Source: Media Outreach
The Art of Innovative Construction
Explore sustainable green living with Hong Kong artists
HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 21 September 2020 – Construction Industry Council — Zero Carbon Park (CIC-ZCP) proudly presents: “Art in Construction”, an exhibition that gathers local artists to explore and showcase the connection and creativity between construction and art through various forms including sculptures, installations, paintings, photography, and workshops. Starting from today, “Art in Construction” is held at the CIC-ZCP in Kowloon Bay and supported by a free online virtual exhibition and a guided tour video. By incorporating 360-degree camera technology, the exhibition allows everyone to experience the creativity of construction, engage with art, and sample what it’s like to live a greener lifestyle.
The Art of Innovative Construction
The evolution of construction throughout history demonstrates mankind’s creativity and commitment to sustainability. From building houses and cities with wood and stone to today’s use of innovative technology and sustainable methods to establish communities living in harmony with nature. CIC-ZCP is pleased to present “Art in Construction”, an exhibition and a series of activities that showcases the synergy between construction and green living. Like art, the imagination and creativity of construction are both impressive and breath-taking.
Mr. CHONG Kin-lit, Paul, Chairman of CIC-ZCP, remarked in the exhibition’s promotional video: “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges confronting mankind. CIC-ZCP is a pioneering and inspiring project serving as a knowledge-sharing platform for industry practitioners in low carbon building design and technologies. By organising various types of promotional activities, it is our mission to increase public awareness of low carbon living. Recently, CIC-ZCP has been completely renovated with several innovative green initiatives. Allied with the art pieces, we hope to bring an exciting facelift.”
‘Construction’ is more than an industry. The word itself evokes a sense of mankind’s inventive spirit in order to keep up with modern times. Located at CIC-ZCP, ‘Art in Construction’ highlights the creativity of construction and the part technology plays in turning high-quality green homes into a reality. This gives the public a better insight into the philosophies that go into sustainable design, and better appreciation for the creativity and vision behind them”. Mr CHONG continued.
Construction and art never stops, even during the pandemic. “Art in Construction” is also available for free as a virtual tour at www.zcpart.org. By browsing the virtual exhibition, visitors can get a 360-degree view of the exhibits. In addition, a guided tour video will launch on 25 September, during which the curator and artists will take the public into the world of art and construction to understand the stories behind CIC-ZCP and the exhibits.
The four themes of “Art in Construction”:
Art and Construction: A Crossover Experience
While high-rises and parks are designed meticulously by architects, building desirable homes requires concerted effort from the community. With painting, toys and building blocks, Artist LAM Tung-pang constructs his ideal city–complete with hills, people and high-rises–in the installation, Things Happened on the Island. He invites visitors to rearrange components to build the city together with him, a process evocative of the collaboration and rapport behind green communities and innovative technology in urban development.
Fusing Oriental and Natural Charm
Sustainable development and green living seem to be relatively modern concepts. In fact, since ancient times, the Chinese have long believed in the importance of the symbiosis between man and nature. Referencing natural elements like water and wind, veteran Hong Kong Sculptor LEE Chin-fai, Danny has created Urban Waterscape, a group of outdoor sculptures that double as benches for public use. Artist LAU Hok-shing, Hanison has combined Penjing, or miniature landscapes in Sitting Table — Hong Kong, with Chinese Ta, a type of platform seating, to create a space for outdoor recreation where people can meet and relax. With artistic craftsmanship, Lee and Lau demonstrate mankind’s philosophy of co-existing with all things in nature, whilst also preserving tradition and illustrating the possibilities of green living.
Concerns about Environmental Issues
This year, temperatures in the Arctic Circle reached a new peak of 20 degrees Celsius, while carbon emissions in various regions are still on the rise. As people pursue their ideal homes, global warming and the greenhouse effect remain acute issues that need to be addressed. Many artists around the world are emphasising the importance of environmental protection with their art. Photographer LAU Chi-chung has been portraying the countryside for many years. In Landscaped Artifacts, he has created a beautiful composition of woods and village houses that convey the tension between human expansion and the forces of nature. Painter YUEN Chun-tai, Ivy has spent half a year walking through multiple hiking trails alongside reservoirs in Hong Kong. A series of drawings named Forestry illustrates the rise and fall of Hong Kong’s horsetail pine population and how it parallels the city’s urbanisation, as well as increase in plantation projects and the threat of pests.
Sculptor MOK Yat-san often depicts polar bears, one of the victims of global warming, in various forms. The name of the art piece Beware of the P Bear is a humorous but thought-provoking reminder to bear in mind the severity of climate change. Another one of MOK’s exhibits, Lovingkindness, resembles traditional Penjing (the ancient Chinese art of depicting trees and landscape in miniature) by condensing architecture and juxtaposing the mini-scenery with a polar bear. Visitors can then get a bird’s eye view of the landscape from above, shedding their physical limitations, and exploring the organic relationships between landscape, trees and rocks in miniature form. The intention of using Penjing is also so that visitors can visualise themselves taking a leisurely stroll through the scenery.
Practise Green Living
Humans are like builders of life. Similarly, artists are mindful of sustainability in their everyday lives and practices too. In Modern Landscape, Artist WONG Chun-yam, Leo upcycles rocks and cement fragments collected from construction sites to form sculptures, recreating the stories once told by the structures themselves. Meanwhile, Artist Duo MUDWORK invites visitors to practise green living through their artistic creation, Tree Call which makes use of wood fragments to create small DIY bird whistles. Farmside Art Research Lab (Part-farmer, part-artist Monti LAI and cross-disciplinary artist Meiki LEE) is inviting the public to participate in the Roving with Bamboo Ink — Nature Is Art workshop. The workshop is designed to take place in the familiarity of home and to initiate one’s connection with nature through breathing exercises, creative poetry, and drawings created by ink pressed from vegetable leaves.
Photos Download: https://bit.ly/3mwzAFM
“Art in Construction” Programmes
Date 18 September (Friday) to 17 October 2020 (Saturday)
Location Construction Industry Council — Zero Carbon Park
8 Sheung Yuet Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong
Time 09:00 — 20:00 (Indoor) ; 07:00 — 20:00 (Outdoor)
Online Exhibition www.zcpart.org
Guided Tour Video Launch on 25 September 2020 (Friday)
Workshop Video Roving with Bamboo Ink — Nature Is Art
Launch on 26 September 2020 (Saturday)
Appendix:
“Art in Construction” Exhibits and Workshop Highlight
Things Happened on the Island
Acrylics, charcoal, pencil, scale model and wooden toys on plywood
LAM combines painting with a three-dimensional model and invites visitors to join the creative process in a humorous and interesting way. Visitors can use the toy blocks to create their own ideal cities as an extension to the scene.
LEE Chin-fai, Danny:
Urban Waterscape
Stainless steel, iron
Derived from the concept of three-dimensional papercutting, the installation tries to capture the movement of flowing water by simulating the silhouette of waves and ripples, forming an interesting and welcoming urban waterscape.
LAU Hok-shing, Hanison:
Sitting Table — Hong Kong
Wood, daily objects
An art piece that doubles as a bench that people can sit or lay on. By using regularly available materials and discarded items found on the street, elements of a garden are combined to create mountains and rivers in order to demonstrate enjoyment in life is not merely based on materialism.
LAU Chi-chung:
Landscaped Artifacts
Photography
Seasonal changes make the process of creation a volatile one. By capturing the ruins found in nature, LAU’s work bears witness to lived lives and passed time. Mankind made his mark on the land he walked, but Mother Nature is now taking her turn to give it a makeover. Though unable to turn back the clock, she has transformed the land into an environmental sculpture.
YUEN Chun-tai, Ivy:
Forestry
Installation
After reading through century-old reports from the Hong Kong Botanical and Afforestation Department, YUEN walked along reservoirs small and large, trying to find the remaining horsetail pines (Pinus Massoniana) in Hong Kong — hundreds of thousands of which had been planted (now gone) in order to present the tree-planting history of previous generations.
MOK Yat-sun:
Be Aware of the P Bear
Painted fibreglass
It seems surreal that a polar bear is lying on an open space in the heart of an urban metropolis. Although we are many miles from the Arctic, as a member of the “Global Village”, how can we turn a blind eye to the threat of global warming? The surreal artwork reminds us of the need to strike a balance between urban development and nature conservation.
MOK Yat-sun:
Lovingkindness
Stainless steel & gold sheets
MOK’s work resembles the design of Chinese Penjing with a view to portraying an elegant world within a microscopic setting. Visitors can get a bird’s eye view of the landscape and explore the organic relationships between landscape, trees and rocks amongst the miniatures. A close look further helps unlock the imagination, taking the mind on a leisurely stroll of the garden.
WONG Chun-yam, Leo:
Modern Landscape
Mixed media
WONG upcycles rocks and cement fragments collected from construction sites into architectural sculptures, recreating the stories once told by the structures themselves.
MUDWORK:
Tree Call
Installation
The trees may remember the birds singing and the birds may remember the trees. However, the birds can no longer be heard. Through processing local wood and turning it into bird whistles, the tune of nature can be heard again.
Farm Side Art Research Lab: Roving with Bamboo Ink — Nature Is ArtWorkshopThe Bamboo Ink — Nature Is Art workshop is designed to take place in the familiarity of home and to initiate one’s connection with nature through breathing exercises, creative poetry, and drawings created by ink pressed from vegetable leaves.
– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.
