Adaptation
30/5/2019 - 24/8/2019
Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong
適當反應
30/5/2019 - 24/8/2019
馬凌畫廊, 香港
30/5/2019 - 24/8/2019
Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong
適當反應
30/5/2019 - 24/8/2019
馬凌畫廊, 香港
Our surroundings, as they shift and bend to the sways of contemporary society; us, our beings, responding to them, ever faster, ever sharper. ‘Adaptation’, the second solo show by Hong Kong artist Ko Sin Tung (b. 1987, Hong Kong) at Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong is an investigation into this process of corporal, emotional and mental attunement. It questions that self-adjusting process of fitting oneself into environments in order to survive, be at one. It goes a step further, however, and proposes: with the frequency of these constant shifts, are they indeed ephemeral in nature, or rather the foundations of a permanent future?
A graduate from the Department of Fine Arts at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ko Sin Tung observes the city’s inhabitants, their close-quarters, and identifies with curiosity their values as dictated through the items they treasure and keep, slowly observing how these objects mirror ways of life, or in the very least, illustrate what is expected for living. ‘Adaptation’, in particular, address how we are required to respond and become accustomed to supposed temporal permanences.
This status of self-adjustment is propositioned and questioned through a series of works, each of which approaches our surrounding’s oscillatory condition. At the entrance there is ‘A Blu-tack photo’ (2019) a little photograph of blu-tack in the midst of colour mixing, in transience between old and new. The shape is fluid, malleable – in flux. Captured via an image though, the fluidity is made still, the temporary converted to posterity. Small in size, the photograph forces you to look, to note, a viewing muscle that can be flexed throughout the rest of the exhibition as you pick up on details, a viewing approach that can also be turned and applied to oneself.
Eyes aflush, tone set, one then approaches ‘Adaptation’ (2019), a series of decorative moulds as one would find on the outside of buildings. Painted white, they meld into each other, despite their ornate detailing. Resembling figures, they each have their own individuality. Yet, this is equally met by a sense of mimeticism and camouflage as each masks itself into the other and their surroundings. Domestic objects, there is a sense of everyday familiarity. One cannot help, however, when observing them to capture a sense of the unfinished through their monochromatism, as if they were frozen in a moment before becoming something more.
This static feeling is heightened by ‘Surface’ (2019) the drywall walls, which appear mid-construction, mid-paint. This condition, intrinsic to the fabric of the environment the visitor finds themselves in, dictates and accentuates the sense of adaptation – walls being the very skeleton of the gallery space, what gives it shape and direction. It equally references our outside environment, the myriad of construction zones we’re exposed to, as society builds, morphs and expands. Moving through the gallery converted into site there are a series of photographs of parallelograms surrounded by darker shapes. Entitled ‘From dark to light’ (2019) these are in fact pits from construction sites – the dark gaping holes left by building progress and attempts. They have been inverted, however, resembling luminous abstractions rather than an abyss. Finally, a set of two sculptures, ‘Arrow’ (2019), lie on the floor – an agglomeration of semi-transparent road stickers making the arrow initially printed on them, unclear.
Ultimately, Ko Sin Tung in her consideration of self-adjustment creates an environment for outer and introspection. Following from her previous practice of experimenting with space, we can take that little extra moment to consider our own responses to things, places, objects in movement and change. We as individuals are never the same from one moment to another but ‘Adaptation’ is a zone for observing those nuances and through its comparative calm a chance to question: is our outer environment changing too fast, can our minds and beings move as well as follow forward?
我們所處的生活環境，總是在不斷地變化又受著當代社會的制約，而我們亦看風使舵，變得更快、更機警。香港馬凌畫廊呈獻高倩彤（1987年生於香港）第二次個展“適當反應”，究詰身體、情感和精神協調的經過；即將自身與環境條件同化，以求共存的過程。展覽進一步提出這樣的疑問：這種種持續不斷的轉換，就其本質而言是真的轉瞬即逝嗎？或是說，這些轉變正是永恆未來的基礎？
畢業於香港中文大學藝術系，高倩彤近距離觀察城市居民，好奇卻又認同他們因所珍藏物品而形塑的價值觀，緩慢觀察這些物件是如何反映人們的生活，又或者最起碼反映了他們所期望的生活方式。“適當反應”關乎我們對當下社會的對應策略以及我們如何針對變化的現實設定自我身份。
展覽聚焦於作品如何審視和質疑這種「自我適應」。展覽空間入口處的《白寶貼照片》（2019）呈現了寶貼萬用膠的「調色」過程：當新與舊混合，展現著流動的、具延展性的外型。以小幅照片的形式展出，間接令其流動性封存起來，藉此探討頃刻與永恆的相互性，同時引導觀者克制、耐心、嚴謹地觀看展覽，直接指涉甚至仿擬觀看與自省之間的關聯。
目注心凝，眼前的《適應》（2019）為一系列取材於建築外部施工用的模具。它們被塗上白色，互相融合又各具個性，沉穩地偽裝，與周圍環境融為一體。藝術家通過這些平凡之物提示它們與我們的日常關聯，但在藝術家對其重建的想像裏，它們展現了一個被凝住的未完成狀態，否定了種種潛在的可能。
仿石膏牆板《表面》（2019）對這種靜止的狀態加以審視。藝術家在畫廊空間構建了「施工中」的狀況，因而構築出的「真實 ／模擬」之對應提醒了觀者：白立方作為展覽空間的本質，也是建基於這種「介乎」的狀態，延伸出對社會工程、切換和擴建的暗喻。展覽空間作為仿工地，由一系列題為《從暗到光》（2019）的攝影作品串聯著。照片中的平行四邊形被整片陰暗包圍，實為施工進行時產生的洞；黑白顛倒，將未知的深淵轉化為抽象的光暈。展覽空間地上一對題為《箭咀》（2019）的雕塑作品同樣充滿意蘊：指示牌上的箭頭被疊加的半透明道路貼紙所模糊，突顯了行為模式與圖像之間產生的衝突。
在“適當反應”的背景之下，高倩彤帶領觀者通過對外在環境的觀察進行內省。誠如其以空間為重心的創作，展覽讓我們就個人面對物件、地方和流變的反應思忖片刻。人本無常，“適當反應”提供了這樣的一個契機去提問：當外部環境的變幻過於迅速，我們的身心又還能否不斷調整，伴隨著這個世界而「前進」？
A graduate from the Department of Fine Arts at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ko Sin Tung observes the city’s inhabitants, their close-quarters, and identifies with curiosity their values as dictated through the items they treasure and keep, slowly observing how these objects mirror ways of life, or in the very least, illustrate what is expected for living. ‘Adaptation’, in particular, address how we are required to respond and become accustomed to supposed temporal permanences.
This status of self-adjustment is propositioned and questioned through a series of works, each of which approaches our surrounding’s oscillatory condition. At the entrance there is ‘A Blu-tack photo’ (2019) a little photograph of blu-tack in the midst of colour mixing, in transience between old and new. The shape is fluid, malleable – in flux. Captured via an image though, the fluidity is made still, the temporary converted to posterity. Small in size, the photograph forces you to look, to note, a viewing muscle that can be flexed throughout the rest of the exhibition as you pick up on details, a viewing approach that can also be turned and applied to oneself.
Eyes aflush, tone set, one then approaches ‘Adaptation’ (2019), a series of decorative moulds as one would find on the outside of buildings. Painted white, they meld into each other, despite their ornate detailing. Resembling figures, they each have their own individuality. Yet, this is equally met by a sense of mimeticism and camouflage as each masks itself into the other and their surroundings. Domestic objects, there is a sense of everyday familiarity. One cannot help, however, when observing them to capture a sense of the unfinished through their monochromatism, as if they were frozen in a moment before becoming something more.
This static feeling is heightened by ‘Surface’ (2019) the drywall walls, which appear mid-construction, mid-paint. This condition, intrinsic to the fabric of the environment the visitor finds themselves in, dictates and accentuates the sense of adaptation – walls being the very skeleton of the gallery space, what gives it shape and direction. It equally references our outside environment, the myriad of construction zones we’re exposed to, as society builds, morphs and expands. Moving through the gallery converted into site there are a series of photographs of parallelograms surrounded by darker shapes. Entitled ‘From dark to light’ (2019) these are in fact pits from construction sites – the dark gaping holes left by building progress and attempts. They have been inverted, however, resembling luminous abstractions rather than an abyss. Finally, a set of two sculptures, ‘Arrow’ (2019), lie on the floor – an agglomeration of semi-transparent road stickers making the arrow initially printed on them, unclear.
Ultimately, Ko Sin Tung in her consideration of self-adjustment creates an environment for outer and introspection. Following from her previous practice of experimenting with space, we can take that little extra moment to consider our own responses to things, places, objects in movement and change. We as individuals are never the same from one moment to another but ‘Adaptation’ is a zone for observing those nuances and through its comparative calm a chance to question: is our outer environment changing too fast, can our minds and beings move as well as follow forward?
我們所處的生活環境，總是在不斷地變化又受著當代社會的制約，而我們亦看風使舵，變得更快、更機警。香港馬凌畫廊呈獻高倩彤（1987年生於香港）第二次個展“適當反應”，究詰身體、情感和精神協調的經過；即將自身與環境條件同化，以求共存的過程。展覽進一步提出這樣的疑問：這種種持續不斷的轉換，就其本質而言是真的轉瞬即逝嗎？或是說，這些轉變正是永恆未來的基礎？
畢業於香港中文大學藝術系，高倩彤近距離觀察城市居民，好奇卻又認同他們因所珍藏物品而形塑的價值觀，緩慢觀察這些物件是如何反映人們的生活，又或者最起碼反映了他們所期望的生活方式。“適當反應”關乎我們對當下社會的對應策略以及我們如何針對變化的現實設定自我身份。
展覽聚焦於作品如何審視和質疑這種「自我適應」。展覽空間入口處的《白寶貼照片》（2019）呈現了寶貼萬用膠的「調色」過程：當新與舊混合，展現著流動的、具延展性的外型。以小幅照片的形式展出，間接令其流動性封存起來，藉此探討頃刻與永恆的相互性，同時引導觀者克制、耐心、嚴謹地觀看展覽，直接指涉甚至仿擬觀看與自省之間的關聯。
目注心凝，眼前的《適應》（2019）為一系列取材於建築外部施工用的模具。它們被塗上白色，互相融合又各具個性，沉穩地偽裝，與周圍環境融為一體。藝術家通過這些平凡之物提示它們與我們的日常關聯，但在藝術家對其重建的想像裏，它們展現了一個被凝住的未完成狀態，否定了種種潛在的可能。
仿石膏牆板《表面》（2019）對這種靜止的狀態加以審視。藝術家在畫廊空間構建了「施工中」的狀況，因而構築出的「真實 ／模擬」之對應提醒了觀者：白立方作為展覽空間的本質，也是建基於這種「介乎」的狀態，延伸出對社會工程、切換和擴建的暗喻。展覽空間作為仿工地，由一系列題為《從暗到光》（2019）的攝影作品串聯著。照片中的平行四邊形被整片陰暗包圍，實為施工進行時產生的洞；黑白顛倒，將未知的深淵轉化為抽象的光暈。展覽空間地上一對題為《箭咀》（2019）的雕塑作品同樣充滿意蘊：指示牌上的箭頭被疊加的半透明道路貼紙所模糊，突顯了行為模式與圖像之間產生的衝突。
在“適當反應”的背景之下，高倩彤帶領觀者通過對外在環境的觀察進行內省。誠如其以空間為重心的創作，展覽讓我們就個人面對物件、地方和流變的反應思忖片刻。人本無常，“適當反應”提供了這樣的一個契機去提問：當外部環境的變幻過於迅速，我們的身心又還能否不斷調整，伴隨著這個世界而「前進」？