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SCMP Reporter

What is  public art? A group of young artists tackle the question at the Shanghai Street Artspace in Yau Ma Tei.

Organised by  Hong Kong YMCA,  the exhibition features the work of 24 young people who attended its public art workshops during the summer.

While there is no specific theme, the aspiring  artists were asked to  create  their own  vision of 'public art'.

'It is difficult to explain what public art is,' said Sandy Chan, senior arts education officer of the YMCA.

'It can be an individual's view of things happening around him or her. These things can be as small as the neighbourhood  or as big as the  universe.'

Grace Chong Kit-ting, a second-year graphics design student at The Arts School of the Hong Kong Arts Centre,  uses soap bubbles, colours, Post-It note pads and  venues in Yau Ma Tei to express human relationships.

'I mix soap with black watercolour and invite visitors  to blow bubbles onto a piece of white  paper. The bubbles create patterns on the paper,' she said.

'The overlapping  parts of the pattern  represent mystical human relationships.

'I also put the date and venue of the exhibition, as well as my feelings towards the place on the little Post-It notes and stick them at each  place  I visit in Yau Ma Tei every day.

'People who pick up the note and come to the exhibition will be asked to blow red bubbles. I predict the black colour will be dominant in the picture.'

Methodist College graduate Crystal Leung Tsz-wai asks audiences to pick a colour that best represents 10 notable places in Yau Ma Tei.

'I grew up in Yau Ma Tei and  I've picked places like the Tak Yu Tea House, the Fruit Market and Yau Ma Tei Catholic Primary School,' said Leung, who will start university in California in January.

'I've prepared small transparent coloured sheets. The audience sticks the coloured sheet that represents each place on a chart. At the end of the day, a  picture created by  participants will become a collective impression of Yau Ma Tei.'

Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) student Tsang Po-lam and City University of Hong Kong (CityU) student Kenji Wong Wai-kin have created installation works with a more personal touch.

Tsang, majoring in visual art, records the process of her letter writing.

'People don't write letters as communicating with e-mails or SMS is more convenient,' she said.

'But I still love writing letters as it's more human. I use plastic sheets to wrap everything I use to write a letter, such as pen, paper, envelope, stamp and the actual letter. They will be displayed on the wall.'

Wong uses more than 40 bananas to  represent  people and objects that he misses.

'I write down the names of people or places by making dots with a toothpick on the banana skin. They include my grandma, my girlfriend and an old-style grocery store,' said the first-year associate degree student of CityU's School of Creative Media.

'The dots become black as time goes by so the names become more and more readable. But after a while, you can't really see them as the banana skin turns black as well.'

The exhibition will run until November 4 at Shanghai Street Artspace, G/F 404 Shanghai Street. Opening hours are 11am-8pm (lunch break at 2-3pm) Tuesday to Sunday.

Call 2770 2157 for venue information.



Art goes public