Having a flutter

To installation artist Kum Chi-keung, the familiar sight of elderly people strolling in parks, birdcages in hand, holds much inspiration.

'Birdcages hold many stories within them,' declares Kum, explaining why they are his preferred medium of expression.

'Birds fly overhead all day, every day, so it's hard to find ones we recognise,' he says.

The custom draws parallels to the modernisation of society. 'We walk around in this concrete forest of Hong Kong, overloaded with information and technology - how are we supposed to thoroughly make sense of all this information and stand as individuals?'

The title for his new show is Birds/Bird. Part of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's Art In Neighbourhood programme, which aims to bring culture closer to the public, Kum's work will be simultaneously shown at Tuen Mun Town Hall and Tsuen Wan MTR station. Kum explains that his towers of birdcages, a material he has been using since 1994, represents the concrete jungle we live in. 'We need to narrow our focus. When you look at 100 birds, it's no good. You need to find the one you recognise and hold it in your hand in order to better understand it.'

One hundred wooden birds, poised at mid-flight over their nests, sit atop the birdcage towers in the 4,000-square-foot exhibition hall in Tuen Mun. The buildings that are the daily fabric of our lives in Hong Kong hold equally as many stories within them as Kum's birdcage towers: 'When I walk around on the streets, I look up and realise the need to recognise the direction of our lives - what is our meaning and what is our usefulness?'

Kum's interest in birdcages was sparked while keeping a bull python and spiders as pets six or seven years ago. 'I would walk around looking for toys and food for them and wound up in areas where birds were also sold, as well as their birdcages. More than anything, their form spoke to me - it wasn't something I deliberately sought out as a new and interesting material to use.

In tandem with his Tuen Mun Town Hall exhibit, Kum has a somewhat different work on display in the Tsuen Wan MTR station: motorised birds fly inside five large bottles half-filled with rice. Kum explains the motivation for this project as a direct illustration of a working artist who needs a day job to make a living, in order to continue with art.

The third part of his exhibit will be at the Ko Shan Theatre. And there won't be a bird in sight. Instead, many empty nests will fill the space for which he has yet to complete the plans.

Until September 30, 9am-10pm. Tuen Mun Town Hall, 3 Tuen Hi Road, Tuen Mun; Tsuen Wan MTR station.