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Metal plate, Giclée print
This series of works presented a record of feelings of the artist toward the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) movement in Hong Kong in 2019.
More than 2 millions hongkongers protested numerous forms (peaceful demonstration, labour and buyers strikes, boycott, Lennon walls, global newspapers advertisements, road blocking, destroying government and public facilities, graffiti and so on), since Hong Kong government’s introduction of ELAB in February. Protestors urged the Hong Kong government for retreating the ELAB and other 4 demands (which includes setting up an independent inquiry committee to investigate the excessive force and violence employed by the Hong Kong police force during the movement).
During the course of the movement, the artist had witnessed absurdity in the ways that Police exercise its power and it escalating brutality towards civilians.
One university student leader was being arrested over the purchase of laser pointers as “possession of offensive weapons”, and brutally arrested and detained;
A senior police officer (Vasco Gareth Llewelyn Williams) referred to an arrested man in yellow shirt who was clearly showed in a video footage being kicked non-stopped by a group of uniformed police, a “yellow object”;
Police fired tear gas inside an indoor subway station packed with commuters and passengers, it was reported that many tear gas police fired during the whole movement are expired;
Police arrested a student journalist for possessing an plastic knife for cutting moon cake meanwhile turn a blind eye toward a group of gangsters who attacked people indifferently in the street and inside train station.
The feeling of insanity and unfairness in Hong Kong is so profound that urged the artist to address / transform his feelings towards this movement, re-evaluate the identity as Hongkongers.
Many hongkongers expressed huge bravery, creativity and persistence to uphold the freedom of speech, expression, importance of fairness, justices that is promised by the Basic Law. Moments of these movements are photographed by the artist and presented in the works. These core values shape “Hongkonger” and any attempt of breaching these rights created a large impact to the artist and all related emotions are transformed into as a series of Cantonese words.
Ancient formal Cantonese words are chiselled in each piece of work. These words expressed the emotions of the artist toward the movement: Angry 䒐䒏, Tired 攰, Sorrowful 心悒, Furious 㷫, Empty and so on. Cantonese language has an interesting phenomenon that many Cantonese speakers including Hongkonger speak their mother tongue everyday, but a fully recognition of the formal writing of these words are uncommon. And the status of Cantonese, so as Hong Kong, has been undermined by the mainland Chinese government all these years (for example the replacement of Cantonese with Mandarin in conducting classes in school).
The unfamiliarity of languages set a distance between the spectators and the works as it is exactly a general situation that people from the outside world (and sadly sometimes even inside) would find it difficult to understand the context of social movements that happens in other countries, yet language barriers would not stop for those who care about human rights and to uphold the freedom of speech and freedom from fear. The pursue of these values are what connecting people speaking different languages.
Metal plate, Giclée print
This series of works presented a record of feelings of the artist toward the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) movement in Hong Kong in 2019.
More than 2 millions hongkongers protested numerous forms (peaceful demonstration, labour and buyers strikes, boycott, Lennon walls, global newspapers advertisements, road blocking, destroying government and public facilities, graffiti and so on), since Hong Kong government’s introduction of ELAB in February. Protestors urged the Hong Kong government for retreating the ELAB and other 4 demands (which includes setting up an independent inquiry committee to investigate the excessive force and violence employed by the Hong Kong police force during the movement).
During the course of the movement, the artist had witnessed absurdity in the ways that Police exercise its power and it escalating brutality towards civilians.
One university student leader was being arrested over the purchase of laser pointers as “possession of offensive weapons”, and brutally arrested and detained;
A senior police officer (Vasco Gareth Llewelyn Williams) referred to an arrested man in yellow shirt who was clearly showed in a video footage being kicked non-stopped by a group of uniformed police, a “yellow object”;
Police fired tear gas inside an indoor subway station packed with commuters and passengers, it was reported that many tear gas police fired during the whole movement are expired;
Police arrested a student journalist for possessing an plastic knife for cutting moon cake meanwhile turn a blind eye toward a group of gangsters who attacked people indifferently in the street and inside train station.
The feeling of insanity and unfairness in Hong Kong is so profound that urged the artist to address / transform his feelings towards this movement, re-evaluate the identity as Hongkongers.
Many hongkongers expressed huge bravery, creativity and persistence to uphold the freedom of speech, expression, importance of fairness, justices that is promised by the Basic Law. Moments of these movements are photographed by the artist and presented in the works. These core values shape “Hongkonger” and any attempt of breaching these rights created a large impact to the artist and all related emotions are transformed into as a series of Cantonese words.
Ancient formal Cantonese words are chiselled in each piece of work. These words expressed the emotions of the artist toward the movement: Angry 䒐䒏, Tired 攰, Sorrowful 心悒, Furious 㷫, Empty and so on. Cantonese language has an interesting phenomenon that many Cantonese speakers including Hongkonger speak their mother tongue everyday, but a fully recognition of the formal writing of these words are uncommon. And the status of Cantonese, so as Hong Kong, has been undermined by the mainland Chinese government all these years (for example the replacement of Cantonese with Mandarin in conducting classes in school).
The unfamiliarity of languages set a distance between the spectators and the works as it is exactly a general situation that people from the outside world (and sadly sometimes even inside) would find it difficult to understand the context of social movements that happens in other countries, yet language barriers would not stop for those who care about human rights and to uphold the freedom of speech and freedom from fear. The pursue of these values are what connecting people speaking different languages.