Wherefore Art Thou?

Concept precedes form in contemporary art,” says professor Kurt Chan from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. According to Chan, since the “total art” movement of the 1970s, conceptual art has become the dominant art style worldwide (as opposed to the more traditional visual art, for example), which is both good and bad—it has given artists the freedom to do pretty much whatever they want, but sometimes at the expense of alienating viewers. Just don’t mistake all of their out-there ideas for a lack of meaning or purpose. With the Hong Kong International Art Fair currently running at the Convention and Exhibition center until May 17, we decided to look at seven local conceptual artists who are really starting to make a name for themselves both here and abroad.

Kacey Wong

“Most people see me as a sculptor. I’d call myself a visual artist, but really, I just make things,” says Kacey Wong. The former architect is especially sensitive to the concept of space, and his subject matter often pertains to the themes of “city,” “home,” and “self.” “Wandering Home,” for instance, is a project questioning the absurdities inherent in the blind promotion of luxury living in Hong Kong. Wong transformed a tiny space (3 feet by 4) into a mobile home mounted on a bicycle. The seemingly fantastical idea, the artist later realized, could be adopted as a practical solution for the homeless.

Similarly outlandish is Wong’s ongoing project “Drift City.” At the height of real estate speculation in 2000, Wong was determined to humanize skyscrapers by dressing like one. Since then, Wong has been traveling to different cities all over the world, having his photo taken at different architectural landmarks. Light-hearted as the project may seem, Wong once risked his life to get a photo in Cairo. He was stopped by security guards pointing AK-47 machine guns at him. After a lengthy discussion, the guards became bored with the artist’s philosophy and allowed him to complete his work.
www.kaceywong.com

Lee Chin-fai

You’ve probably come across several of Lee Chin-fai’s sculptures in MTR stations and shopping malls, and chances are you’ve walked past without really seeing them. A sculptor for over 20 years, Lee’s creations express complex concepts through curious shapes. “I like to recreate my thoughts into touchable objects,” says Lee, who felt that his artistic needs weren’t fulfilled in his previous job as a graphic designer.

Fascinated by water, Lee often depicts droplets and clouds, paradoxically working with steel to create fluid, ethereal objects. “Water makes up the basis of everything on earth, yet a droplet of water is so tiny that we can barely see it. I’d like viewers to reflect on themselves when they stand in front of the reflective steel surface of my works,” he explains.
www.danny-leechinfai.com

Lee Kit

The line separating art and craft can be fine, especially when it comes to the work of Lee Kit. Since 2001, when Lee was still a Fine Arts undergraduate, he had been hand-painting tablecloths with acrylics. Even on close inspection, Lee’s artworks don’t appear any different from ordinary tablecloths. So, what’s the point of making a piece of art that is so close to everyday mundanities? “It is something that connected to my everyday life and to the lives of others,” says Lee, who often invites his friends to go on picnics with the tablecloths he creates.

Lee is possibly more determined to become a laborer than an artist. Apart from tablecloths, he’s been making other time-consuming artworks. In another series, Lee extracts lyrics from pop and classic love songs and prints them on huge, handmade pillowcases. Out of context, love songs can suddenly become something decidedly unromantic. Summarizing his work, Lee says: “I don’t have a strict definition of art. I think the question of whether something is art makes it art.”
www.lee-kit.com