A View of Light

Slowear Gallery, Fringe Club Until Aug 30

In A View of Light, Wong Chi-yung delves into a subject that has fascinated him since he was a teen: the visibility and invisibility of light. The lighting designer is interested in the paradox light poses - everyone knows it's there but can't really see it. 'Just like electricity, love, music,' Wong says.

In this show, the Academy for Performing Arts graduate creates an environment or ambience to make light more palpable and 'real' to the senses.

Wong says visual arts exhibitions can be passive - viewers often look at a piece for a short period before moving to the next one, most of the time with minimal interaction. In theatre, the audience is 'trapped' inside a space and they have to watch and interact with what's going on onstage. 'The experience is more subjective.'

With A View of Light, Wong attempts to inject some elements of theatre, including music, into the exhibition so the audience can connect to what they see. 'I'm basically turning the Fringe exhibition venue upside down and inside out to create that environment.'

Wong's love affair with light began when he was dabbling in amateur acting; he was fascinated by how versatile stage lighting could be, and how, with a change of tone and colour, it could transform the mood inside the theatre. During a student exchange trip to Finland, he discovered colours carried different meanings for different cultures. Another four years in Paris over the past decade further broadened his horizons not only as an artist but also as a designer and curator.