"HORIZON"- Kinetic Artwork Exhibition by Joseph Chan

* The exhibition is extended to 17 Apr (Sat).

 

From bird-watching to mechanical-bird-watching

 

People often ask “What is kinetic artwork?”, and that’s also a concern of the artist.

 

For many years, Chan has created kinetic things (machines), from crawling robots to special-effect machines and kinetic artworks.  “Machines” are sometimes toys, sometimes tools, and sometimes artworks (or the medium of artworks).  This paradigm of “machine is being something” often leads many of us to focus unconsciously on “being what”.  When we look at a machine, rather than focusing on the machine itself, we tend to search for its “purpose”, “usage” or “subject matter”, without seeing its very existence.

 

To Chan, therefore, there is a dilemma.  People think they can build their understanding of an object or a machine based on those illusive essences, but what they’re actually doing, at best, is merely learning the context (being-what) of an object instead of the object itself (what-is).  They look, but at the same time they overlook, so they never truly see.

 

So what is kinetic artwork?  In this exhibition, Chan encourages visitors “to see” by setting up a “bird-watching deck”, not only as an exhibiting platform but also as a natural way to enable them to step back and view his works with a bird-watching attitude.  “Birds are flapping their wings, and they exist here and now,” says Chan.

 

Perhaps the key is not “what” but “how”, and “to-see” from the bird-watching deck is in fact the horizon of another world.

24 Mar 2021, 4-8pm

 

Webinar

10 Apr 2021, 4pm

Zoom meeting ID: 835 720 9437, Password: 123

 

 

 

The artworks are for sale.

Enquiries: Ms C Ting Chan (ctingchan@hkfringeclub.com)

 

Opening Hours

Monday - Saturday  11:00 - 19:00

Stay open during Easter Holiday, except 5 Apr.