Homage to a rare spirit whose works drift on in the memory

On June 27, 2003, the body of Joey Luk, a 22-year-old Hong Kong artist and recent graduate of City University, was found deep in a forest near the village of Pirogova, about 50km outside Moscow. The fragments of information that have been uncovered since then trace only a blurred picture of how a promising young artist ended up a murder victim in Russia.

Continuing until February 14, Para/site art space in Sheung Wan is holding a commemorative exhibition entitled 'An Open Rule: Blink, Space, Drifting Presence' that shows Luk's videos and projections of her writings.

There are also workshops aimed at perpetuating Joey Luk's artistic vision. At the solemn opening last Sunday, friends and family of the artist were present to relive the memory of a talented, young artistic spirit.

'We've tried to play down sentimental aspects of the exhibition,' says curator, friend and former professor at City University Linda Lai. 'Joey wouldn't have wanted it any other way.'

Luk was a drifter, a label she was proud to wear. She believed in an art movement known as 'Automatism', started in the 1920s by French surrealists, and one that borrowed from Walter Benjamin's idea of the flaneur, who was fundamentally an urban wanderer.

While still a student at City U, Luk began 'automatic' drifting exercises, walking without conscious or voluntary control, and she extended the practice to her travels across America, Western Europe, and eventually Eastern Europe.

'Joey was one of the most intelligent students I ever met. She was very much into drifting and wandering in urban spaces. She invested personally into drifting, extending the idea into her art and into her life,' says Lai.