“Reimagines Heritage” is an experimental project which involves an online platform as the main axis to document how the featuring artists have been able to preserve Hong Kong's cultural heritage through their research, methodology and art creations. The exhibition is divided into two episodes (in two period of time), and the space is set as an “artist studio”. Unlike traditional exhibitions that display completed works, this open studio exhibition is like an open house to showcase creation in progress instead. In this space, the audience can walk into the scene and explore how the featuring artist to work with the topic of Archive in their own creative ways through Old & New Media. The theme shared by both artists is the incident of the Jumbo Restaurant, each has their own way of dealing with it, and the audience may have similar memories, here letting the real and the virtual induce the imagination to try to leave something behind, to change something before it all fades away.
《一切堅固的都煙消雲散》是一個實驗計劃，以線上平台為主軸，記載特邀藝術家如何通過研究與手法去典藏珍貴的香港文化遺產。是次開放展分上下兩集，展場空間規劃以「藝術家工作室展現」出發，並未似傳統展出完成作品的展覽。在這個空間裡面，觀眾走進場景之中，慢慢發掘嘗試，從藝術家留下的一切去探索如何以舊與新的媒體及科技去記載存取。兩位藝術家共同分享的主題是珍寶海鮮舫事件，各自有各自的法寶處理，而觀眾也許都擁有著類同回憶，在這裡讓虛實之物誘發想像，但願在一切煙消雲散以前嘗試留下什麼、改變什麼。
Amidst the ceaseless tide of urban redevelopment, many narratives and spaces intricately woven into Hong Kong's cultural fabric remain unnoticed or are quickly fading into oblivion. Heng's exhibition, "The Lost Metropolis: Reimagines Heritage," boldly challenges this trajectory.
Utilizing the untapped potential of everyday electronics, Heng repurposes these familiar devices into potent instruments for cultural preservation, ingeniously blurring the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary. These repurposed tools become his canvas, a digital domain that captures and immortalizes the soul of Hong Kong's disappearing spaces.
Drawing inspiration from cutting-edge practices in robotics and computer vision, Heng has devised novel methods of volumetric capture that impart an immersive depth to the narratives of these endangered spaces. The act of exploring these digitized environments allows viewers to forge personal connections with the spaces, fostering a greater appreciation for the inherent historical and cultural value within them.
However, Heng's mission as an artist extends beyond the preservation of heritage. His aspiration is to empower individuals to embark on their own journeys of exploration. By democratizing the tools utilized in his project, he seeks to inspire others to create their personal digital archives. In essence, "The Lost Metropolis: Reimagines Heritage" isn't merely an exhibition – it's a movement, fostering an evolving ecosystem of shared heritage preservation that adapts in tandem with the city's changing landscape.
在無休止的城市重建浪潮中，許多與香港文化結構相連而又錯縱複雜的敍事與空間未能引起人們的注意，又或者很快被人們遺忘，是次的空間開放展通過重新想像文化遺產的可能性，大膽挑戰這道「情迷香港」的軌跡。
他通過運用日常電子產品尚未開發的潛力，將這些耳熟能詳的設備改造成為保存文化遺產的工具，巧妙地模糊了日常與非凡之間的界線。這些被重新利用的工具成為他的「畫布」，留住一些香港正在消失的空間靈魂以至將之化作數位永恒。
他從機械技術及計算機視覺的領域中獲得靈感，設計出新穎的體積擷取方法 (Volumetric Capture)，為這些正在消失的空間中的故事注入沉浸式體驗的可能。通過探索這些數位化的環境，觀眾可以與這些空間建立個人聯繫，從而對其內在歷史與文化價值有更深的理解。
作為一位藝術家，他的使命不僅是保育文化遺產，他的願景更是想要助勵群眾踏上他們自己的探索之旅；通過將他項目中所使用的工具公諸同好，他鼓勵其他人創建自己的個人數位典藏。是次開放展，從本質上來說並不單純是一個展間，而是一場促進發展共享保育文化遺產的運動，讓這些文化遺產在不斷更迭變化的城市景觀中適應與存活。
Shiu Ka Heng, a passionate computer graphics developer and emerging digital artist, is pioneering the interplay of art, robotics, and computer vision. An artificial intelligence major at the University of Edinburgh, Heng hails from Hong Kong and brings to his art a profound appreciation for his city's diverse cultural and physical landscapes. His expertise lies at the intersection of the arts, technology, and cultural preservation, a convergence that results in innovative and immersive experiences for audiences.
Heng's work showcases his understanding of the power of experimental technology in reshaping our perception of urban spaces. His innovative use of volumetric capture techniques and incorporation of cutting-edge robotics to create immersive heritage scans and interviews breathe new life into endangered spaces in Hong Kong's cityscape. His ongoing mission is to foster wider community engagement in preserving shared heritage through the innovative use of consumer-grade technology.
Heng's commitment to open-source ideals fuels his creation of user-friendly tools. These resources enable even those with limited technical expertise to become active contributors to cultural preservation, reflecting Heng's vision of making technology an enabler of community-led preservation initiatives.
蕭家恒是一位充滿熱情的計算機圖像研發者及數位藝術家，擅長把藝術、機械技術以及計算機視覺交互結合成就創作。來自香港的他現正在英國愛丁堡大學主修人工智能科技，並對香港的多元文化與自然景觀有著深刻的理解，期望通過他專項的交互合作，把藝術、科技以至文化保護結合成創新及沉浸式體驗予以觀眾。
他的作品展現了他對實驗科技在重塑人們對城市空間的感知上的理解，創新地運用體積擷取技術 (Volumetric Capture Techniques) 以及尖端機械人技術於創作沉浸式文化遺產體驗上，並且能為傳統訪談內容提供嶄新體驗以至為香港城市景觀中正消失的空間注入新的動力。他一直以來的使命是通過創新技術促進更廣泛的社區參與，並保護共有的文化遺產。
蕭家恒一直相信開源碼的願景，這也成為他創造更多友好的創作工具的動力；這些資源促使更多技術有限的同好者都可以成為積極的文化保育貢獻人士，並能推動他想讓科技成為社群主導保育活動的先驅動力的志向。
In June 2022, the Jumbo Restaurant began the last part of its fantastic journey. This floating legacy carries the memories and culture of several generations of the people here, drifted along with the deep currents to the seabed of the South China Sea, and it sailed away from the harbor of its hometown, opening up to the limitlessness of the sea. Is this journey really the "last chapter"? In "Limbo", the artist imagines a future civilisation discovering the remains of this past civilisation, and using archaeological excavation to study this unidentified structure and to speculate on its date of construction and the living and cultural environment at that time. When the curiosity of the future meets the memories of the past through this underwater palace, how will our present culture be interpreted?
公元二零二二年六月，珍寶海鮮舫開始了最後一段奇幻的旅程，這個承載著幾代人記憶及文化的海上殿堂隨著深層海流一起漂流到南海的海床，它駛離了故鄉的港灣，向大海的無限性敞開胸懷。這段旅程，是否真的是「最後一段」呢？在《Limbo 懸停》中，藝術家想像未來的文明發現了這座過去文明的遺跡，並以考古方式發掘研究這座不明建築，推測其建成的年代及當時的生活，文化環境。當未來的好奇與過去的記憶通過這艘海底皇宮相遇時，我們今日的文化將會以何方式詮釋？
Vvzela Kook is a new media artist who mainly works in audiovisual mediums, including performance, theatre, computer graphics, and drawing. Kook’s video works combine technology with her artistic practice to reproduce and convert urban cityscapes into an integrated virtual experience, guiding the audience on a cybernetic journey. The condensed textures in her works connect with sensual levels in our perception and reintroduce the unexplored potential of video as a medium. The narrative plays a vital role in her work, the transmedia storytelling is part of the artistic concept. Especially the mixing of delicate drawings, 3D printing, and video game optics in her videos shows the wide range of media and materials the artist uses to translate her research-based projects visually.
Kook has participated in and shown her works in Tai Kwun (2023), Kathmandu Triennial(2022), Para Site (2020), C-Lab Taipei (2019), MoCA Taipei (2019), Asia Society Hong Kong Centre (2019), Tai Kwun (2019), Microwave International Media Festival in Hong Kong (2018, 2016), PuSh Performing Art Festival in Vancouver(2017), Centre for Heritage Arts and Textile (2017), Hong Kong Arts Festival (2015), and “89+” program (2012) co-curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Simon Castets.
新媒體藝術家曲淵澈, 主要以聲音視覺作為創作媒介, 包括聲音視覺現場演出, 劇場,電腦動 畫與繪畫。她的視覺作品結合了技術與她的藝術實踐, 以再現和轉換城市景觀為一個集成的 虛擬體驗, 引導觀眾在符控流域旅行。作品當中的多重的紋理與我們感知的多個感官相連, 重 新介紹視頻作為一種媒介的潛力。她的作品注重敘事性,跨媒介的敘事手法是藝術家表達觀 念的重要方式。尤其是混合出現的圖紙,3D打印物件與計算機遊戲美學的視頻作品,顯示了 藝術家運用的多種媒介與材料來視覺化她的研究型作品。
她的作品曾經展出於香港大館(2023), 加德滿都三年展(2022), 香港Para Site(2020), 空總當 代文化試驗場(2019), 台北當代藝術館 (2019), 亞洲協會香港中心(2019), 香港微波國際新媒 體藝術節(2018,2016), 溫哥華PuSh表演藝術節(2017), 六廠紡織文化藝術館 (2017), 香港藝 術節(2015), 中國聲音藝術大展(2013), 德國 Friszchelle藝術節, 杜塞爾多夫藝術節(2012)與 Hans Ulrich Obrist 與 Simon Castets 共同策劃的“89+”計劃(2012)。
Artist website 藝術家網站
vvzela.co