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Vivian Chen

Ooi Botos Gallery
Ends Aug 30
Dirty brooms propped up against walls, water  pipes wrapped up in sponges and fences transformed into  washing lines are just some of the everyday  objects  in the spotlight in Singaporean artist Wei Leng Tay's latest solo photography exhibition.
Desultory Landscape is a collection of 23 colour prints  exploring the spirit of Kai Yuen Lane in  North Point, a mostly middle-class  neighbourhood built in the 1970s.  The exhibition is a reminder  of the beauty  around us that we're usually too busy  to notice.
'In Hong Kong, people spend so much time working and earning money. It's important to slow down and look at what's around you - it's important to see other things,' says Tay.
She says ordinary objects  say a lot about  their owners, especially in  a materialistic city   such as Hong Kong.
In Tay's  sights are a boy's room packed with  cartoon figures (Zach's Collection, above), a  mother's kitchen full of cans and jars and an uncle's  storeroom stuffed with plastic bags, all reflecting the individuals' personalities  and values.
'The way we reuse and make use of things in and around our homes really shows this need that we have as people to express ourselves ... It also shows our ingenuity in coming up with new uses for things long past their use-by date.'
Tay has spent the past 18 months living in Kai Yuen Lane  and began to observe the community closely 10 months ago - from  residents' stacking  unwanted items on street corners to their replacing fences with used  tyres - capturing  moments of delicate change in the community.
The artist was fascinated by her neighbours' habit of dumping things in public areas. 'I started wondering why they  did that and what kind of people would do things like that,' says Tay. To find the answer, she started photographing.
Another appeal of  Kai Yuen Lane is that many of the buildings  will soon disappear.   They were  sold earlier this year to a  developer and   will soon be  demolished to make way for modern high-rises.
Tay is sad about the low value Hong Kong  attaches to history, the importance of buildings and neighbourhoods like Kai Yuen Lane and the community and lifestyles they embody.
Tay tried to keep her settings as real as possible. She hung out  in her neighbours' kitchens, studies,  and bathrooms  in an effort to understand  them before photographing them.
'My work is  about conveying my emotions about the place  and people,' says Tay.
In Security, for instance, through the shadows of barbed wire,  Tay conveys the sense of  fear   of break-ins.  'What you see is not always reality,' she says.   In Christmas, she says, 'you can see people trying to spice it up and make it more festive.  The ornaments were not expensive, but still you feel their efforts.'
Yet however warm and welcoming the decorations may seem  at first,  the dim bulbs and cheap ornaments tell another story, she says.
5 Gresson St, Wan Chai, Mon, 6pm-8pm,  Tue-Fri, 11am-3.30pm and 6pm-8pm,  Sat, 11am-6pm, Sun, 12pm-5pm. Inquiries: 2527 9733



Desultory Landscape