse. You see it all here – the modern city core, the old villages, the farms, the middle class residential life, all somehow within a conjoining transit system.  It feels like a collage of different time periods, with entirely different people throughout.

Outside of the more populated areas and into the villages:

 Some funny signage on route to a village

 And just a lack of visible signage

 

The bus stop, marked by the flag

 

Dogs are usually strays here, though I would assume this one is not

There are stray dogs everywhere

Like I said, everywhere

Into the more modern areas:

The 10 floor mall

In the urban areas it's not uncommon to find outdoor gyms! 

 'descend into horse ride position'

Yes, that is a giant outdoor tic tac toe game in the middle of the 'gym'!

Sundays here are great. They are the one day the local care workers typically from the Philippines  have off. You'll see the workers gathering in parks, streets, or anywhere they can find. They'll be gathered for outdoor Church, or dancing on the streets.

Koi in a man made pool - they always seem to be hungry and come towards any humans in the hope that you have food for them

Night time exploration

 

Ok! Back to the studio! But first, breakfast!

 

(Chinese people are generally pretty small)

 

 Followed by snack!

 

Getting back to the kite

 If you didn't already know, I can't cut anything straight, especially not flimsy fabric

 Finito. After some testing, I determined the fabric was far to loosely wrapped around the frame to fly

So onto a new, lighter weight frame (took about five minutes to construct this one, you get faster at things once you've done some preliminary work)

Time to switch focus back to the plexiglass work for a moment - but first, dunch (lunch + dinner)! This meat mountain cost me 20 HKD (under 3 Canadian dollars)

 

Back to work - reusing the ruined original to trace out the new one. Smart right?

 The newly stenciled work next to the original, less the vinyl

 Next up, spray paint, but I had to watch students dressed as Pandas performing on the main floor first!

After the studio I started my commute home and instead of taking the train I walked. I'm glad I did, because on the way I was given free cotton candy, served on a chop stick! Thanks Zero Zero, whatever you are!

Learning to fly (and to fall, again, and again, and again)

As I hoped, I finally have some photo's of the first finished piece during my stay here in Hong Kong for this post. Unfortunately, not everything else has gone smoothly, in fact, nothing really has! When I started to get settled into the studio upon my arrival here, one thing I made note of right away were the strong gusts of wind. I was told that the Shek Kip Mei part of town was generally pretty windy, which worked out perfectly for the work I was looking to develop, as the planned media approach involved the use of kites. The even more exciting part was that I had access to the roof top (which also has an artist grown farm on it)!

When the kite was finally finished being prepped, I went out to fly it with assistance from a friend. This didn't go well. There was simply not enough wind that day to get the job done, and with repeated falls, the kite was ultimately destroyed. On to other things, for the moment.

I managed to find some wood to install the work on, and photograph it on. Final documentation will hopefully involve white walls. I'd install on the walls here, but they're concrete and I'd rather not wreck walls as a visitor. Wood will have to do for now.

Prior to mounting

Prepping the wall

 Installed

 

One out of two isn't bad, right? Well, the next day I guess it got REALLY windy - and remember how the studio is missing a roof and also has some open walls? Well, let's just say I wish I saved the kite for this day to try and fly. The entire studio had all my stuff all over the floor or objects had found new homes out in the hallways due to the wind.

 

There goes a solid few days of around the clock work, but I'm glad I brought plastic glue with me (I almost didn't pack it)!

After the patch job - not too bad actually (till you get close)

After two mishaps I felt like I had lost much valuable time, so I got right back at it, and worked through the night. This studio really takes on a new persona at night. The lights go down in the building, and only a few people remain behind, with the occasional security officers. You build different relationships with these people. Some play their trumpets out in the open at night, others ride their bicycles through the hallways. It's great to see how other artists take a break from their work.

 

I decided to go with a white background this time on the new piece, as opposed to my usual black. I've always preferred black for its instant contrast with most colors you put next to it, and for its incredible mirror like finish when used on plexiglass. But after spending near 24 hour days in the studio, you start to really question your decisions as to whether they really are purely aesthetic or if they have hidden value to you. I figured using the opposite of black would be a good way to find out what really holds me to the black, if anything at all.

That same night, I decided to get dinner at midnight. The good thing about Hong Kong is that there is always somewhere to get food, no matter the time of the day. I ended up eating here alone :( (but it was really good)!

The next day I completed the coats of white, added some vinyl in, began to peel back the tape and layers of protective coverings, and then... disaster! The white somehow mixed with the marker that I had used underneath, totally spoiling the fresh appearance I had in mind! It's hard to see in the pictures unless you look closely.

That's officially oh for three now. Many people probably think white/red piece is fine, but those who know me know that it is not. But that's alright, because tomorrow is a new day and I can't do anything except grow. Seeing the pieces next to each other now really says a lot to me in terms of aesthetics and feel. I'll have to ponder what's next for the wall pieces over the next few days. In the mean time, I've begun to construct my own kite due to the failing of the last attempt - gotta love zip ties and acrylic!

 

As as modern as Hong Kong is, it can be very difficult to find supply for whatever it is in life you may need - but once you find it, it's amazing. I went searching for  fabrics for the kite and found this, thanks to a recommendation from a studio mate. Certain streets are covered in nothing but fabric samples and rolls. I'm new to the fabric thing, but fabric artists would probably be in a state of glee if they saw this.