Curatorial Statement

Walk Into Lucidity, a satellite exhibition of "Lucid Walking - the MFA Graduation and Student Show 2023" at the School of Creative Media of City University of Hong Kong, features artworks curated and organised by two MFA graduates and four students. 

The ability to stay conscious in a dream and construct a world unbound from conventional visions is akin to artmaking.

The act of thinking, in a way, resembles navigating in a lucid dream, chasing butterflies that trapped Zhuangzi in the paradox of perceived reality. 

Lucid Walking is an exhibition of continuous actions. Artists are oneironauts, the dream navigators, consciously diving into and resurfacing from facets of realities and the dreamland collecting threads of thoughts. To create from the digestion of what is past, now, known, or unknown is to dream lucidly. Processes grow into amorphous creatures, thinking as dreaming as making as living, all at once. 

Between drowsing and awakening, reverberations emerge through artists’ search for the delicate balance between human decision-making and non-human life conditions, collections of vocabularies capturing love and squalor in corners of relationships, and divergent reflections on situations, experiences, and observations. Mediums flow from the machine to the flesh. Traces of clarity resonate in the realm of the unreal. 

Lucid Walking is an act of borderless transformation, embodying the butterfly or Zhuangzi at one’s will. It doesn’t end here. The walk continues. 

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Opening performance by Ian Tang

Body Memories, a sonic experiment, explores the fusion of sound synthesis and bio-art as a means to investigate the nature of experimental electronic soundscapes and generative music.

Ian Tang (BFA HKAPA, MFA candidate City University of Hong Kong) is a cross-disciplinary sound artist and composer. He has composed for different projects, with no limits to dance, documentaries, theatrical production, and new media performance. Ian is recently proceeding with his study in motion capturing, interactive programming, generative computer music, and intergrade those elements with live performances and installations. His works and performance have been shown at various events, such as UNHEARD Sound and Music Festival 2022, Sonic Anchor@HKAC, Future Record Project, TECH BOX 2020@Free Space, etc.

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List of Works:

1. Moments Will Pass 
Melody Qingmei LI
Website: www.melodyqingmei.com
IG: meimeimelodyy

Intuitive perspectives of collecting, destructing, rearranging, and producing moments in the contemporaries and memories form a new method of making to contemplate metaphors sustaining, at the same time dictating modes of understanding. 

Contain the container, 
invade the invader, 
consume the consumer.
Moments will pass. 

A series of artworks comprised of sculptural paintings and moving images meditates on time, space, materials, and thoughts that will only survive in metaphors. 

List of individual artworks:
Entangled Situations I & II
Mineral pigments, pistil, anther, glass and crystal beads, threads, and incense ashes on paper
Baby Where Are You Going I, II & III
Acrylic, rice paper pulp, stone clay, and nail polish on wood panels
What Flows Through Remains
Mineral pigments and incense ashes on paper, burnt pages from Old Tales Retold by Lu Xun and Selected Poems by Tennyson, photos, films, glass and crystal beads, threads, petals, linen, and silk
Moments Will Pass: In Between
Three-channel color video with stereo sound (15 min, 6 min, 4 min) projected on linen

Melody Qingmei Li is an artist and writer based in Hong Kong. Various mediums are intertwined in her practice, including drawings, paintings, moving images, objects, sculptures, and writing practices. Through interplays of materials and mediums, she intends to search for hybridity in an in-between space that breaks conventional perceptions and assumptions, which will facilitate the imagination of the interconnected sensibility of humans, more-than-humans, and the networks entangled. 

2. Home is a Home is a Home
Yung Ka MAK
Found Objects Installation
Website: peepingvalerie.com

We seem to own a lot of things that take up the space which we call “home”; doors, chairs, tables, drawers, closets, clothes, toilet bowl, TV, fridge, cans and boxes of miscellanies… They are the constant, our everyday, and are what make a space become familiar to us, we thought. We are prompted to forget that they are always in the flow, just silently, and in relation to everything else. As the door is no longer recognised as itself, a chair is no longer sat on, what are they? 

Yung Ka is a filmmaker, writer, interdisciplinary artist, and currently a waitress (mixian jiejie). She is sentient of everyday life, old objects, and the beauty that is found in the most unexpected places. 

3. if...will be like...?
Yanwu ZHOU
Multimedia Installation
IG: 5mokie_

no reason, no why, just 4 fun… got nothin 2 say～ the works spoke 4 me
Yanwu Zhou: I ain’t clam myself an artist. I'm just a person who did some dumb shit 4 fun. That's it… if there ain’t no fun, why do so?

4. One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy
Esme Chuyi WANG 
Multimedia Installation
website: esmechuyiwang.cargo.site
IG: esmewangbean

Tossing and turning between hospital beds and creating, I am penetrated by the iron nail-like uncertainty and pain. The penetration repeats in an endless manner, ruthlessly aiming at my body and soul. In hospital beds, I start to contemplate the balance between creation and I; For forever, to create something is like Sisyphus pushing the enormous rock, time and time again, infinitely. He reaches the “ending” and starts all over again. Imagine, and reimagine. Life for me is no longer linear, yet looping exquisitely. Roaming back to my past, I summon the old pain and learn it from a new beginning. Such repetition, as if I am Sisyphus holding that boulder with my full strength, talking one infinite step.

And who would imagine Sisyphus stuck in limitlessness, might be taking that secret sip of that unimaginable joy?
Esme Chuyi Wang is a filmmaker and multimedia artist. She graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts Production and is currently studying at the City University of Hong Kong in the MFA Creative Media Programme. 

She investigates a screenwriting style that explores the sonic potential of visual forms and a film language that values an immersive atmosphere rather than linear narratives. Her work investigates the complexity of human emotions through streams of consciousness and encompasses screenplays, animations, audiovisual installations, and narrative and experimental short films. 

5. Cave bottom still a cave
Yinuo WANG 
IG: sayhahanono

Try to use different mediums to depict the plight and destiny of human beings who are entangled, chewed and alienated by the social system. Life becomes a gear in a huge system. How to fight against it? In an era where trust and communication are extremely difficult, one can only choose silence in the end.

Talk about it, 3'4" loop, Animation 
Far Away, 22 x 16 cm, Watercolor 
A Mistake, 33 x 23 cm, Oil on Paper
Where Have All They Gone, 24 x 22 cm, Oil on Paper
Misfits, 21 x 32 cm, Oil on Paper
Lost and Found, 52 x 37 cm, Oil on Canvas 
Nice Day, 23 x 20 cm, Mixed Media on Paper 

WANG Yinuo works on oil paintings and animations. She likes to create eccentric looking animals as a metaphor for the mood of contemporary absurd life.

6. Nè ‮‮‮ 
Xinyu ZHUANG 
Mixed Media Installation, Texts
IG: wild_acanti

This work is a combination of moving texts and installation. Nè is the radical of all disease-related characters in Chinese, indicating the artist’s living state in recent years. Broken mirrors and flickering words show conflicted mental experiences. The process of seeking solace, whether in the physical or spiritual world, is accompanied by unspeakable fear: survival anxiety will gradually turn into inner demons.

Xinyu ZHUANG is an installation artist. Growing up in an engineer’s family, she advocates mechanical aesthetics and values the physical process of combining different materials to produce a certain effect. Electricity plays an integral role in her artistic expression. With a background in landscape architecture, she used to focus on bio art and multi-sensory experience in space. Now she is exploring topics such as religion and futurism in the form of interactive or sound installation.

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策展導言

「行夢」是2023年香港城市大學創意媒體學院藝術碩士畢業展「清醒夢」的衛星展覽，由兩位畢業生和四位在校學生親自策劃及統籌。

夢中知夢，在覺知之中超脫既定現實並構建新世界的能力近乎於創作。某種程度上，思考行為本身正如行走於清醒夢中，追逐那些曾將莊子困在現實悖論裡的蝴蝶。

「清醒夢」是一個由持續行動促成的展覽。藝術家作為行夢者，於現實與幻境的層疊中潛入又浮起，採集思緒。行走於夢與醒的中間地帶，把過去、當下、已知、未知的探索分解消化後，進而創造。創作過程轉化成為不受定義約束的自由生命，在每個瞬間之中，思考、夢想、塑造、體驗，同時發生著。

昏沉與醒悟交替之下，參展藝術家們尋找人類決策與眾生浮沉之間的微妙平衡，捕捉親密關係角落中的愛與污穢悽苦；那些於情境、經驗、觀察中流動的思索，在展覽之中迴響。創作媒介在機器於肉體間遊走。虛幻構造下的領域瀰漫著真實的閃爍蹤跡。

「清醒夢」是一段無邊界的轉化行動。在作品的領地，觀者可隨創作者化身為蝴蝶或莊子或超越他們的囹圄的種種，各從其欲。這裡不是句點，行走繼續。

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表演

Body Memories，一場以生物藝術為出發點的聲音實驗，以人類生物性結合電子合成，探索聲音演繹的另類可能性。

畢業於香港演藝學院舞台及製作系，鄧一言主修音樂監製，曾參與不同的音樂製作，包括流行音樂、劇場和配樂。在多媒體藝術中，鄧氏探討合成器和電子音樂的可能性，以及即興演奏與互動媒體裝置之間的關係。

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展覽作品

1. 將逝
李清美

收集、破壞、重組、並生產流淌於當下和記憶中的點滴時刻，這些行動演繹成一種創作方法論，以思考那些支撐著既定認知模式的隱喻。

包裹，
侵蝕，
吞嚥。
這些時刻將逝。

雕塑繪畫與流動影像交錯，反思時間、空間、材料、與那些僅能存活於隱喻之中的細碎閃爍的念頭們。

糾纏狀態 一與二
紙本礦物顏料、雌蕊、花藥、玻璃和水晶珠、線及香灰
寶貝你上哪兒去 一、二、三
木板上的亞克力、米紙漿、石粘土及指甲油
流存
紙本礦物顏料和香灰、魯迅《故事新編》和《丁尼生詩選》的書頁燃燒碎片、照片、膠卷、玻璃和水晶珠、線、花瓣、亞麻及絲綢
將逝：臨界
三幕彩色視頻（15 分鐘、6 分鐘、4 分鐘），立體聲，投影於亞麻布

李清美是一位藝術家和寫作者，生活且工作於香港。在她的實踐中，各種媒介交織在一起，其中包括繪畫、流動影像、現成品、雕塑和文字創作。通過材料和媒介的相互作用，她試圖尋找臨界空間中的混合性，以打破既定認知與假設，繼而促進對於眾生糾纏交錯且蓬勃的感性想象。

 

2. 空空如家
麥容嘉
舊物裝置

我們似乎擁有的很多東西，門、椅子、桌子、櫃子、衣物、馬桶、電視、雪櫃，還有一堆堆的雜物，在每一個被我們稱為家、屋的地方佔據著空間。它們代表了日常和恆常，讓人以為自己對這個空間熟悉非常，卻難以想像它們其實一直靜默的流動，聯繫著其他相關的一切。我們都沒有察覺，門什麼時候不再是門，椅子也在什麼時候被遺忘。

容嘉是一個電影和文字工作者、跨媒介藝術家，現為兼讀侍應（想要好吃的米線找她）。她鍾情於日常和舊物，從最不起眼的地方找出最耐看的事。

 

3. 如果…會是怎樣？
周炎午

沒什麼原因或理由，”有趣”是我的原動力… 也不需加以粉飾，我的作品能為我說話…
我不認為自己是個藝術家，我只是個做些”胡逼玩意兒”覺得有意思的人。僅此而已…如果沒意思，又何必去做？

 

4. 西西弗斯痛與樂
王餅

輾轉於病床與創作之間，不確定和焦灼猶如鋼釘，以重複又無盡之勢，於身或於心同時穿透我。於病榻，創作與身心的關係令我陷入思考；一直以來，創作如西西弗斯推動磐石，一次又一次無盡地前進，到達一刻的終點，又重頭來過。想象、又再想象。生活於我再不是線性，而是不斷的迥環，在曾經的故事中穿梭，痛苦重新降臨，事件重新被理解。一遍又一遍，有如西西弗斯無盡的前行。

誰又曾想過西西弗斯在回環的無盡中，或許吸取著那隱秘的快樂？

王餅，媒體藝術創作者，現於香港城市大學創意媒體學院修讀藝術碩士課程。她在寫作中探尋用聲音與音律敘述的可能，在創作中尋找以情緒氛圍為主導的沉浸感受。過往她用實驗影像、畫、劇本寫作等媒介，在意識流中探討人類情感。此外，她在戲劇場域中實驗不同媒介的表達方式，包括撰寫原創劇本、設計多媒體視覺效果等。

 

5. 洞穴盡頭還是洞穴
王一諾

通過不同媒介描繪人被所處的系統糾纏、咀嚼、異化的困境與宿命。生命變成龐大系統裡的齒輪。要如何對抗？在生命之間的連結無比艱難的時代，最後也只能選擇沉默。

暢所欲言     3'4"，循環動畫
自遠遠處     22 x 16 厘米，紙本水彩
一個錯誤     33 x 23 厘米，紙本油畫
都去哪了？ 24 x 22 厘米，紙本油畫
誤解            21 x 32 厘米，紙本油畫
遺失啟事     52 x 37 厘米，紙本油畫
美好一天     23 x 20 厘米，紙本混合材料

王一諾以畫畫為主，也做動畫。她創作了許多看起來古怪的動物，以期緩解荒誕生活給她帶來的焦慮。

 

6. 疒
莊欣雨

本作品是文本與裝置的結合。疒是所有與疾病有關的漢字的部首，反映了藝術家近年來的生存狀態。破碎的鏡子和閃爍的文字，散落的膠囊彷彿無法控制般地溢出，顯示出矛盾、無序的心理體驗。無論是在物質世界還是精神世界中尋求安慰，無法言說的恐懼都如影隨形：生存焦慮會逐漸變成心魔。

莊欣雨，裝置藝術家。她成長於工程師家庭，崇尚機械美學，重視將不同材料組合以產生某種效果的物理過程。電在她的藝術表現中起著不可或缺的作用。她本科就讀於景觀建築專業，曾專注於生物藝術和空間的多感官體驗。目前她以互動或聲音裝置的形式探索宗教和未來主義等主題。