Iconic video games on 490 meter high Hong Kong building
Cao Fei – Same Old, Brand New (rendering), 2015, sound and large-scale led screens, 5min, size variable, Sound by Artist Dickson Dee, International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong, China
Same Old, Brand New is the labor of love of Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei. It was a massive video installation that featured a multitude of different symbols, moving pictures and images as well as logos from well-liked video games such as Pac-Man and Tetris. At the time of the show, the images and symbols that were displayed had become integral elements of culture among the youth not only in Hong Kong but in other parts of the world as well.
Cosplayers and the Power of Costumes
Cao Fei – Golden Fighter’s
Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei’s 2004 work explores the imagined identities of cosplayers (young people who dress up as game characters) and how they interact with the real world. To these individuals, a costume bestows magical powers upon the wearer, rendering their person more special and enabling them to transcend their mundane reality. These are people living in a video game world, alienated by the real, waking world, and seeking to unite the two spaces to live in a way that allows them to actually be this magic character by creating their own realities. Her work reflects the fluid identities of China as a growing, evolving culture, juxtaposing escapist fantasies alongside vivid realities.
Gigantic inflatable sculptures occupy park in Hong Kong
Tam Wai – Falling into the Mundane World, 2013
Falling into the Mundane World, commissioned for this project, reflects Tam’s ongoing interest in working in the public realm and exploring myriad responses to specific sites and contexts. The oversized female legs and cockroach sculptures point to ubiquitous aspects of life in Hong Kong as well as underlying ills that plague contemporary society at large.
