March 2013 – rachelceramics

urban drift

Everyday I travel somewhere in the city, whether it’s in my usual Hong Kong, elsewhere in China or across the globe. My own journeys reflect the way most people on the planet live today and as an artist I’m constantly stopped in my tracks by something that fascinates me. I have always had this tendency but it’s magnified by the fact that since going to art school I have been given licence to do this and now art is my life and work it’s actually imperative to do so. I constantly record my experiences with snapshots of what I see along the way. I’m thinking about Barthes’ punctum or Sontag’s suggestion that, “essentially the camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.” To paraphrase Simon Yam [famous Hong Kong actor, Night and Fog by Ann Hui is a good introduction to those who don’t know him

looks like a female construction worker, very common here, juxtaposition of plants and concrete, a summary of the city — juxtaposition of plants and concrete, a summary of the city

sham shui po, outside the studio, better than a caged home as no rent and a view of the sky…obviously this is actually no choice in a city that sees itself as “free”… freedom comes with a pricetag attached

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/19/bastardised-libertarianism-makes-freedom-oppression?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.timeout.com.hk/film/features/48829/simonyam.html] if you take photos you’ll always have ideas…so here are a few. This is an ongoing project…

studio

After the recent sale at the JCCAC we had a tidy up which always helps to facilitate clear thoughts. The images of the sale work recedes into the concerns of the present and the joint project we are working on travelling around the subject of text. Coinciding, for me, with the prospect of more writing and editing for Artmap this is a pertinent and enormous topic and is stimulating both our brains considerably. My work concentrates on the poetry of PK Leung and Mimi Khalvati, Hong Kong and British poets respectively. I am adopting the approach taken by comparative literature that brings voices together across the globe in dialogue.

There is also an evolving conversation between the two artists in studio five two four.

sleeping

He doesn't actually live here but this traffic island is one of a type of recycling plant that crop up everywhere. His dad/uncles collect rubbish, store it here and earn money from the valuable parts such as wire and metal. Sham Shui Po is recognised as a destination for migrant workers historically and in the present. This boy's family speak Cantonese so they may have grown up here. — He doesn’t actually live here but this traffic island is one of a type of recycling plant that crop up everywhere. His dad/uncles collect rubbish, store it here and earn money from the valuable parts such as wire and metal. Sham Shui Po is recognised as a destination for migrant workers historically and in the present. This boy’s family speak Cantonese so they may have grown up here.

Here's a cat asleep in a pet shop window. Cats are a big feature of the city, strays and pets. They can't help the kitsch baggage that accompanies them in their expressive cuteness. — Here’s a cat asleep in a pet shop window. Cats are a big feature of the city, strays and pets. They can’t help the kitsch baggage that accompanies them in their expressive cuteness.

Everyone who lives in Hong Kong knows that it is an exhausting city, more so than Beijing? Probably not. In keeping with this theme, a few snaps of sleeping beings passed by on the streets during the daily grind/grime of urban life.