Five Elements

Registration for visit & enquiry:

By email: sherraine@hkfringeclub.com / by phone: 2521-7251

Visit time: Mon - Fri 2PM - 6PM

In ancient China, Taoist scholars and mystics developed a profound understanding of life based on minute observation of nature. They understood that everything in the Universe comes out of the ‘unnamable’ , the TAO, which manifests as the dual principles of Yin and Yang, i.e. heaven and earth, day and night, masculine and feminine energies.

Along with the law of Yin and Yang, the ancient Taoists observed a pattern of expression in nature that they interpreted as and named, the Five Elements or Five Phases.

These elements, or energies, were described as Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water and were understood to be the prime energetic building blocks from which all material substance in the phenomenal world is composed.
The Elements are representations of the transformation that occurs in the world around us; they are metaphors for describing how things interact and relate with each other.

Everything is made up of some combination of these elements: people, companies, games, plants, music, art, architecture and so on. All can be examined and understood from the perspective of the Five Elements.

The Five Elements are as follow in their order:

Wood Element - Yang / Masculine in character

Fire Element - Yang / Masculine in character

Earth Element - Both Yin / Yang Masculine and feminine

Metal Element - Yin / Feminine in character

Water Element - Yin / Feminine in character

 

Five Elements - Metal by Carsten Schael

Carsten is an award winning German photographer who switched his hometown of Hamburg for Hong Kong in 1991. Since then he has been continously inspired by the city’s setting, its pace and stark contrasts which means that “life here is never boring!”

This has led him to produce several projects with aspects of Hong Kong at their center. The images in this series are part of the ongoing DIGISCOPIC project (a term coined by him, merging digital and kaleidoscopic) where Carsten reacts to the ever increasing visual density of his elected home Hong Kong. Which he describes as follows:

"Whenever I roam the streets of Hong Kong with my camera to capture its unique mix of cultures and lifestyles, I am often stunned by the massive amount of omnipresent visual information. Continuously more and more is getting packed into our living space as everybody is maximizing the limited room available. In my images I push the density of the visual space to an extreme by reflecting the image digitally upon itself, exploring where this development might lead."

More of Carsten’s work can be viewed at http://carstenschael.com

 

Five Elements - Wood/Wind by John Fung

Published “Ten Years On", which funded by The Hong Kong Arts Development Council 2008

“One Square Foot ” Published “One Square Foot” Winter 2008

“One Square Foot” Solo Exhibition － Hong Kong Arts Centre 2009

The Third Guangdong International Photograph Biennale Exhibition，Guangdong Museum of Art 2009

Imaging Hong Kong Contemporary Photography Exhibition，Hong Kong Central Library 2009

“One Square Foot” was selected for Sotheby's Sale of Contemporary Asian Art in Hong Kong 2009

“One Square Foot” ＋“Landscape”，Hong Kong International Art and Antiques Fair

＊landscape (2009) landscape + one square foot (2010) Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre 2009 - 2010

John Fung Contemporary Photography Exhibition， TIVAC (Taiwan International Visual Arts Center) 2010

Shifting Topography Exhibition，Hanart Square 2010

Social Documentary Photography Exhibition，Hong Kong Heritage Museum 2010 - 2011

The “One Foot Square” exhibition and charity sale collaborated with ACC (Asian Cultural Council) and ADAHK (Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong) are to support the development of visually-impaired musicians 201

「One Square Foot」＋「Once Upon a Time, a City 」 Eslite Bookstore 23rd Anniversary Photography Exhibition，Eslite Bookstore 2012

The 4th Edition of the International Festival of Contemporary Photography “Different Dimension” ，Novosibirsk State Art Museum 2012

Activate the photography project, “Landscape”, which discusses the relationship between photographic techniques and the artistic conception of Chinese ink and wash paintings 2008－Present

 

Five Elements - Water by Elaine Liu

“The softest things of the world

Override the hardest things of the world”

“Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water

Yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong

This is because nothing can replace it”

Laozi - Remain Weak

Elaine Liu is a photographer and a jazz-singer, a rare artist who is talented across a range of creative interests. To her, music and the visual arts are related, but different expressions of the same creative impulse – a love of nature, a fascination with light and shade, and a faith that beauty can be found and revealed at any time and in any place. That artistic urge provides the impetus for the her involvement in both fields.

Elaine was educated in England and the United States. After completing her Master of Fine Arts degree at Boston University, she returned to Hong Kong to pursue a career in photography and graphic design. Her experiences in Boston and elsewhere in North America during her studies were formative, nurturing her interest and talent in a variety of creative areas including painting, photography and music.

As photographer, Elaine specializes in black and white portraits and landscapes. As singer, she has found her own voice and brings the sensibilities of both east and west to bear in an entirely original way.

 

 

Five Elements – Fire by Roy Lee

Roy Lee, lived and studied visual art in France in early Ninties. After return to hk, worked for newspapers and news agency as press photographer. Participated actively in various group and solo photo exhibitions. His photo has been collected by Hong Kong Heritage Museum and the OCT Art & Design Gallery in Shenzhen. A freelance photographer now.

 

 

Five Elements - Earth by Terry Duckham

In Taoist philosophy Earth is the third element in the Wu Xing cycle and is the changing point of all matter. She is both yin and yang, but remains principally feminine in nature; fertile, productive and mother to all, providing nurture, growth and regeneration.

Terry Duckham, first worked as a journalist and magazine editor before pursing a career as a photographer and freelance writer in Australia in the mid 1970s. In late 1979 and early 1980 Terry travelled extensively in China on assignment for Cathay Pacific Airways, he then chose to remain in Hong Kong working as a professional photographer and photojournalist throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Today, Terry and his wife Aira own and operate Asiapix Studios, a photography, design and contract publishing studio based in Hong Kong. Terry travels extensively on assignment and lives between Hong Kong and their family house in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, in the Philippines.

 

Registration for visit & enquiry:

By email: ice@hkfringeclub.com / by phone: 2521-7251

 

Visit time: Mon - Fri 2PM - 6PM