The extension of water
It is time to return to this blog writing. I’m thrilled to be able to have chats with two generous figures who are willing to share their thoughts unstintingly, creative producer of HKNME Sharon Chan and artist Lo Lai Lai. Our starting point for the conversations was extracted from a video work of Lo Lai Lai, Deep Flight, depicting the quality of life that transcends the boundaries of reality. Her work resonates my thoughts on music. I am always thinking about the space, where the music is embraced, before imagining the first sound in it. So what is that ‘space’? The words flashing up are never enough to explain. The relationship between space and music is complex. I like people who say that music is not about the score. We have to admit that this could be a melancholic fact, in that we would never be able to catch — not even a part of — the music in our hands. But its time-based format places itself exceptionally on an auspicious position. The transparent rings of waves drift away from each other, dissolving gradually towards the edge of the space. This disappearing behaviour seems to grab the attention of people around the world, we even indulge in it without knowing. Both space and sound appear to be indivisible. The existence of this coupling is everywhere. We live inside their hybrid body. My generation tends to spend most of our time listening to music in the bedroom. You can imagine even the colour of the bedroom influencing the experience of listening to music. I would be curious to know more about the composer who writes music for the violet bedroom. Space, and the creator of music, seem inseparable.
The subject of my conversation with Sharon evolved away from music. We talked about the impact of the natural environment on artists. Sharon questioned how the natural environment influenced the thoughts of artists, and suggested that many artists created works that re-envisaged human relations with nature. ‘But’, she said, ‘is this a valid way to remediate the damaged environments?’ The video work of Lo Lai Lai reminds us the extension of water could conceivably reach unknown places or new contacts of people. She is not trying to shock us. The images, captured from the natural environment with extended installation, remind us of the environment we actually lead. The absurdity of reality sometimes has a higher score than the imaginary world. Our environment is something which is in a state of constant change. These changes influence how we experience art. Although it is not easy to remediate the damaged environments, we should still recognise the rippling effect of one’s work.
Lee
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Based in The Hague, Hong Kong composer LAM Lai, Lee is one of the co-curators of “Sonic Ecology”. The project is part of practice-led research platform "Caravanserais", presented and produced by the HKNME.
Lee is currently organising “02022020.SPACE”, a collective art project in response to the next palindrome date, 02-02-2020. Part of “02022020.SPACE” taking place in Hong Kong will be developed into a full scale installation performance in “Sonic Ecology”, scheduled in late 2020.