subvision. art. festival. off.

Date
Aug 26, 2009 – Sep 6, 2009
Location
Strandkai / HafenCity,
Hübenerstraße D-20457
Hamburg, Germany

Howard Cheng Chi Lai, Chow Chun Fai, Choi Sai Ho, Silas Fong, Hung Keung, Ip Yuk Yiu, Linda Lai Chiu Han, Jaffa Laam Lam, Leung Chi Wo, Leung Mee Ping, MAP Office, Kingsley Ng, Adrian Wong, Kacey Wong, Woo Ling ling, Ban Zhang

 

Para Site Art Space is honored to announce its participation in subvision. art. festival. off. (Hamburg, Germany).

subvision. art. festival. off. is a new contemporary art festival taking place in Hamburg from August 26 to September 6, 2009. 31 artists’ groups, independent project spaces, off-spaces, and research projects from 19 countries that are developing outside established institutions and disregarding commercial viability create an exciting and variegated presentation forum with exhibitions, artist’s talks, performances, concerts, readings, and video screenings. A temporary exhibition architecture consisting of ship containers and scaffoldings form an extraordinary frame for an unconventional endeavour. The design of the yet undeveloped “prime cut” of the HafenCity is oriented towards urban planning models, citing them not without irony.

Para Site Art Space is setting up a temporary city with three ship containers. Artists Kacey Wong and Jaffa Laam Lam have been invited to reclaim this unusual exhibition space and create new site-specific installations. Para Site Art Space also presents the videoprogramme This Is Hong Kong, which showcases 15 artists from the city. This Is Hong Kong is a videprogramme that presents a selection of artists from Hong Kong that reflect on the ideas of politics, history, architecture, postcolonial issues and daily life in this territory.

Kacey Wong presents Drift City Skyscraper project. Inside the cargo, photographs and video of the Drift City Photo Series are on display. On top of the container, part of the circular tower structure of the Personal Skyscraper is erected by using painted wood to simulate the construction of this fictional skyscraper. The outside appearance of the container is transformed as if it is the top portion of a skyscraper tower structure. The content of the Drift City Photo Series juxtaposes the architectures of past and present, manmade and nature, ancient and modern, etc. The main character in this story is a not so significant and soon to be demolished modern skyscraper which is suddenly transformed into human form and drifts between reality and fantasy, endlessly searching for an ideal city. The Drift City Photo Series transforms Modern Architecture from a cold poker face building into something warm, humorous and fun. Paper Architecture provokes the viewer to rethink about the greatest symbol of our civilization, the skyscraper. The project is a story about the search for utopia.

Jaffa Laam Lam, who specializes in site-specific work with sculpture installation, has designed an umbrella recycled parachute. The installation addresses the complexities and connections between Hafen City in Hamburg and West Kowloon Project. Her eclectic oeuvre reflects an underlying and profound interest in specific historical and cultural events. The process of the making of this installation also reflects on the idea of transformation and involvement by local communities in arts projects.

 

Invited organizations include D.I.V.O Institute, Komplot, Published and Be Dammed, The Suburban and CAA/CAA (Contemporary Art Archive/Center for Art Analysis), among others.

Subvision is an initiative that is partnered with Hamburg’s major arts organizations: Academy of Arts, Hamburg Kunsthalle and Deichtorhallen.

 

More materials are available to view on site at Para Site. 

Click here to see a full inventory of all archive materials and contact us at archive@para-site.art for enquiries, to request an appointment to view materials, and for archival materials donations.

 

The Archive Project is financially supported by the Project Grant of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

 

 

PRESS RELEASE