Events
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HOPE & GLORY A Conceptual Circus When Where Forum |
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HOPE & GLORY Introduction Simon Birch's multi-media installation HOPE & GLORY is an immersive environment that invites the audience to enter into an adventure through a metaphorical world - a conceptual circus - created by the artist. Challenging established paradigms in art presentation and construction, the exhibition comprises a series of 20 interlinked multi-media installations that transform the Just as the archetypal circus brought together spectacular ‘sideshows' from all over the world to create a multi-sensory allegory of foreign adventure, Birch has brought together artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, actors, gaming wizards, and architects, from Hong Kong and abroad. Each has contributed their own particular vision to HOPE & GLORY's conceptual world of spectacle and wonder. Among Birch's collaborators are artist Stanley Wong, photographer Wing Shya, British rock band UNKLE, filmmaker Eric Hu, designer Douglas Young, architect Paul Kember, actor Daniel Wu, and Beijing-based artist Cang Xin. Birch compares the scope of the project to ‘producing a feature-length film in its scale and the collaborative breadth of talent and skills necessary for its realization.' One of Birch's key intentions in conceiving this monumental installation is the creation of an all-enveloping artistic space that echoes the function of the circus in traditional culture: offering within the frenetic urban environment a temporary place of other-worldly respite and the experience of a communal sense of wonder. HOPE & GLORY explores a number of major themes that recur in the Birch's work: the idea of art as a spectacle; the fascination with circuses and fairgrounds, science fiction and mythologies; as well as a preoccupation with the traditions of craftsmanship and labour in art production HOPE & GLORY is deeply informed by the structure of the ‘hero myth' that appears in different guises throughout history and across cultures, ranging from the Odyssey of ancient Greece to modern science fiction films like Star Wars and Blade Runner. The narrative that unfolds is a retelling - through film, sculpture, music, video, painting, gaming and live performance - of archetypal themes, such as the duality of human existence, the relationship between suffering and redemption, the journey from darkness into light, and the leap from adversity into transcendence. By entering into its all-immersive environment the audience becomes part of this unfolding experience. For Birch, the vision of creating HOPE & GLORY links directly to his recent experience of surviving a rare form of cancer: ‘My recent experience with surviving a condition I was not expected to survive has driven me further to explore ideas of the duality of the human condition; the beauty and horror we all face. This experience --at once terrifying and liberating—made me reflect on the choices I'd made in my life, and on the impact of the social and institutional rhythms that have pushed and pulled me. HOPE & GLORY is my way of responding to that.' The ‘HOPE & GLORY' title is an appropriation of the title of a British patriotic song from the close of the Victorian era, ‘Land of Hope and Glory', an anthem that hopes for a mightier and more powerful empire. The use of the title is both ironic and meaningful, referring to the HOPE & GLORY that is relative to individual human experience, as well as to the negatives which burden imperial dreams. The challenges of realizing a visual arts exhibition of this scale and complexity have been enormous, particularly given that non-commercial platforms and funding for the visual arts continue to be limited in Hong Kong. But for Birch, confronting these challenges has generated the creation of new mechanisms for creative collaboration, for building bridges between private and public institutions, and for bringing artists, entrepreneurs, academics and government together. One of the key messages of the project is that art is more than just an object to be perceived: it is an environment for personal and collective imagining.
前言 香港 ﹣香港藝術家Simon Birch創作的“HOPE & GLORY” 挑戰一貫的藝術模式和製作，帶領觀眾進入一個引人入勝，充滿比喻概念的馬戲團. 一系列互相關連的20多媒體設施把寛敞的空間締造為神話般的迷宮，在這樣的空間中，使文化和歴史互相結合，引發觀眾對自已與過去，現在與未來關係的追問。 正如真正的馬戲團集結全球各地的精英，創造一個充滿多重觀感刺激，令人目不睱給的另類冒險，在 HOPE & GLORY 裡，Birch把來至香港和世界各地的藝術家，設計師，音樂家，導演，攝影師，演員，遊戲王和建築師集合在一起，攜手創作一個空前企劃。每一個人詮譯一個他們對這奇妙又充滿好奇的“HOPE & GLORY”概念世界的獨有見解。被邀合作的設計者包括：香港藝術家黃炳培，攝影師夏永康，英國搖滾樂隊UNKLE，導演胡興宇，設計師楊志超，建築師Paul Kember，演員吳彥袓和北京藝術家蒼鑫等。 是次展覽裡，Birch透過自己及其他藝術家的作品反映出多個主題，這些主題包括：對於藝術演化成舞台的概念；對於馬戲團和遊樂場，科幻小說和神話的著迷；還有對於手工藝創作傳統的專注。 HOPE&GLORY的設施透視著那種在歴史和不同文化裡常常出現的”英雄傳奇“式的表現手法。從古希臘史詩”奧德賽“到現代科幻電影，如《星球大戰》，《銀翼殺手》中都可看到英雄的原型設定。HOPE & GLORY 裡透過不同媒體的敘述手法 ﹣電影，雕塑，音樂，影像，油畫，遊戲和現場表演，複述有關原型的主題：例如人類生存於世的相對性與予盾，痛苦與與贖回的關係，從黑暗到光明的旅程，還有跳越逆境到平安。當進入展覽場地，觀眾會成為這個經歴的一份子。 HOPE &GLORY 源自英國維多利亞時期的一首愛國歌《希望和榮耀之地》(”Land of Hope and Glory“)，一首希望擁有更強大帝國的聖詩。這個展題，既借取其意又帶諷刺意味，一方面指每個自己心中不同的希望和榮耀，同時也是為圓帝國夢而不能避免的包袱。One of the central images in HOPE & GLORY is a series of gigantic, coloured steel letters in stylized fonts, lit up like the letters in a circus sign, that spell out the word ‘Tigranes'—the name of an ancient Armenian king. The letters seem to gradually emerge from the ground, and just as gradually to decline into rust: a metaphor for the ultimately ephemeral nature of ambition. And yet their appearance in our midst, however incongruous, also hints at a sense of enduring connectedness. Birch構思這龐大的設施，其中一個主旨是創造一個彷照馬戲團一樣的全封閉的藝術空間，重塑其傳統文化上的角色；在這急促狂亂的都市環境中提供一個短暫的異國世界，讓這裡的人可以有喘息的機會，暫且拋開煩惱，感受一次具社區性的奇妙旅程。 對于在香港將如此規模的視覺藝術變為現實而言，其中的挑戰和複雜程度是空前的。但是在面對挑戰的過程中，一種搭建私人與公眾機構交流橋梁的新模式也逐漸形成。這種模式將藝術家，企業家，學者和政府聚在一起，其所提供的支持對視覺藝術項目而言是非凡卓越，也是前所未有的。這個展覽的一個重點, 藝術不單止是一件感觀的物件, 是一個個人或集體的想象空間. |
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