Artists In The Neighbourhood Scheme Iv: The Late Version of Shan Hai Jing ─ Works By Pauline Lam
Visual Arts
Description
Description
“Artists in the Neighbourhood Scheme” brings visual arts to different community districts, giving general public the chance to enjoy the distinguished works of local artists. The series of exhibitions started in 2001, and is now nearing the end of its fourth run. The artist featured to close this round’s event is Lam Yuk-lin. Lam has long focused on installation art, with her works appearing in four major series: “Test of Rebirth”, “The New Renascent Bronze Age”, “Cultivating Civilization”, and in recent years, “The Late Version of Shan Hai Jing”. Her other artworks include “Drifting Sky”, “The Canopy is Crammed with Lemons”, “Allegory ─ 19 Crows”, “Chocolate Chandelier” and “One Minute Prison”.
Lam has distinct ideas about the subtle changes in our surrounding environment, and about the choice of materials for her creations. The conflict between the natural environment and human development has provided her with endless inspiration. The materials she uses cover a lot of things common in our daily lives, ranging from rice grains, Chinese herbal medicines, chocolate, stones to bronze nets. For the works in “The Late Version of Shan Hai Jing”, she has chosen plastic bags as her main creative medium. The plastic bags were collected from supermarkets, restaurants and chain stores, branded and unbranded, thick and thin, monotone and patterned, handbags and T-shirt bags, debating among themselves under one roof. The bags serve to reflect our urban culture of consumption, while some out-of-print designs carry historical significance. Fortuitously, during the creation of this series of works the Government announced the policy of a plastic bag levy, aiming to curb the excessive use of plastic bags, which leads to environmental risk, making plastic bags a hot discussion topic around town. Certain discontinued plastic bags have suddenly become rarities, endowing her works with a new significance. Moreover, the artist also makes use of the weird creatures featured in Shan Hai Jing (Literally: The Classics of Mountains and Seas) to hint at the impact of genetic engineering and biotechnology. What appear to be everyday materials in fact carry reams of information for the audience to discover ─ a consistent style of Lam’s works. How much can you find?
Thanks to the support of Sino Group, parts of the installation works of “The Late Version of Shan Hai Jing” series displayed at Citywalk from late February. In the exhibition at Sha Tin Town Hall in March, the artist displays the paintings and installations of the same series. Workshop conducted by the artist allows participants to jointly complete one of the artworks on site, enhancing artist-audience interaction and fulfilling the vision of art integrating into community.
Artist：Pauline Lam Yuk Lin
Note：This event record is compiled from "Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 2010" published by Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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