Desolation and Recreation

Author: Iven Cheung

The video essay aims to showcase artworks from the M+ Collections, highlighting the theme of ‘Ruins and Playgrounds’. Through these visuals, individuals can discover new interpretations and ideas. The essay’s primary objective is to capture the transformation of urban environments, allowing viewers to delve into the compelling narratives and emotions embedded in them. 

Using a poetic approach to interpretation, the essay presents and unfolds the life cycle of a city, drawing from artworks from the M+ Collections. Instead of specifying a particular city or period, the video takes a poetic perspective on urban development and decline, aiming to convey a universal experience of urban life rather than focusing on a specific location. 

The selected artworks depict a city’s development stages, encompassing decay, growth, transformation, and renewal. In addition to visual elements, the essay incorporates ambient sounds and noises to enhance the audience's connection to the artworks and archival documents featured in the video. By using sounds of urban landscapes or other appropriate audio elements, the aim is to create a multi-sensory experience that immerses viewers in the world of the artwork.  

Methodology 

The following text details the script of the video essay that provides a new and alternative perspective on the M+ Collections. It follows the traditional four-part narrative structure commonly found in East Asian cultures. The script is divided into four sequences, each representing a different narrative part.  

The video takes the audience on a journey through the evolution of a modern city by guiding them through four distinct sequences that highlight the changing urban and social landscape over time. Artworks of various mediums, such as photography, architectural drawings, paintings, ink art, and archival documents, are selected from design and architecture, visual art, moving image, and Hong Kong visual cultur The diversity of mediums provides a broader perspective for finding associations between the visuals and how they relate to the experience of navigating through cityscapes.  

The video aims to showcase how cities can be interpreted as playgrounds for individuals to create, experiment, and express themselves. The focus is not on specific locations, timeframes, or events but on collective experiences and the memories formed. 

Sequence One: Ruins and Playgrounds 

The video essay’s opening sequence captures the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, using it as a metaphor for the destiny of a city. 

The sequence of images showcases the Walled City, which no longer exists, and the lifestyle, hopes, and dreams within that vanished with it. Our understanding of the place is often based on photographs taken between the 1970s and 1990s and its portrayal in popular culture. These depictions contribute to the common perception of the Walled City being a disorderly and lawless urban area. Meanwhile, older photographic records outside the M+ Collections supplement the site’s earlier history as the Kowloon City Stone Fort, constructed by the Qing imperial government. 

The Walled City has since been demolished, leaving only fragmented remnants. The place has been transformed into a recreational park and bears little resemblance to its past. Photographs from that time serve as a portal into its former existence and symbolise a pivotal moment in Hong Kong’s history before the change of sovereignty in 1997. 

Photographers, such as Ryuji Miyamoto, Ian Lambot, and Greg Girard, have documented the Walled City. Each photographer offers a unique perspective of the city. In the ‘Kowloon Walled City’ series (1988), Miyamoto captures deserted cityscapes and ruins with mysterious allure. His photographs delve into the Walled City’s dark and chaotic aspects, which reflect its infamous reputation as a lawless enclave. They convey a sense of isolation, claustrophobia, and deprivation, making the city seem unfit for habitation. 

Ian Lambot and Greg Girard, who spent years working and living in Hong Kong, provide a more positive and humane representation of the Walled City in contrast to its notoriously negative reputation. Their photography deviates from the conventional perception and captures the mundane routines, living spaces, and architectural structures of the Walled City, offering a depiction of the grassroots life of the city. Additionally, their works highlight the resilience and adaptability of the residents. 

Sequence Two: Children and the City 

The second sequence of artworks showcases cities as a symbol of hope, dreams, and the future through the eyes of the innocent. The sequence features various forms of artworks, including photo documentation, architectural plans, and drawings of skyscrapers. It represents growth and progress in urban development. 

Werner Bischof, a Swiss photojournalist, captured the living conditions of Rennie’s Mill, now Tiu Keng Leng, a resettlement camp in Hong Kong for Kuomintang soldiers and their families who fled mainland China. This photograph titled The End of the Road - The Catholic School at Rennie's Mills for Boys and Girls of all Denominations (1952) depicts children attending makeshift classrooms. Despite their difficult circumstances, the children’s eagerness to learn symbolises hope for a better future. 

Weng Fen’s photography series ‘Sitting on the Wall’ (2002) portrays young people adapting to rapid modernisation in China. The series shows young girls sitting on the edge of a wall, gazing at high-rise buildings and cityscapes. The surreal imagery captures their contemplation and adaptation amid the fast-paced modernisation of the country. In the photographs, the girls look at cityscapes from a distance, with their backs facing us, as they witness and ponder the changes around them . 

Jiang Zhi’s ‘Rainbow Series’ (2006) is a photography series that explores the impact of capitalism. The series comprises photographs of a rainbow hovering over the city skyline. However, a closer look reveals that the rainbow consists of various shop signs and logos. Traditionally, a rainbow is associated with hope and dreams, but in this case, it symbolises worldly pursuits, which is the core value of capitalism. 

This sequence also highlights the development and modernisation of cities. The collection of works, which includes architectural plans, drawings, photographs, and artwork created between the 1960s and 1980s, symbolises optimism and economic growth. Among the featured images are Chung Wah Nan Architects’ Site Study Photographs with the Sketch of the Peak Tower (1967–1972), Hong Kong (1967–1969); Alan Fitch and W. Szeto & Partners’ rendering titled Photograph, aerial perspective rendering, Statue Square (1965–1966), Hong Kong (1966); Remo Riva’s painting in acrylic titled Exchange Square (1983/1996-1998); and a drawing by Wilson Shieh Ka-ho tilted The Cultural Life of Wilson Shieh—I. M. Pei (2010). 

These diverse artworks and images showcase the evolving architectural landscape of Hong Kong. These works also correspond with the young girls’ perspective in Weng Fen’s photographs mentioned above, who look towards the future with open possibilities. 

Sequence Three: City as the Playground 

This sequence focuses on playfulness and highlights the individual interventions within the city and society. This sequence exhibits the city as a vibrant and creative playground for self-expression. It showcases the creative use and appropriation of public spaces, revealing urban art interventions and artworks inspired by dynamic urban transformation.  

Liu Heng Shing’s photo documentation series, ‘China After Mao’ (1976-1982), captures the daily lives of the post-Mao era in China. One photograph, Skating in Dalian (1981), depicts a rollerblader joyfully skating beneath the stern statue of Chairman Mao in a public square. The image symbolises the newfound freedom and enjoyment that individuals experience. 

In Tseng Kwong Chi’s staged ‘East Meets West’ self-portrait series (1979-1989), he performs as a tourist in a Mao suit and poses against iconic backdrops with landmarks in Europe and the United States, such as the Veterans Day Parade in Manhattan in New York, New York, 1984 (1984). The series delves into themes of self-expression, cultural identity, and the interplay of diverse cultural contexts. 

Hirata Minoru and Anzai Shigeo’s photographic documentation from the 1960s to 1970s in Japan captures avant-garde activities, interventions, and installations in public spaces and on the streets, showcasing artistic expressions and performances in urban environments. These include performances captured by Hirata, such as Sightseeing Art Research Institute's (Nakamura Hiroshi and Tateishi Kōichi) ‘Walking Exhibition’ at Tokyo Station’s Yaesu Entrance (1964) and Run, Run; Leave the Cars Behind (Akiyama Yūtokutaishi's ‘Glicoman/Tadonman’) (circa 1971), alongside Anzai’s Susumu Koshimizu, Suma Rikyu Park, Kobe, October 15, 1972 (1972). 

Similarly, Nobuo Sekine and Susumu Koshimizu, members of the Mono-ha art movement, experimented with large-scale public sculptures and installations, reimagining the relationship between art and urban landscapes by combining natural and manufactured materials. 

Tsang Tsou-choi, also called the ‘King of Kowloon’, was known for his calligraphy graffiti in Hong Kong. Leaving writings in public spaces was his claim of his inherent right of sovereignty. One of his works, Untitled (Partial Map of Kowloon) (circa 1994-1997), consists of calligraphy on a map of Kowloon. Tsang’s calligraphy blurred the lines between self-expression and intervention, and his works are now part of the collective memory of the city’s past. 

Sequence Four: Ruination and Decay 

The video’s final sequence highlights the adverse effects of urbanisation, social changes, and the decline of cities. The visuals depict urban ruins and the aesthetics of decay, reflecting the themes introduced in the first sequence. City ruins serve as poignant reminders of a more prosperous past. 

Xing Danwen’s Urban Fiction No. 17 (2006) is a photograph that showcases actual architectural models. Using towering buildings as a metaphor, the work provides a glimpse into the negative aspects of urban living and sheds light on the suffocating contemporary lifestyle. Zeng Han’s photography series, ‘World & Relic’ (2005), captures haunting images of abandoned and decaying buildings in cityscapes.  

Nobuyoshi Araki’s ‘Hong Kong Kiss’ series (1997) of black and white photographs from 1997 captures daily life in Hong Kong before its return to China. These images, including those of Kowloon City from Sequence One, preserve the moments before the city’s historical turning point. 

David Diao's ‘Da Hen Li cycle’ series, created between 2007 and 2008, attempts to recreate memories of his demolished childhood home in Chengdu. The series consists of various mediums such as paintings, sketches, and floor plans, which are the artist’s attempts to recreate records and history of his former residence. One of the paintings in the series, Da Hen Li cycle—Demolish 1 (2007), features a single Chinese character, chai, written in acrylic in the style of Chinese calligraphy. This character is used to mark buildings that are soon to be demolished. Thus, the painting is a strong visual metaphor for the country’s rapid urban redevelopment and changing landscape, leaving no trace of the past behind. 

The video work Nursery Rhyme (2001) by Zhou Xiaohu explores the loss of innocence as we grow up. It shows that life is not all fun and games like it is for children. On the other hand, The Years Between—Burma Front (1944) by Cecil Beaton offers a more optimistic view. The photograph, taken during the Second World War in Myanmar, is different from other wartime images as it captures a sense of hope and innocence. Despite the war’s brutality, Beaton’s portrayal shows young children peacefully napping in a classroom, contrasting the typical imagery of war.  

The final sequence of the video essay echoes the imagery of ruins and decay from the beginning of the essay and narrates the life cycle of a city in full circle. It portrays a bittersweet reality and a life full of surprises and complexities. Like the journey of children growing up, we encounter challenges and conflicts that prevent us from returning to an idealised version of the past. However, we can still hope and dream for a better future.  

The video essay explores artworks and artistic expressions from the M+ Collection. It is an excellent source of inspiration, allowing museum visitors and individuals to navigate and appreciate art from their distinct perspectives. 

The vision for this video essay is to create a captivating and evocative journey through works from the M+ Collections, allowing viewers to interpret and connect with the content on a personal level. The essay aims to provide a unique and memorable viewing experience that showcases the breadth of the M+ Collections.