Urban Story Trilogy: The Place I Live
This series of 3 is our first attempt to experiment with cement and air-plants in large-scale format. The three installations go beyond merely plant arrangement, but using plants to tell stories, to reflect on social issues such as lack of space and green in a concrete jungle like Hong Kong.
Submersion
(W700mm x H620mm x D480mm)
Work #1 features dried out branches being submersed by the solid cement, and struggling to grow out of the surface. It captures the scene of pitifully small recreational parks in Hong Kong. Green lawns are just eye-candy, which cannot be stepped on. Trees are just props, which add no real life and vibrancy to the city. Plants and natural habitats are struggling to survive in order not to be wiped out.
The cold and lifeless ambience of the work reflects the concrete environment that Hong Kong people are encircled every day.
Deprivation
(W880mm x H520mm x D450mm)
Work #2 is a cry-out for the lack of space and green landscape in Hong Kong. The center is reminiscent of the lunar surface, rocky and full of small and large craters. The struggle of land scarcity, economic growth, green conservation and housing problems create suffocating impact on people living in this city, not only physically but also psychologically.
Plantation is always pushed aside to give space to buildings, skyscrapers and shopping malls, just like the branch and airplants is deprived of any space, hence sticking out from the very edge of the installation.
Resolution
(W700mm x H570mm x D200mm)
The urban story trilogy ends with Work #3 “Resolution” which symbolizes positivity in an adverse environment. With just air and water, plants can grow fearlessly, even in the smallest cracks. In such a highly compacted city where land and living space is a luxury, Hong Kong people show strong adaptability and resolution, to survive, to compromise, and to find their happiness in this city. This piece demonstrates the bittersweet co-existence of hope and adversity, which is happening in this city every day, and in our lives.
