Praecox-blueprint

Last Dance at Old Campus

2007-07-10T19:01:00.000+08:00

This is such an endearing instance, a great manifestation of our gratitude, to end the first great school year of our school! Tsing Chau campus, we will miss you definitely.

P.S. I am in a bright yellow shirt at the far back. Can you follow my steps?

Review on Hua-yen Sutra

2007-06-26T19:27:00.000+08:00

I feel I am at the edge of the end nearly, of blogging. If you are still here, maybe you would like to read my recent review on Hua-yen Sutra (華嚴經) of Zuni: here (only in Chinese).

Well, I've also added the link to the new blog of a cultural friend Winnie (film person) on the listing. Enjoy.

De-bore HK!!

2007-04-24T00:36:00.000+08:00

The kidults of the School of Creativity organized themselves into special ambassadors to make part of Hong Kong people's lives less "boring". Last Saturday at the heart of the busy Mongkok.

We teachers are inevitably happy to see them in such motivated and organized manner. The process has been certainly more assuring than the result for me. Transformation took place when they revealed their latent faces of leaders and supportive team members. So efficiently.

Well, one can definitely criticize more than easily for the resulting happening performances, painting activities, band sound, etc, for their rawness and spontaneity. But what form could be stronger to convey their enthusiasm and passion, relating the objective to invite new members to join us entirely self-initiated?

(photo by thickestchoi)

My Gwangju PPT w/o Chicken

2007-04-17T21:31:00.000+08:00

If I had read this before, I might not have prepared my 60-slide powerpoint presentation at the EduCulture Global Cooperation Workshop in Gwangju today. Pretty aggressive I know.

Believe me though, it's not bad; if only one word can express so many.

It's all about presentation?

Private Party on Consciousness

2007-04-10T14:54:00.000+08:00

The School is starting to run more smoothly and I have got more time to think about my own creative initiatives. Glad this coincides with the preview of the result of my last collaborated work with Jamsen, The Field of Consciousness.

This is the third piece of the series of "12 Dependent Arisings" and is actually a bit different from the previous two ("Lightless Ring of Angels" and "Tree of Actions called K"). Because of Jamsen the director, or the video format, it's more on the conceptual side. But frankly, I have not watched the finished video work yet, so I've got nothing to say for now.

The invitation image is designed by Pollux@20beans.

Legitimate Collage

2007-03-05T12:34:00.000+08:00

I came back from what I called an "illegitimate trip". It was supposed to be the kind of a personal itinerary... Finally it became a heavily cultural experience with ample exposure to the artistic heritage from the Medieval Europe.

I have been tempted to do a research on the concept of "collage" but in terms of a larger sense of interpretation, trying to put all "juxtaposition" in artistic creation into the category. For example, Peter Brueghel the elder put Virgin Mary and the new-born in a setting of 15th-century Flemish village, depicting a lot of everyday life of the ordinary people with the saints among them. Another way to think about it, is Hieronymus Bosch's monstrous creation of those mixtures of human's body and animals' features.

I am interested not on the creative means (as termed as "collage") by themselves, but their relation to the mentality and even spiritual notions regarding their contemporary societies. Even how the different panels of the altar pieces from 11th-century onwards imposed overwhelming attraction to me in this trip... Renaissance, for the first time in my life, seems very evil, as many spiritual depiction disappeared suddenly walking from the galleries of pre-renaissance period to the new age of men.

Why? I am in a spiritual mood to contemplate. Am I illegitimate, or insane.

Talk on Lamrim, Tibetan Buddhism

2007-01-22T23:08:00.000+08:00

Speaking for the Bookclub of the Chinese University was the first challenge in the new year for me. I started revising the Lamrim and the story of Tsongkhapa, the 14th-century master, for this introductory talk on Tibetan Buddhism a month ago, but the richness of the content still made it almost impossible to structure the 2-hour sharing sensibly.

I was surprised but happy to see the crowd interested in the subject. A bit more nervous than usual. Again, probably not because of the audience, but the content which is too profound to grasp in a single talk. Some friends said the Q&A session was good. I have yet got the time to review my performance, CU has already put the recording (streaming video) on their website. I heard it won't stay there long, give me some comments if you are interested. Or come to the new Lamrim tutorial every Thursday starting from 25 Jan.

I-cherry / Exposed

2006-12-01T21:29:00.000+08:00

- 30 November: Two articles after Ho Ying Fung/ Theatre Fanatico's " Exposed / Still Burning": 二寫《曝／光》

- 23 November: Criticism on Hui Shuning's "i-cherry": 飊出色‧失櫻魂

Remembering Beckett

2006-11-30T19:38:00.000+08:00

A couple of reviews and articles on this year's Directors' Lab (including my small experiment with "Waiting for Godot") are just posted on Cattle Depot Theatre Newsletter .

Seeing this photo, I have to correct what I wrote in last post about not being on stage for long. (No, I did not wear dress again, see here.)

Pretentious Mentor

2006-11-28T21:38:00.000+08:00

A long time I have not been "on stage". Here is an image (taken by student) from the very small performance I did with a few SC teachers during the first Open Day / project-week presentation two weeks ago. I reflect now I had indeed made no critical statement in this performance, despite the theme, Paths, which carried a glimsp of our reflection of the teaching/learning experience.

Some comments made me extremely alert these days about what I should/could do as a mentor myself ... and create as an artist. Whatever we do, we are setting a standard.

Dreams are Heavy

2006-11-21T20:16:00.000+08:00

Illustration by Siu Kaho, student of HKSC, for Cattle Depot bookfair

We have just finished the first school term, and preparing some playful ways to document the first 100 days in its history. The presentation of the project week last Saturday was an encouraging moment for both the students and the team, I guess. I was happy to see their sweat and tear because it showed they had a heart towards their works at least. Despite my exhausted body and mind.

Kind of nostalgic today, perhaps for the sudden heavy rain which isolates me with the (sound of) the outside world. And that's why I have left the accumulated works for this themeless blog entry... No, now I remember, we have just played "Dead Poets' Society"! Parts of it still haunt me deeply, the father and the son probably - that's the reality, while education depicts dreams, only.

The way Student K entered the staff room in a familiar gesture and waved goodbye this evening is fixed on my mind. I am proud of him, though others always tease about the funny side of his character. And emotionally I got involved with P today, about the hurdles he has to pass, which come too early for his age... Anyway. A day is too full. Dreams are heavy and sleeps are light.

Silent, not Lazy

2006-11-19T23:31:00.000+08:00

One of the reasons/excuses for my scarce entries at praecox-blueprint is that I had started contributing to a column on Singpao since August with six other writers on different disciplines. The title of the column "Full Sentiment on Face (七情上面)" was suggested by Tung Kai Cheung. The copyright was not cleared in the beginning so I did not put them on the webpage I used to post my theatre criticisms. Lately I have resumed using the space at inmedia again. The recent articles include:

2 Nov: Mu Guiying's New Clothes (穆桂英的新裝)

26 Oct: On Maywa Denki: The Delicate Meaninglessness (設計精緻的無聊創作)

12 Oct: Buying Dreams and Paying Cost (買夢與代價)

N.B. Sorry they are all in Chinese.

When I have 1001 stories

2006-10-09T19:41:00.000+08:00

After two years, blogging is still not something I cannot miss for a good life. Yesterday, someone told me one should not involve in multi-tasking situations too often. Because of the worsened quality of works, and the worsened tranquility of the heart. If I don't, blogging will extinct from my life for sure, like the past month.

My daily habits are totally shuffled after the School of Creativity started operating, mainly because of the wake-up time advances by 2 hours. And the bonus is the transparent sunrise on the veranda curtain every morning...

The repertoire of stories and experiences at the campus, enriches itself by large everyday. I would carefully determine if I should start any topic about the students at dinner table, it's hard to stop. My heart beats and peculiar smile appear on my face. And when I go to theatres, CD shops, bookstores, my criteria for choosing a programme or an item become quite distinctively different. Things transform themselves as teaching material. The world becomes educative.

It should be so. I remind myself I am not a teacher as such. I try to make the classes rich in inspiring materials and fun. So I am more a designer, programmer, or a director. Then leave the rest for the students themselves. These two weeks a few parents expressed that their kids wait no more for their mothers' curses to wake for school. Someone calls it reward, I think we have reached the baseline.

Summarized, Summer

2006-08-29T23:25:00.000+08:00

Difficult to feel the time sensibly. Like it had been months after I got off the plane back from Southern France. Only 3 weeks, huh? Cezanne's retrospective expo in Aix-en-Provence, the vineyards and olive fields under Mt. Saint Victoire, the aimless afternoon sunshine etc. etc. are already covered with dust, of sleepless works. Hong Kong is filled with blinding smog indeed, comparing to the City of Thousand Fountains.

The orientation camp of the School of Creativity drew all my remaining energy yesterday, like what the proud summer sun has done to those exposed pots of plants outside the office... I dropped dead for an hour on the couch in the office before waking the protected screen and consumed the emails like a programmed machine myself.

Everyone likes the temporary site of the School, which I will migrate later this week, well, perhaps not all the kids. I do look forward to it. As the summer holiday ends, two artists' creative works are born at the humble village-school style campus: Jamsen's video work "Field of Consciousness" and Edward's "Madam Bovary is me". What a summer.

Cruel/Loving Bodies

2006-07-11T23:17:00.000+08:00

Opening and Chinese artist's performance at Goethe Institut Hong Kong on 7 July

Links to programmes in Hong Kong and Shanghai

2046 Q-version?

2006-07-02T23:26:00.000+08:00

I found this coming show presented by the Festival of Marseille when I am doing a research for the next radio recording. "Cine-concert" with screening of Wong Kar Wai's 2046. Interesting. Wonder how the Japanese band Pascals (mp3 file) merges their playfulness with that Karwaish mood for love.

The Art of CUHK

2006-06-25T23:04:00.000+08:00

The Sunday leisure was luxurious even though it's just a free afternoon session, in between meetings. And there's nice sunshine. Plus an extra pleasure to (try to) drive a long way to the Chinese University to watch the graduation show on its last day. As expected, the experience was enriched by a certain level of nostalgic essence.

The Fine Arts Department has been criticized for being conservative for the slow inclusion of new media in its curriculum, and since the new development of the Creative Media School@City Univeristy, the Design School@Polytechnic University, and The Arts School, as keen competitors for creative students. To certain extent, it's indeed less compelling to view such a graduation exhibition when there are a dozen of them scattered around the city at the same time.

The works this year are nice, I thought rationally, but felt strangely detached, particularly in front of the paintings. Perhaps, except at one or two works. "King of Trees" is one of those exceptional pieces because gave me some intimate feeling about the artist and his concern, but not just presenting an "idea", which was almost too extravagantly emphasized (if not sold) by many contemporary artists.

I have to say, it's more enjoyable to watch the Annual Exhibition at the corridor gallery of the Department. The slightly more casual works of the students display more lives than the composed works at the graduation show. That part of life that I've missed for a while... which achievements at work cannot compensate. Hmmm...

(5 July update: the students have organized a follow-up exhibition at Central Plaza till 25 July)

Back & Forth in Changes

2006-06-14T00:29:00.000+08:00

The first day with some sun sweeping through the water-stained ground after a fortnight of showers and rainstorm, bringing the gloomy spirit to an end, or vice versa.

Changes filled my past few weeks, like the inundating spams in my mailbox. Only that the former are mostly pleasant so far. A few points depicting the new contour of my recent life include:
- starting to drive (like a process of understanding Hong Kong in new light - the trick of road design, and discovery of the new species called pedestrian)
- launching the temporary school site for the School of Creativity @ Tsing Chau
- more hard discussion on a creative project and creative education in general.
- the return of my boss' phone calls, and inspirations
- starting to use MSN finally: kawingp at hotmail
- And...

Moving to this small village house in Saikung in a few days. I have yet decided how the interior should look like after Friday. And if I shall give names to the dozen of cows hanging out around. I wish you could see the mountains in the surrounding!

BookCrossing

2006-05-02T23:05:00.000+08:00

Is it not a work of Pak?
Perhaps that's why Louis likes it so much that he is thinking about initiating one at HKAC.

I will support him if I can expect picking up a copy of Fleurs des Lettres (字花) someone "forgets" in a cafe.

Ron Mueck

2006-04-26T00:10:00.000+08:00

Margaret of Bamboo Curtain Workshop sent me a few nice pictures of Ron Mueck's recent works, probably because of the Cartier exhibition just opened in Tokyo. Oddly I happened to come across again the exhaustive report by Amateur d'art of a larger exhibition of Mueck's works at Fondation Cartier ended in February.

I have visited Mueck's real works two times. The first encounter with several works in different scales (a kneeling man slightly smaller than life-size, a petit new-born baby hung on wall and the gigantic "Boy" crouching at Arsenal) at Venice Biennale in 2001 was stunning and fascinating. (His catalogue was one of my very few purchases at the event.) Then, another exhibition dedicated to contemporary art at Tokyo MoMA entitled "Continuity/Transgression" at the end of 2002. It seems in his latest pieces something more powerful in psychological terms is emerging, the pensive expression, the nudity, gesture and relation to the environment. Not just the size and the technique. His figurative mimésis could possibly be a mixture of classicism, pop, realism and surrealism to me.

Mueck is an Australian living in London. Lunettes Rouges said Continental European artists are redefining contemporary sculpture, specifically the British artists (naming Anthony Caro, Richard Long, Bill Woodrow and Tony Cragg), counting Mueck, while trends of other modern and contemporary media are mostly American.

Note:
Plate 1 "Mask II" (2000) is a self-portrait of Mueck
Plate 2 "In Bed" (2005)
Images from Washingtonpost.com

Love can be MSNed

2006-04-23T01:50:00.000+08:00

Allow an exceptional personal post here at p-b. I've just come across love, unexpectedly like the first rain of this spring... This is the man who makes me believe that Taiwanese are more hearty people. They have dreams, lovely ones.

Note: the small figure with hat illustrates "you".

Artists in Uniforms

2006-04-18T22:46:00.000+08:00

How would Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol look like at school when they were young? Of course there were no piercing on lips and eyebrows yet. And probably they might not have fallen into any "norm" of fashion code. More provocative? Or their creativity should not be exploited in this kind of superficiality?

How should the students look like in a senior secondary school dedicated to creativity? It's a mystery whether imposed regularity will kill their creativity, suppress or ignite it. Students like uniform, I heard, because they will be fed up very soon in choosing clothes everyday. Why is there a problem of "choice"? Is it aesthetical inability? Or imposed social value associating self-esteem too much to outlook? Or cultural unconsciousness - in relation to local school convention? Would any adult prefer to buy a same set of clothes in order to avoid the same "problem"? You may say, the norm is different in adults' world. Anyhow, could there be alternatives, besides yes or no? Prof Fumikazu Masuda of Tokyo Kozei University talked about his educational project of clothes exchange scheme to replace uniforms last year in HK. He said the kids loved it, we won't know, but it shed light on possible new ways in tackling the problem.

Whether these 16-year-olds wear black-coloured finger-nails or not is not significant to me, but whether they could be guided to make judgment about themselves with self-awareness is. Could discipline be more important? Consider fashion per se, it is significant for the provocation to the norm, not because of its "prettiness". And so is the majority of contemporary art works. I am not sure if 10cm-longer-than-the-norm hair-style will create bad influence on the others, but I think an environment which encourages creativity should allow unbound condition for learning to respect differences, out of tolerance, if not real understanding. This 10cm is especially crucial for individuality and origination. Yet, I agree, on the other hand, punkies shall also learn for the same reason when their hair-gel sculpted hair will "influence" the others, and how... but not just banned for the difference. This is itself a valuable educational process which fixed syllabus cannot substitute I think.

The question is not what how long their dresses should be, but how and according what these rules are created, and more importantly, how they should be implemented, rigidly or in a suggestive manner. It's not a question of nurturing creativity or not, it's self-understanding and realization, 'cause fashion nowadays is implanted under the skin where rules are merely lame. (Image: BMEZine.com via Wired News)

My Oxcar Winners

2006-04-12T23:25:00.000+08:00

Top L: Best Actress (Drama) ... Kearen Pang
Top R: Best Actress (Tragedy) ... Eno Yim
Bottom L: Best Actress (Thriller) ... Emi Cheng
Bottom R: Best Actress (Appetizer) ... Pollux Kwok

... from Tree of Actions Named K

Acknowledgements: Best Photographer ... Jesse Wong (click for more)

Resurrect Creativity

2006-04-10T00:52:00.000+08:00

HKICC will hold this creative workshop for F3-4 students this weekend. Obviously it has to do with the School of Creativity. We have invited four artists to design and conduct the workshops: Jamsen Law on video (yes, he's back from Japan!), Siu King Chung on text and visualization, Amy Cheung on creative thinking and Ocean Chan on performing arts.

I made up the title "Creativity Resurrection Day" ("Easter" in Chinese) and composed this poster earlier but the colour version was never out. The design elements are from of the school brochure designed by Freeman Lau actually, except the pillow-head which I like a lot.

Sorry. The workshop is totally full - does not mean my blog post is lame, I hope.

Theatrical Mindfulness

2006-04-05T22:51:00.000+08:00

Comparing 20 Beans with other more prominent groups and artists, Stephen Lam wrote in his article on Economic Journal (and RTHK's web - where you may find the radio programme where Jessica and I talked about the Cattle Depot theatre season) that my approach of adopting Buddhist thoughts in theatre is more intellectual rather than actualizing, unlike U-Theatre. Ultimately, I want both. If I merely want to "talk" about the philosophical concepts to the audience, what I need the best is a good script before I engaged performers. But so far the process of devising with the artists was definitely crucial for the process too. It's true however that we just talked, not meditated. And, a short period like months of preparation for a performance is merely not enough, for anything really significant. Perhaps the real question is if I want the audience to understand relevant concepts just from the show, for once. If so, I have to "sacrifice" something aesthetical, which I could not yet... (so the problem is if I am through myself!)

There was a period when I tried to introduce some meditation-like methods at 20 Beans' workshops, like counting beans from a mug with chopsticks to help concentration, or various breathing exercises. Practice is important for Buddhism but meditation is not more important than understanding the dharma mindfully, e.g. how karma actually works.

In fact I was not 100% certain how I would treat the subjects when I conceived the long-term project. I wanted to put what I thought important in my life together, because they are already connected in my living experience... Call it an attempt, or a reflection on the 12 (or 1) concepts, and about people. Not just concepts, like the old 20 Beans, I hope.

Maybe I should not use any more the term "integration" (of theatre and Buddhism). If I have the chance, or a group like U, perhaps I would pay more attention to the kind of training of the artists (performers). I answered interviewers usually that I have to jump in connecting the philosophical idea(s) and the form (story, visuals, characters, etc.) right before the performance, though it seemed smoother in "Tree K" than in "Lightless Ring". This will be the starting point for the next, the third piece on consciousness.