All posts by leon

On the Move in Hong Kong

February 22, 2016 2016年2月22日

Although Chow San works mainly as a graphic designer, he has a camera with him everyday and shoots regularly. His street photos seem to capture people often in transit and on the move in his native Hong Kong. One rather gets the sense that his photos document fleeting moments from an ephemeral world. In this restless and fast-moving world, the people in it seem always to be moving from one destination to the next.

周生雖是一名平面設計師，卻每日隨身攜帶相機，紀錄生活。他的街拍作品記錄著在他的家鄉香港，人們步履不停、行色匆忙。他的照片記錄著那些稍縱即逝的瞬間。在這個躁動不安飛轉不停的世界裡，人們永遠在趕往下一個目標。

Perhaps because of the constant need to deal with digital media for work, Chow San prefers instead to shoot with film. One of his heroes is the great Nobuyashi Araki. San tells us that, even though today there are many new photographers out there, for him it is worth reexamining Araki’s output in greater detail – such is the depth and ingenuity of his work. Read more about Chow San’s work in our recent interview with him below.

或許因為工作上長期與數字媒體打交道，周生更偏好用菲林進行創作。他告訴我們，盡管當今新生代攝影師層出不窮，但他始終認為他的偶像，日本攝影師荒木經惟對於細節的理解和重視的精神，才是他追求創作深度和獨創性的原始動力和支柱。閱讀以下採訪，了解更多關於周生的作品。

Neocha: What kind of spaces do you like to photograph? What kind of lighting do you prefer?

Chow San: Actually any kind of space is suitable for shooting, whether it is in an office or just on the street. A lot of the times, I just shoot the daily commute on the subway, which is more or less because of my routine. I hope that the lighting in my photos is fairly even – it helps with the storytelling aspect. I don’t like to use flash, or to art direct my shots. The lighting shouldn’t be too forced or contrived.

Neocha: 你喜歡在什麼樣的空間裡拍攝？傾向於用什麼樣的光線？

周生: 其實任何地方都可拍攝，辦公室如是，街道上如是。很多時候我的相片是在地鐵的路途上拍攝的，因為工作的關係吧。我希望相片在光線上分佈可以強烈，會較有故事性。但我不愛用閃光燈，也不善長於設計相片。所以我覺得光線不可強求。

Neocha: What are your thoughts on film versus digital?

Chow San: Actually eventhough there are probably more benefits to shooting digital, I personally think digital photography feels quite cold. Film photography for me feels more satisfying. It just feels warmer and has more human qualities, which for me, is similar to how a human being has a body and soul.

Neocha: 你怎麼看待菲林和數碼？

周生: 其實數碼拍攝優點大於菲林拍攝，但數碼給我感覺很冷漠，菲林攝影感覺上整件事比較「完滿」和人性化，好像一個人般有靈魂和驅體一樣。

Neocha: How does Hong Kong inspire you?

Chow San: There really are too many things here in Hong Kong that are inspiring. You can say that there are a lot of interesting social issues here; for example, the relationship between people here in Hong Kong and trees is rather strange. This subject inspired me to shoot my project Together.

Neocha: 香港給予你什麼樣的啟發？

周生: 香港這個地方，太多東西令你有啓發，可能社會上太多問題了。例如在香港人與樹木的闗係是比較奇怪的。這個闗係吸引我拍攝了「共處」了這主題。

Neocha: What are some challenges you face as an artist?

Chow San: In a material, capitalist society like Hong Kong, it is really difficult to make a living as an artist. The government doesn’t help us or give us any kind of aid. The common consumer tends to appreciate art that is just visual appealing or trendy, but then just about ignores everything else. In Taiwan, and even in the mainland, you can see more high-level art.

Neocha: 哪些是你作為藝術家所面臨的挑戰？

周生: 在香港功利主義裏要靠藝術創作生活是艱難的，政府也不會幫助我們。在觀眾層上，我覺得香港人欣賞藝術創作必然要視覺衝擊和潮流這些重要因素，忽略了其他。反觀台灣甚至大陸也有很多高水準藝術創作。

Neocha: What are some things that you have planned in the near future?

Chow San: I’m now looking for a new exhibition space. Last year, I gained a lot of experience after my first solo exhibition Flower at Yi Hu. The next one, Ja Yen Mo Cheung, will compile six to seven years of my photography work. I hope in a few years’ time I’ll have the chance to publish an album of all this work.

Neocha: 近期有什麼計劃嗎？

周生: 尋求合適展覽場地。去年在藝鵠第一次個展「花期」展覽得到很多經驗。「雜影無章」是大約6至7年时间内我的拍摄作品，希望幾年後有機出版自己的「雜影無章」影集。

Website: chow-san.com
Flickr: ~/notitlexx

 

Contributor: Leon Yan

网站: chow-san.com
Flickr: ~/notitlexx

 

供稿人: Leon Yan

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Monkeys of Guangzhou

February 3, 2016 2016年2月3日

Recently last month, Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, China documented the more than thirty types of monkeys that reside at their animal park. The stunning studio portraits, all photographed against a clean, white backdrop, show in detail the beauty and breathtaking variety of the many primates that the park care for.

就在上个月，中国广州的长隆野生动物世界对其园内超过30个不同品种的猴子进行了记录。这些令人叹为观止的棚内肖像，全部以纯白色为背景，于其细节中可见园区灵长目动物的美和惊人的多样性。

Chimelong Safari Park’s collection of primates is currently China’s largest. Their Primate Kingdom includes spider monkeys, marmosets, orangutans, macaques, tamarins, baboons, and much more. For the arrival of the Year of the Monkey, the park has specially opened a new Monkey Park, which also boosts a new 10,000 square meter jungle, and plans many activities to celebrate the monkey.

长隆野生动物世界有着中国最多的灵长目动物种类。他们的灵长目动物王国里包括蜘蛛猴、狨猴、猩猩、猕猴、绢猴、狒狒等不止。为了迎接猴年到来，公园特此设立了一个金猴公园，内增一万平方米的丛林，并为猴子们设有各式活动。

Billed as the world’s largest animal theme park, Chimelong Safari Park is home to over 20,000 kinds of rare animals, and the park itself covers more than 1,333,340 square meters. Just in time for the upcoming Year of the Monkey, these portraits of primates reveal to us the vital spirit and beautiful diversity of our distant cousins.

长隆野生动物世界，这间号称全球最大的动物主题公园，是两万多种珍稀动物的家园，而公园本身占地超过1,333,340平方米。正好赶上猴年新年的到来，这些灵长目动物的肖像展示了人类远亲的多元化，呈现出勃勃生机。

The photographer, Wu Xin (also known as “Stone”), was coincidentally also born in the Year of the Monkey and loves monkeys. He has worked as a commercial photographer in the advertising industry in China for more than twenty years, and enjoys shooting animals and food photography most. In this series of portraits, he and the Chimelong Safari Park team have focused on capturing the expressions of the monkeys, allowing the viewer to peer into their souls.

摄影师吴忻，人称“石头”，正巧生于猴年，并热爱猴子。吴忻在中国从事商业、广告摄影已有20余载，最喜欢拍摄动物和美食。在这个肖像系列中，摄影师和长隆野生动物世界团队着重于捕捉猴子们的表情，以便读者一窥它们的灵魂。

For Wu Xin, shooting this series of monkey portraits was a new and interesting experience. He says, “I have never come into such close contact with so many completely different types of monkeys, let alone have the opportunity to shoot their portraits. They all came in so many different shapes and sizes, and had such different personalities.” When asked what the difference was between shooting monkeys and humans, he says that it is actually much easier for him to shoot the portraits of animals. He believes that animals have a simpler heart and soul, which makes it easier for him as a photographer to capture.

对于吴忻来说，拍摄这个猴子肖像系列是个新奇有趣的体验。他说：“我以前从没接触过这么多不同种类的猴子，更别说拍摄它们的肖像了。这些猴子有各种不同外貌、不同体型，性格上也千差万别。”问及拍摄猴子和人物肖像之间的区别时，他说事实上拍摄动物肖像要简单得多。他认为，动物们更单纯的内心让他更容易将其用摄影捕捉。

Which isn’t to say that shooting the portraits of monkeys didn’t also have its own challenges. Since some monkeys are fidgety and like to move around very fast, at times he could only capture what he could at a fast shutter speed of only a few hundredth of a second. Once when shooting a lemur, the monkey jumped directly onto his shoulder, before turning around and obediently returning to its original shooting position. Of all animals, the photographer has always felt closest to the monkey – they are after all our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. He says, “The feeling I get from monkeys is that they are lively, adorable, and very smart creatures. It only stands to reason that the Year of the Monkey will be a lively and exciting year.”

这并不意味着拍摄猴子们的肖像就不存在着挑战。有些猴子坐不住，四处穿梭，有时候他只能用快达几百份之一秒的快门速度尽量捕捉。有一次拍摄狐猴，狐猴直接一跃而上他的肩膀，说时迟那时快，猴子又乖乖回到了它原先所在的拍摄位置。在所有动物中，这位摄影师一直对猴子感觉最为亲近——毕竟在动物王国里它们与我们人类血缘关系最近。他说：“猴子给我的感觉就是活泼、可爱、机敏，所以猴年也一样是有活力和朝气的一年。”

The monkey has enjoyed a significant role in Chinese culture for over 2,000 years. The Monkey King Sun Wukong, for example, is the main character from the 16th century Chinese classical novel, Journey to the West. One of the most beloved characters from Chinese literature, Sun Wukong has supernatural powers that he acquired from Taoist practices. He can run extremely fast, transform into another animals, cast spells, and can travel over 34,000 miles in just one somersault.

猴子在中国文化中扮演特殊角色已超过两千年。中国16世纪的经典名著《西游记》中的主角美猴王孙悟空是为一例。作为中国文学中最受喜爱的角色之一，孙悟空有着从道教中修炼出的超能力。他疾如闪电，能七十二变，他法术过人，一个筋斗便可翻到十万八千里开外。

Monkeys have even influenced ancient Chinese martial arts. Monkey Kung Fu is a form of martial arts that incorporates the movements of monkeys and apes into some of its techniques. One variation of Monkey Kung Fu was developed near the end of the Qing dynasty in Northern China, when a legendary fighter named Kou Si studied the movements and mannerisms of monkeys, combining them with his own Di Tang style of fighting. He later called the style Da Sheng Men in honor of the Monkey King Sun Wukong.

猴子甚至影响了古代中国的武术。猴拳是一种出招技巧中吸收了猿猴动作的武术招式。猴拳始于清朝末年的中国北方，彼时寇四研习猴子的习性和动作，并将其与他自己的地躺拳融合。随后，他将这种拳式命名为“大圣门”，以此向猴王孙悟空致敬。

The monkey also is the ninth of twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac, and people who are born under this sign are characterized by and known for their playfulness, mischievousness, and intellectual curiosity. Monkeys are also believed to be fond of practical jokes, and are quick-witted and sociable creatures. However, some of their negative traits include being stubborn, manipulative, and deceptive; they are believed also to have a tendency to be pranksters and opportunists.

猴子在中国十二生肖中位排第九，属猴人被认为是精力充沛，活泼好动，生性好奇。猴子被认为是调皮捣蛋、机智敏捷、喜好群居的物种。然而它们也一些负面特点，包括性情顽固、玩弄心机、轻浮难测。它们也被认为恶作剧者和投机主义者。

Chinese Lunar New Year, which is based on the Chinese lunar calendar and not on the Gregorian calendar, starts this year on February 8. Also known as the Spring Festival, which is its direct translation from its Chinese name “春节”, celebrations traditionally start from the evening preceding the first day, and will last until the Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year is a major holiday for the Chinese and is an important occasion for Chinese families to come together for their annual reunion dinner. Families also traditionally use this time to clean the house, to sweep away ill fortune, and to make way for incoming good luck from the upcoming new year.

中国农历新年，也叫春节，是基于中国农历而非公历。今年的农历新年从2月8号开始。春节通常从农历新年第一天的前一晚开始庆祝，直至元宵节。中国农历新年是华人的重大节日，是华人家庭进行一年一度团聚围炉的重要时刻。传统上，华人家庭也会借此时机进行年终大扫除，称为“扫尘”或“掸尘”，是以辞旧迎新！

We at Neocha would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a very happy Year of the Monkey. May your new year be full of prosperity and good luck!

Neocha借机在此祝福我们的广大读者猴年快乐，新的一年里吉祥如意！

Website: int.chimelong.com

 

Contributors: Leon Yan, David Yen
Photographer: Wu Xin
Images Courtesy of Chimelong Safari Park

网站: int.chimelong.com

 

供稿人: Leon Yan, David Yen
摄影师: 吴忻
图片由长隆野生动物世界提供

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What’s Up With That?

February 1, 2016 2016年2月1日

What’s Up With That? is a new multimedia collaboration between The Shanghai Restoration Project and Chinese indie animator Lei Lei. The project contemplates the seemingly inexhaustible curiosity that we all had when we were children and explores what happens to it when we all grow older. It features ten new original electronic music compositions by The Shanghai Restoration Project, which also incorporate samples taken from cassette tape recordings made by Lei Lei during his childhood. The sounds were then juxtaposed against the soundscape of adult life in today’s modern society.

《怎么搞的?》是上海复兴方案和中国独立动画人雷磊的一个新的多媒体合作。作品对我们童年时期那看似源源不断的好奇心进行了思考，并对我们长大后好奇心方面究竟发生了什么进行了一番探索。作品含有十首由上海复兴方案创作的电子音乐新作，其中收录了雷磊童年时期的磁带录音中提取的小样。这些声音继而与时下现代社会中成人生活的音景相映并置。

 

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The synchronized visuals from the collaborative project is comprised of animated cutouts from the book A Collection of Western Book Covers, which was introduced to Lei Lei at a very early age by his father who worked as a graphic designer in the 1980s. This multimedia collaboration, according to Lei Lei, is an exciting departure for him. Being able to perform along with Dave during live musical performances is quite different from his usual workflow as an animator, which typically involves spending many hours drawing illustrations and animating on the computer.

这次合作项目中的同步视觉是由利用《国外书籍装桢设计选》一书剪贴画制成的动画节选组成。在80年代雷磊尚为年幼时，他的平面设计师父亲就将这本书介绍给了他。此次这个多媒体合作，是个令他非常兴奋的新方向。作为一个动画人，他在日常工作中需要长时间地画画和电脑动画制作，与Dave一起在音乐现场表演这种事与之相比算是个相当不同的体验。

Photo Credit: TW.STUDIO
图片来源: TW.STUDIO

The album is available for purchase on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

Take a listen to a selection of our favorite tracks taken from the record here:

The Shanghai Restoration Project + Lei Lei – Ayo Way

The Shanghai Restoration Project + Lei Lei – Out the Door

The Shanghai Restoration Project + Lei Lei – Dreams in a Glass Jar

Read more about the collaboration below in our exclusive interview with Lei Lei and Dave Liang from The Shanghai Restoration Project.

该专辑现已在iTunes, Spotify，和 Amazon发布。

以下是我们最爱的专辑曲目节选，欢迎试听:

 上海复兴方案 + 雷磊 – Ayo Way

上海复兴方案 + 雷磊 – Out the Door

 上海复兴方案 + 雷磊 – Dreams in a Glass Jar

了解更多关于这个项目的内容，请阅读以下我们对雷磊和上海复兴方案Dave Liang的独家专访。

Neocha: How did this collaboration come about? How did you both meet?

Dave: I first heard about Lei Lei through Neocha founder Sean Leow and found his work fascinating. Growing up in America, most of the animation I was exposed to was very corporatized (for example, Disney, Pixar, etc.), so the individualism of Lei Lei’s work really resonated with me. A few years later, I was introduced to him in person by the visual artist Sun Yunfan. He was in New York City for a few days and even stayed over at my place, where he would show me his latest animations and we would also jam together over tracks that I was putting together – he’s a really clever freestyle rapper!

Neocha: 你们的合作是如何展开的？你们是如何相识的？

Dave: 我第一次听说雷磊是通过Neocha的创始人Sean Leow， 当时觉得他的作品特别迷人。我在美国长大，接触到的多数动画都是非常大公司集体制作的（例如: 迪士尼，皮克斯等），所以雷磊作品的个人特质激起了我很大的共鸣。几年后，视觉艺术家孙云帆当面介绍我们认识。他当时在纽约呆了几天，甚至在我家借宿。在我家，他给我看了他最新的动画作品，我们也一起听了我做的一些曲子，他真的是个非常聪明的freestyle rapper!

Lei Lei: I actually met Dave before in New York City, and had already heard a lot of his music. At that time, we had some ideas to collaborate on a music project. I was a special guest rapper at some of his Beijing and New York shows – slowly after that, we got to know each other.

Last year, when I went back to my hometown, Jiangxi, I discovered a bunch of old cassette tape recordings from when I was three years old. I listened to them and found them really interesting! So then I shared what was on the cassette tapes with Dave, and he became as excited as a kid in a candy shop. He later sampled and edited the sounds from the tapes and used his own music to spin everything together into a completely new story.

And just like that, we started to prepare and put together some fun stuff to do for our live performances. I actually did a lot of research on one of my dad’s old books called A Collection of Western Book Covers – it was published back in 1988 and it compiled a lot of international book cover designs. At the time, the book was put out to show Chinese designers some of the better new design concepts from the West. So then I used all the graphics and stuff that they made in 1988 and turned them into an animation. I used some clips from it in this collaboration with Dave and matched the clips with the mood of his music. Some of the parts are more abstract and some are more obvious. So that is pretty much how What’s Up With That? came about – the visuals and sounds from the live performances are from 1988. We just created a completely brand new story through editing and remixing all of those different elements.

雷磊: 其实我之前在纽约就见过Dave, 也听了很多他的音乐，当时我们就有一些音乐上合作的想法，我作为嘉宾出现在他北京和纽约的演出上。所以我们慢慢开始熟悉和了解对方。

在去年，我在江西老家找到了几盘我在1988年的录音和唱歌的磁带～那时候我三岁，我听了以后觉得内容非常有趣！我把磁带的内容分享给Dave，Dave也被我小时侯的录音乐翻了，像吃了一包跳跳糖，于是他在纽约重新编辑采样这些磁带的素材，从中找到新的线索，用音乐编写成新的故事。

就这样，我们开始准备一些有趣的现场演出，其实我一直在研究我父亲的一本旧书《国外书籍装桢设计选》，它出版于1988年。书中展示了大量国外的书籍封面，试图教导当时的中国设计师学习西方优秀的设计概念。我利用这些1988年的视觉素材做动画，我会从中选择一些片段和Dave合作，配合音乐的情绪，有的抽象，有的具体一些……《怎么搞的?》专辑就是这么来的～现场演出的视觉和听觉都取材于1988年。我们通过重新的编辑和剪辑工作，虚构一个新的故事。

Neocha: What was it like collaborating on this project? Tell us about the process, and how was this different from your usual projects?

Dave: Lei Lei and I would hang out a lot in New York City during his residency. We liked each other’s artistic style and wanted to find a way to collaborate. One time he was telling me about his childhood in Nanchang, and it sounded very different from his current life in Beijing. We thought that it might be interesting to explore his childhood and see if that led us anywhere. On the visual side, Lei Lei started playing around with some animated cutouts from the above mentioned book. On the audio side, he dug up these three cassette tapes. When he was three years old, Lei Lei’s parents had recorded him making funny sounds, telling stories, reciting random poems, and singing songs. The tapes also contained theme songs from television and radio programs at the time, as well as sounds from everyday life, like phone calls, and so on. After we converted the tapes to digital, I went through and extracted the sounds that jumped out at me and created some basic tracks from them. I would then send them to Lei Lei in Beijing and he would send over new animated clips he was working on to me in New York.

Neocha: 合作是怎样的？可以和我们说说过程吗？这和你通常做的插画项目有何不同？

Dave: 雷磊在纽约的这段时间里，我们经常呆在一起。我们都喜欢对方的艺术风格，也想找到一个合作的方式。有一次，他和我说起他在南昌的童年，在我听来，那和他现在北京的生活大不一样。我们认为探索探索他的童年生活应该会挺有意思，也看看这么做下文会怎么样。视觉方面，他开始试着利用上面提到那本书剪下的画面。音乐方面，他找出了这么三张卡带。他父母在他三岁的时候录过他自己编的故事、发出的搞怪声音、背诵的诗句和唱的歌。那些卡带上也录了些当时的电视主题曲和广播节目，还有一些日常生活里的声音，比如电话铃声等。我们把这些磁带进行数码转码之后，我捕捉了一些能刺激到我的声音，编成了基本音轨。我会把它们发给在北京的雷磊，他也会把正在做的新动画片段发给在纽约的我。

Lei Lei: I think the main reason this collaboration between Dave and I happened was because we were both really open to do different things. Both of us enjoy the process of working with different artists. Dave has collaborated with Jazz singer Zhang Le and various Indian musicians for different projects that ended up being amazing. I have also worked with Ou Ning, an art curator; Thomas Sauvin, a collector of French art; as well as numerous artists from different fields. That’s how we knew a collaboration between us would work out.

Even though Dave primarily handled the music while I handled the visual aspects for this collaboration, our way of thinking is quite similar, so we were on the same page the whole time. Dave is an incredible musician. The origins of material is very important to both of us; we like to deconstruct older works and reconstruct it into something completely new. Even though the two of us grew up in very different environments, we still share the same issues of being overly self-aware and trying to figure out our identity in society. So through this project we try to find answers to these questions.

Of course, this project is really different from my past work. Sometimes just doing animation work can feel boring and mechanical, because I’m just sitting in front of the computer making drawings over and over again. Being a part of a live musical performance with Dave is something really exciting for me. Performing live you can get an immediate reaction from an audience, which is very different from doing animations or illustrations.

雷磊: 我觉得我和Dave的合作的前提是我们都有非常开放的心态，我们非常乐于和不同的艺术家合作。Dave和爵士歌手张乐和印度的音乐人都有不同的项目，非常精彩。我之前也和策展人欧宁，法国收藏家苏文以及很多不同领域的艺术家合作过。所以我们知道这样的合作会带来有趣的化学效应！

这次合作中，虽然Dave主要负责音乐而我主要负责视觉的部分，但关键的是我们的工作背后的逻辑和思考是类似的。Dave是非常优秀的音乐家，我们同样关注素材的来源，我们喜欢对旧物进行解构和再创造，我们虽然成长于不同的环境，但是我们同样有在社会生活中自我认同和自我认知的问题，所以在这个项目中我们都试图去寻找答案。

当然，这个项目和我其他的动画工作不同，动画有的时候是机械的工作，坐在电脑前反复的绘画，而和Dave的音乐演出是让人兴奋和激动的！我们即兴的表演观众会立刻有反馈。这和动画或是插画很不一样。

Neocha: What did you enjoy about the collaboration process?

Dave: Lei Lei is a really quirky guy and this makes for a fun partnership. Once we were at a gallery watching an animated short and he started making sound effects out loud as if he was providing the soundtrack. Another time we were at a Knicks game and he was commenting on the shapes of the players’ bodies as if they were cartoon characters in a future animation of his. I’m sure these quirks and carefree attitude towards life influenced some of my production choices for this project. Also, when we perform live, Lei Lei often whips out a signature combination of up-down, side-side moves that audiences really like.

Lei Lei: Two things. The first thing being what I mentioned earlier: being able to incorporate my art into a live performance is really exciting for me. The second is the aspect of being able to share my experiences. Having the chance to share my memories and cassette tapes from my childhood with other artists is wonderful.

Neocha: 在这个合作过程中，你觉得最棒的是哪个部分？

Dave: 雷磊是个很古怪的人，这一点让我们的合作关系变得很有趣。有一次我们进画廊观看动画短片，他就开始搞出各种声效，就跟他在给动画配音轨似的。还有一次我们在尼克斯队的篮球比赛上，他现场评价各个球员的体型，好像他们都是他将来某部动画片的角色。他这些生活上的古怪和无所谓的态度对我在这个项目上的制作肯定是有影响的。还有，当我们现场表演的时候，雷磊常来个上下、左右结合起来的标志性身体动作，让观众特别喜欢。

雷磊: 最棒的：1，是上个问题中我回答的演出，这让我很兴奋。2，是关于分享，我觉得把我儿时的记忆，我小时候的录音磁带分享给其他的艺术家，这个让我觉得非常的奇妙！

Websites:
shanghairestorationproject.com
raydesign.cn

The album is available for purchase on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

 

Contributor: Leon Yan
Video & Music Courtesy of The Shanghai Restoration Project & Lei Lei
Artist Photos by TW.STUDIO
Additional Photography by Jia Li

网站:
shanghairestorationproject.com
raydesign.cn

The album is available for purchase on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

 

供稿人: Leon Yan
视频和音乐由上海复兴方案和雷磊提供
艺术家图片: TW.STUDIO
附加摄影: Jia Li

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Kuala Lumpur

January 20, 2016 2016年1月20日

A booming metropolis in Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur boasts all of the cosmopolitan and commercial attractions of a large city while keeping a firm hold on tradition. A luxurious shopping destination, with impressive malls and notable street markets, and home to a thriving culinary scene, the city of Kuala Lumpur has much to offer its residents and 10 million annual visitors alike.

Sebuah metropolis yang sedang membangun di Asia Tenggara, ibu negara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur mempunyai segala tarikan kosmopolitan dan perda-gangan yang bersesuaian dengan sebuah bandar raya besar sambil berpegang teguh kepada nilai-nilai tradisi. Destinasi membeli-belah yang mewah, dengan gedung mengagumkan dan pasar jalanan yang ternama, dan pusat hidangan makanan yang meriah, bandar raya Kuala Lumpur mempunyai banyak keisti-mewaan yang dapat ditawarkan kepada penduduknya serta 10 juta pengunjung tahunannya.

Not only is it a thriving, culturally diverse city, Kuala Lumpur is also home to a large community of passionate creatives. We at Neocha are daily inspired by the images we see uploaded to VSCO Grid®, many of which come from the Malaysian capital. Browse a selection of images taken by members of the VSCO community below, and search VSCO Grid® to find even more.

Bukan sahaja meriah, malah Kuala Lumpur yang mempunyai pelbagai budaya juga menempatkan komuniti besar penggiat kreatif. Di Neocha, imej-imej yang dimuat naik ke VSCO Grid®, mencetuskan ilham buat kami setiap hari yang kebanya-kannya daripada ibu negara Malaysia. Layari pilihan imej yang diambil oleh ahli-ahli komuniti VSCO di bawah, dan cari VSCO Grid® untuk mengetahui lebih banyak lagi.

This story is part of a content partnership and media exchange between Neocha and VSCO®. To see more of VSCO’s Asia content on Neocha, click here.

 

Kisah ini ialah sebahagian daripada perkongsian kandungan dan pertukaran media antara Neocha dan VSCO®. Untuk melihat lebih banyak kandungan Asia VSCO pada Neocha, klik di sini.

Media Partner: VSCO®

Photographers:
Anna Volkova
Ahmd Zkri
Izz Munir
Mei Ying Chan
Shahmiredge
Jessie Lee
Amri Daud
Nafissa Mazlan
Janet Cho
Paul Dub
Nico Baesecke
Magnus Azami

Images & Text Courtesy of VSCO Grid®

Rakan Media: VSCO®

Jurufoto:
Anna Volkova
Ahmd Zkri
Izz Munir
Mei Ying Chan
Shahmiredge
Jessie Lee
Amri Daud
Nafissa Mazlan
Janet Cho
Paul Dub
Nico Baesecke
Magnus Azami

Imej & Teks Ihsan VSCO Grid®

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The Sky, the Sea, the Earth

January 19, 2016 2016年1月19日

The sky, the sea, and the earth. These are some of the fundamental and commonly recurring visual elements that can be found in the work of the native Hong Kong photographer Rraay Lai. He is typically drawn to using nature and the wilderness as the setting of his photos, particularly by the sea, in forests, on rocky cliffs, or in open fields. Rraay is convinced that the perfect kind of photographic light to shoot in is the natural daylight of the great outdoors. With this kind of lighting, he likes to convey the feeling that every day is a new day, bringing a new beginning.

天空，海洋，與大地。這些都是香港本土攝影師Rraay Lai作品中基礎普遍的視覺元素。他偏好將大自然和荒野作為作品布景，諸如在大海邊，在樹林中，在石崖上，在大地間。Rraay堅信，在攝影中，戶外自然光才是最完美的攝影光線。通過捕捉這種光線，他向世人展示每天都是新的一天，新的開始。

Professionally, he shoots portraits, fashion and commercial photography. In his personal work, he tends to shoot more nature photography, which will often take him to the far outskirts of Hong Kong. From time to time, Rraay also likes to shoot street photography in the city itself. Just walking through the streets and the small back streets of his native Hong Kong can give him creative inspiration.

他的職業是人像、時裝，以及商業攝影。而個人創作中，他更傾向於去香港偏遠郊區捕捉自然風光。也有些時候，Rraay喜歡在城市中進行街頭攝影。單是在香港的大街小巷間穿行便能給他帶來創意靈感。

One of the greatest challenges he says he faces as an artist is being able to keep the balance between the work he does commercially with the kind of personal work that he most enjoys doing – and trying to reconcile the two. He believes that it is important for him to stay faithful to his artistic vision even when he is working on client projects. To stay inspired, he tries to make creative work and shoot on a continuous basis.

他說，作為藝術家，他所面對的最大挑戰之一，便是在商業工作和他最樂於其中的這種個人創作中保持平衡，並試圖達成兩者的協調。他認為，在客戶項目中對自己的藝術眼光保持信心相當重要。為了靈感不枯竭，他會盡力做創意的作品，並不停地拍攝。

Rraay often uses different cameras when shooting, but normally, depending on the project and its specific needs, he will shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II, a Fuji GF670, or a Nikon 35Ti. He doesn’t have a great preference between analog and digital. For him, it is important simply to shoot and to be able to shoot in any given situation. The content and subject matter that is being shot takes precedence over everything else.

Rraay在拍攝時常用不同鏡頭，但通常來說，他會根據不同的項目和具體的需求選擇使用佳能5D Mark II，或者富士GF670，或者尼康35Ti。在菲林攝影或數碼攝影方面，他並沒有特別的偏好傾向。對他來說，能夠在任何現有的條件下進行拍攝和拍攝本身才是重要的。拍攝內容和對象是高於其他任何因素的。

These days, he has been following the work of the Japanese photographers Sanai Masafumi and Okada Atsushi, with whom he shares a similar aesthetic and visual simplicity. Notably one of his favorite photographers of all time is Peter Lindbergh. Lindbergh’s humanist approach to photographing women redefined standards of female beauty in fashion photography. He once famously said that it was “the responsibility of photographers today to free women, and finally everyone, from the terror of youth and perfection.” It is easy to see his lasting influence in Rraay Lai’s work and how he likes to capture the female form, which feels naturalistic, light, and carefree.

近來，他一直關註日本攝影師Sanai Masafumi和Okada Atsushi的作品，相似的審美和簡單的視覺是Rraay的作品和他們的作品所擁有的共同點。尤其是他一向的心頭最愛攝影師之一，Peter Lindbergh。Lindbergh在對女性的拍攝中所應用的人文主義手法，重新定義了時尚攝影中女性美的標準。這位攝影師曾有過這麽一個著名的說法: “當今攝影師的責任就是要將婦女從對青春和完美的恐懼中解放出來，進而解放出所有人。” 從Rraay Lai的作品中，從他那自然輕松的對女性形態的捕捉中，Lindbergh一直以來的影響顯而易見。

Website: rraaylai.com
Facebook: ~/RRAAYLAIstudio
Instagram: @RRAAYLAI
Weibo: ~/RRAAYLAI

 

Contributor: Leon Yan

網站: rraaylai.com
臉書: ~/RRAAYLAIstudio
Instagram: @RRAAYLAI
微博: ~/RRAAYLAI

 

供稿人: Leon Yan

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Meet the Flabjacks

January 15, 2016 2016年1月15日

Ton Mak is an illustrator based between Hong Kong and Shanghai. She originally graduated from University College London, majoring in Anthropology. Ton never actually studied art, she just has always loved to doodle. When she was a kid, she says, “I had major anxieties dealing with school stuff I sucked at. The school back in Hong Kong was super strict and it was a lot of ‘watch, copy, repeat’ in everyday teaching.” For Ton, this kind of learning environment was pretty intimidating. Her mother wanted her to learn in a much more relaxed environment, so they all later moved to New Zealand. Ton says, “I would just doodle and experiment with artsy fartsy stuff all the time. My family was all about finding passion through exposure, and I feel like this has helped pave the way to what I am doing today.”

Ton Mak是常居香港和上海两地的插画师。她毕业于伦敦大学学院，主修人类学。Ton从没真正学习过艺术，她只是喜爱涂涂画画。还是个孩子的时候，她说，“我对学校里自己不在行的东西焦虑无比。香港的学校十分严格，教学中有很多‘观察，复制，重复’的东西。”对于Ton来说，这种学习环境令人胆怯。她的母亲想让她在一个更轻松的环境里学习，所以随后他们全家移居到新西兰。Ton说: “我总是信手涂鸦，对那些艺术兮兮的东西进行试验。我的家人最在意的就是在过程中寻找热情，我觉得这一点为我今天所做的开辟了最初的道路。”

In her artwork, themes and expressions often just occur intuitively. Ton Mak enjoys giving everyday mundane objects a new kind of spirit or emotion. “Whether it’s a meatball or a spud,” she explains, “giving these seemingly soulless objects some human-like qualities silently puts into perspective the emotional connection that we may have with these little things.” Her creative process is actually quite fluid and meditative, and it shows in the style of her work. It’s not about representing what is “right”, but more about being able to tell a story freely. In our interview with Ton below, we talk to her about Flabjacks and what inspires her.

在她的作品中，主题和表现总是直觉性的。Ton Mak乐于给日常事务添加一种新的神情。“不论它是个肉球还是土豆，”她解释道，“给这些看似没有灵魂的物体加上人类般的气质，就悄无声息地多了一种我们和这些小东西之间的情感连接。”她的创意过程事实上相当的流畅的和令人沉思，并且这点在她作品的风格里一览无余。它不关乎展现什么是“对的”，而是更多关乎自由地讲述一个故事。在以下的访谈中，我们和她将谈到Flabjacks，以及启发她创作的事物。

 

Neocha: Who are the Flabjacks?

Ton: Flabjacks is a friendly collective of chubby creatures. They tend to have fat lips, an occasional mole, and some kind of “flab”. They all live in an imaginary wonderland that is full of good vibes. It’s free entry. Anyone can be a “Flabjack”.

Neocha: Flabjacks是谁？

Ton: Flabjacks是一个胖乎乎创造物的友好群体。他们通常有着厚嘴唇，在某个地方有颗痣，总似软趴趴的。他们都住在一个有着正能量的想象世界中。谁都可以是一个 “Flabjack”。

 

Neocha: What inspires you to draw Flabjacks and other “friendly creatures”?

Ton: My anthropology backbone has a lot to do with my obsession in observing people and objects. If you have a funky haircut, I could be drawing you right now. The creatures may be chubby and imaginary, but they definitely have a sense of agency. I love it when people point at a fatty and go “That’s me!”. It completes the doodle tale a little more. Even if you take away all information on the artwork, you may find relevance in it. I want people to participate in this mystical world, create their own narrative, to find a common connection.

Neocha: 是什么启发你画Flabjacks以及其他的“友好创造物”呢？

Ton: 我的人类学支柱和我对观察人与事物的着迷有着很大关系。如果你有一头很时髦的头发，我现在可能就在画你。创造出来的形象可能会是胖乎乎的想象物，但是他们绝对有一种独立意识。我喜爱当人们指着一个小胖子说：“那就是我”。它让涂鸦故事更完整了一点。哪怕你拿掉作品上的所有信息，你也可能在其中发现与之的关联。我想要人们参与到这个神秘的世界中来，创造他们自己的故事，去找到一个共同的连接。

 

Neocha: Why are you especially drawn to elephant seals, fat, moles, and root vegetables?

Ton: My favourite animals since childhood are elephant seals and kunekune pigs. Root vegetables have this stubborn shape to them and I love how each and every one look awesomely awkward. And as for moles, you can’t escape moles. They are a living reality. They have character. All these have uniquely fantastic curves and features that inspire the creation of Flabjacks. At the end of the day, some doodles are unintentionally autobiographical.

 

Neocha: 你为什么特别被大象、海豹、肥胖、痣和根用蔬菜所吸引？

Ton: 我自童年起最喜欢的动物就是大象和酷你酷你猪。根用蔬菜有着这么一种固执的外形，我爱的就是它们每一个看着都尴尬得棒极了。至于痣，你逃不掉痣的。它们是活生生的现实，它们都有个性。所有这些东西都有着独一无二的曲线和特征，正是这些曲线和特征启发了Flabjacks的创作。归根结底，有些涂鸦是种无意识的自画像。

 

Neocha: Who are some of your favourite artists who have inspired you?

Ton: David Choe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and David Shrigley. All of their works are marked by liberating, informal, somewhat obsessive strokes. They taught me back in school that it’s totally okay to not draft everything till the cows come home.

 

Neocha: 启发了你的艺术家中，有哪些是你最喜欢的？

Ton: David Choe、Jean-Michel Basquiat和David Shrigley。所有他们的作品都印记着解脱的、轻松的，甚至有些执着的笔触。求学时期他们教会了我不用花费太多时间在画打稿上。

 

Neocha: Tell us about some of your side projects. What are some future projects that you have planned?

Ton: I am working on giving Flabjacks a more tangible presence. Something that you can poke. This includes new soft toys and some installation art projects for real estate spaces that are under development right now. In the more immediate future, I am also working on a new series of greeting cards, a tote bag and some tee shirts. In the immediate, immediate future, I am going to take a nap.

Neocha: 说说你的一些编外项目吧。在未来你都计划了哪些项目呢？

Ton: 我目前正在给Flabjacks塑造一个更实体的形象，你可以用手指头戳的东西。这包括了新的软体玩具，和为目前正在开发的地产空间所设的一些装置艺术项目。在更近一点的计划里，我要做一系列的问候卡片、一个手提袋和一些T-恤设计。在更更近一点的将来里，我要打个盹。

 

Website: flabjacks.com
Instagram: @theflabjacks
Facebook: ~/flabjacksart
Weibo: ~/flabjacks

 

Contributor & Photographer: Leon Yan

网站: flabjacks.com
Instagram: @theflabjacks
脸书: ~/flabjacksart
微博: ~/flabjacks

 

供稿人与摄影师: Leon Yan

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Postcards from Old China

January 13, 2016 2016年1月13日

Last week on January 5, the New York Public Library released a large cache of public domain images that previously were only available to view at their New York City location. Some of these images included spectacular old photographs taken in the early 1900s during the very last years of the Qing Dynasty in China before the founding of the Republic. The photographs were later developed by European publishers to be made into postcards for foreign tourists.

上周的1月5号，纽约公共图书馆公布了一大批此前只供馆内查看的数字化高清图片。此批部分图片中包含了摄于20世纪初中华民国成立前清朝末期的老照片，这些照片随后被欧洲出版商制作成明信片，供给当时的外国游客。

The photos in the collection were all taken in black and white, and later colorized through a process of handpainting or Photochrom. The fascinating scenes, which capture Chinese people on the streets and in their homes, reveal what life was like in early 20th century Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and elsewhere in China. The exact context and dates that the photographs were taken have all since been lost to time, with only a few captions to help the viewer place the image.

这组照片均为黑白摄影，再通过后期手工上色或者Photochrom上色。这些捕捉了中国人行走街头或活动于家中的迷人场景，展现了20世纪早期中国的上海、北京、香港以及其他地方的生活景象。这些摄影图片的确切拍摄背景和时间于时间长河中早已无迹可寻，只余下照片上的零星说明文字可供观者联想。

There are many remarkable portraits, such as one entitled Chinese Boys, which shows two boys standing next to a traditional Chinese drum and wearing late Qing dynasty era clothing. Other photographs depict domestic scenes, street barbers, vendors at outdoor markets, children in traditional ethnic dress, and pedestrians strolling along Old Nanjing Road. One photograph entitled No. 16 Chair. depicts a foreign expatriate seated in a sedan chair, being carried by two coolies. The photos are all roughly dated between 1907 and 1921.

这组照片中有众多夺目的肖像摄影，例如，《中国男孩》，其描绘了两个站立于一个传统中国鼓边上、身着清朝服饰的男孩。其他一些照片则捕捉表现了当时的家庭情景、街头理发师、户外市场小摊贩、身着传统民族服饰的儿童，以及旧时南京路上的各色行人。有一张名为《编号16: 椅子》的照片，拍摄了一个外国人坐在由两个苦力抬着的轿椅上。这些照片粗略估计摄于1907年到1921年之间。

During these dramatic years when these images were captured, China witnessed the tumultuous collapse of its imperial system. The Qing Dynasty, after suffering successive defeats in the Opium Wars in the previous century, was finally in 1911 overthrown by a group of revolutionaries in the Xinhai Revolution. In place of the monarchy, the Republic of China was established, ruling the territories of present-day China until the Nationalists were overtaken by the Communist Party in 1949.

在这些画面被定格的那些动荡年间，中国见证了它封建帝国的轰然倒塌。清朝，在上世纪鸦片战争中一系列连续的战败后，最终被辛亥革命的革命者们于1911年推翻。随后，中华民国成立，代替封建王朝统治着当今的中国领土，直至1949年被中国共产党夺取政权。

In this collection of rare photographs, the viewer can observe the ordinary lives of Chinese civilians during this pivotal period of transition in modern Chinese history. The streets of Shanghai then, as it is now, are bustling with commerce. The queue, one of the last vestiges of the waning Manchurian influence of the Qing Dynasty, is noticeably still prevalent in this collection of images. There are also signs of an influx of foreign influences in China during this time and hints of modernization in its cities, contrasting sharply to the abject poverty of China’s agricultural workers.

在这些稀有的照片资料中，读者可以观察到中国近代史关键转变时期中国人民的日常生活。当时的上海街道，犹如它们的今天一样，熙熙攘攘，商业氛围浓重。彼时，辫子，作为渐衰的满清遗风之一，其流行程度在这组照片中仍可见一斑。照片中也可见这段时期外国势力大量涌入中国的印记，以及这座城市现代化暂露头角的迹象，这与当时中国农业劳动者的极度贫困形成了鲜明对比。

By releasing the more than 180,000 items from their digital archives into the public domain, the New York Public Library has opened limitless creative possibilities for internet users around the world. The items are all free of copyright, free of charge, and have no restrictions on usage. Not only can the materials be used for research and reconnect us to a past not previously seen, but they can be reused for a wide variety of creative remix projects. Some of the possibilities NYPL Labs has already developed include: interactive mapping, networked catalogs, generative eBook artwork – even an historical version of Minecraft!

通过向公众发布超过18万来自他们数字档案的文件，纽约公共图书馆为全球的网络用户开启了无限的创意可能。这些文件均无版权和使用限制，并免予使用费用。这些材料不仅可供我们用于研究，与过去建立连接，更可供用于大范围的各类创意混合项目。纽约公共图书馆实验室已经开辟了一些可能性，包括：交互定位，联网目录，生成电子书，甚至有一个Minecraft游戏的历史版本。

Website: digitalcollections.nypl.org

 

Contributor: Leon Yan
Images Courtesy of The New York Public Library

网站: digitalcollections.nypl.org

 

供稿人: Leon Yan
图片由纽约公共图书馆提供

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The Foxgrove

January 12, 2016 2016年1月12日

The Foxgrove is a new boutique electronic music and DJ school that opened late last year in New York City. It was created for beginner-level music lovers, who have absolutely no production skills and probably never imagined being able to make their own music. Co-founder Natalie Lam, who originally is from Hong Kong and previously had worked 20 years in the advertising industry, actually prefers to think of The Foxgrove not as a school, but more as a “music social club” or a “fine learning experience”.

The Foxgrove是一所电子音乐和DJ的精品学校，于去年年底开设于美国纽约。这间学校是为毫无制作经验，甚至可能从未想象过拥有能力制作自己的音乐的入门级音乐爱好者们所设。联合创始人Natalie Lam，这位前20年致力于广告业的原香港人，更乐于不把The Foxgrove看成一所学校，而更多是一个“音乐社交俱乐部”，或者是一个“极佳的学习体验”。

 

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She believes that most people’s knee-jerk reaction to the idea of schools is not necessarily a positive one, but aside from the learning part, how The Foxgrove functions is unlike how traditional schools work. For both Natalie and co-founder David Maurice, creating a comfortable learning environment was really important. They decided at the beginning to get rid of the things that they didn’t like about schools, namely the “bad lighting, coldness, rigidness, discipline, (and) pressure”, and add the things that they would have liked to have had in school.

她相信，大多数人对于学校这个概念的本能反应不见得是积极的，但是除开学习部分，The Foxgrove的运作与传统学校则是大相径庭。不管是对于Natalie，还是另一位联合创始人David Maurice来说，创造一个舒适的学习环境相当重要。他们一开始就决定去除学校中他们不喜欢的东西，即“糟糕的光线，冷清，坚硬，纪律，(以及)压力”，加入他们希望一些学校有的东西。

The space of The Foxgrove was designed with “organic luxury in mind”. They used “ample wood, leather and fabric elements to create an intimate, relaxing space to offset the brand new music gear”. For Natalie, it was important that people didn’t feel intimidated by some of the challenges of having to learn and work with new technology. Some of their past students have likened the experience of attending a class at The Foxgrove to “learning to remix EDM in a spa”, while Natalie herself likes to describe it as a “boutique hotel meets recording studio”.

The Foxgrove的空间设计上应用了“有机奢华”。他们用“大量木料、皮料以及织物元素去营造一个私密放松的空间去陪衬崭新的音乐器材”。对于Natalie来说，让人们不被应用新技术所遇到的挑战吓退是很重要的。他们过去的一些学生曾将在The Foxgrove上课比作“在SPA中学习电子混曲”，而Natalie自己本人则喜欢说它是“精品酒店遇见录音工作室”。

The Foxgrove believes that the future of music in this digital age will go beyond streaming music and will also involve the democratization of music production. Natalie says, “We all love music. A hundred years ago, many people played music in their homes. It was only in the past fifty years that music was monopolized and commoditized by the record industry – music was put on a high pedestal. Music creation was reserved by the industry for the few who are ‘talented, charismatic, and connected’ in order to make massive profits.” The Foxgrove believes that with the current advancement of electronic music technology, more and more people can become the creators of music without even relying on record labels. With the technology becoming more accessible and affordable, the future of music may soon lie in the hands of music lovers and amateur producers. Natalie says, “We want to be the portal for those who never thought of touching music to get the first sweet taste.”

The Foxgrove相信在这个数码时代中，音乐的未来会超逾流媒体音乐，也将迎来音乐创作的普及化。Natalie说: “我们都爱音乐。一百年前，很多人在自己家中演奏音乐。仅在过去的五十年间，音乐就被唱片行业垄断和商业化了，音乐被高置神坛上了。音乐创作被预留给‘有才华、有魅力、有关系’的少数人以大举逐利”。The Foxgrove认为当下电子音乐技术的发展中，越来越多的人可以无需依赖音乐厂牌就能成为音乐创作人。随着技术的越来越触手可及，音乐的未来可能很快就被掌握在音乐爱好者和业余创作人的手中。Natalie说: “我们想要当一个传送门，让那些从未想过触碰音乐的人得到美好的音乐创作初体验。”

So far, The Foxgrove have had over 300 students attend their school. They are mostly young professionals looking for a new hobby or teens from high school. Their approach to classes and workshops is to provide their students with useful music education in digestible quantities that are short and sweet. There are music introduction classes that cover about 80% of the basics of music production and DJing, and there are also more advanced courses for those who are more serious. The focus is mostly on having fun, and turning the idea of music production into a mainstream hobby, like going for yoga class after work or going to catch a movie during the weekend. Similar to how Instagram and digital photography have in recent years helped democratized and popularized photography, The Foxgrove is looking to help bring music creation back into the lives of people. In the future, they are looking to expand globally to other important creative hubs, in cities such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, and elsewhere in Europe.

 

迄今，The Foxgrove已有超过300个学生加入他们的学校。这些学生多数是寻求一个新爱好的年轻职业人士或高中青少年。学校的课程和研讨班，以短而精易为消化的数量，为学生们提供有用的音乐教育。这里拥有初阶课程，其包含了80%的音乐制作和DJ基础知识；也有更高阶的课程，以满足有更进一步追求的学生。这里的注重点多数还是在于享受乐趣，以及将音乐创作转化为一个更为主流的爱好，好比下班后上瑜伽课或者周末看场电影。与Instagram和数码摄影近年为摄影的普及化和流行化助力相似，The Foxgrove期望可以将音乐带回人们的生活里。他们期待着在未来可以扩展到全球其他重要的创意中心去，例如上海、北京、香港这样的城市，以及欧洲。

Website: thefoxgrove.com

 

Contributor: Leon Yan
Video & Images Courtesy of The Foxgrove

网站: thefoxgrove.com

 

供稿人: Leon Yan
视频与图片由The Foxgrove提供

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The Human Condition

January 5, 2016 2016年1月5日

Seoul-based Korean artist Sun-Hyuk Kim produces work in a variety of mediums, such as sculpture, installations, painting, and video art, that poetically examines the human condition and its relation to nature. His root sculptures, constructed from stainless steel wires, depict the ghostly forms of anthropomorphic figures that are mysterious, delicate, skeletal, and appear pitifully weak. They represent the frailties of the modern man, who is obsessed and enslaved by consumerism, overtaken by material greed, and is helpless in the face of nature.

서울에서 작업하는 한국인 예술가 김선혁은 조각, 설치, 회화, 비디오 아트 같은 다양한 매체를 가지고 인간 조건과 자연 관계를 시적으로 생각해보는 작품을 만들어낸다. 스테인리스 스틸 와이어로 만든 그의 뿌리 조각 작품들은 유령 같은 형태를 신비하고 섬세한 골격으로 의인화한 형태로 표현하는데 이들은 모두 비참하게 연약해 보인다. 이 작품들은 소비지상주의에 사로잡혀 있고 물질에 대한 탐욕에 지배당하면서 자연 앞에서는 속수무책인 현대인의 연약함을 표현하고 있다.

According to Sun-Hyuk, the forms of the roots are intended to mimick the central nervous system of a human body. In some of his acrylic paintings, they are also represented as branches and blossoming vines. For Kim, the underlying concept of his work concerns human existence and theoretical questions on the origin of life and death. He sees our existence as being imperfect, but in a way also perfect, like hovering between a dream state and reality.

김선혁은 뿌리 형태가 인체 중추 신경계를 모방한 것이라고 말한다. 어떤 아크릴 작품에서는 뿌리가 가지와 꽃이 만발한 덩굴로 표현되기도 한다. 김선혁 작품의 기본 개념은 인간 존재와 삶과 죽음 기원에 대한 이론적인 질문이다. 그는 우리 존재를 불완전한 것으로 보지만, 꿈과 현실 사이를 방황하듯 어떤 면에서는 완전한 것으로 보기도 한다.

Sun-Hyuk tells us that early in his art education, he was influenced by the work of Belgian surrealist painter Rene Magritte, in particular his seminal and well-known painting Le Château des Pyrénées. In this classic painting, a magnificent castle sits perched on top of a mountain, but the mountain itself also floats above an ocean. It is a sensational and supernatural vision, and one which left a deep impression on Sun-Hyuk and had a profound influence on his own artistic style.

김선혁은 자신이 예술 교육 초기에 벨기에 초현실주의 화가 Rene Magritte (르네 마그리트)의 작품, 특히 그의 유명한 대표작 Le Château des Pyrénées 로부터 영향을 받았다고 말한다. 이 고전 작품을 보면 웅장한 성이 산 정상에 자리 잡고 있고 산은 바다 위에 떠 있다. 김선혁은 이 작품의 충격적이고 초자연적인 비전에 깊은 인상을 받았으며 이 비전은 김선혁의 예술적 스타일에도 큰 영향을 주었다.

There is also a sense of longing in Kim’s work. The visual elements he uses are highly symbolic and often convey a feeling of thirst or a natural desire to become whole. One of his installations shows a seedling that sprouts from a pile of dead leaves – a deceptively simple image that depicts the continual process of death and rebirth. In another installation, an imperfect leaf, partially eaten by insects, unexpectedly has a small door opening from its center, here subtly revealing what looks like an impossibly blue ocean and horizon on the other side. This stunningly cryptic image, also highly reminiscent of the classic surreal visual devices used by Magritte, is another fine representation of Sun-Hyuk Kim’s work.

김선혁 작품에는 갈망하는 느낌도 있다. 그가 사용하는 매우 상징적인 시각 요소는 갈증 느낌이나 온전한 전체가 되기 원하는 자연적인 욕망을 표현한다. 그의 설치 작품 하나는 죽은 나뭇잎 더미에서 싹트는 묘목을 보여주는데 이는 죽음과 재탄생의 계속적인 과정을 묘사하는 단순하지만 현혹적인 이미지다. 또 다른 설치 작품은 부분적으로 곤충이 먹은 불완전한 잎사귀 한 가운데 작은 문이 있고 믿기 어려울 정도로 파란 바다와 수평선이 문을 통해 보인다. 이 놀랍고도 난해한 이미지는 마그리트가 사용하는 고전적 초현실적 시각 장치를 연상시키는 것으로 이 작품은 김선혁의 대표작 중 하나라고 할 수 있다.

According to Sun-Hyuk, Korea is actually not an easy place to try to make a living as an artist. Most artists there earn only one million won KRW (or $800 USD) a month, which doesn’t even meet the minimum income standard for living in Seoul. Even commercial galleries in Seoul are struggling, and there is not widespread support for more experimental work. Especially challenging for young artists is being able to afford the artist fees for exhibiting one’s work. Despite this, there are still very many young people in Korea who believe, that by working hard and persevering, they will be able to succeed as great artists and to show the world Korean art.

김선혁은 한국이 예술로 생계를 이어 나가기 어려운 곳이라고 말한다. 대부분 예술가들이 한 달에 100만원 ($800 USD) 정도 버는데, 이는 서울 최저 생계비에 못 미친다. 서울에 있는 상업적 갤러리들도 어려움을 겪고 있으며, 실험적인 작품에 대한 지원도 별로 없다. 특히 젊은 예술가들은 작품 전시 비용을 마련하는데 어려움을 겪고 있다. 그래도 열심히 그리고 끈기 있게 노력하면 위대한 예술가로 성공할 수 있고  세계에 한국 예술을 소개할 수 있다고 믿는 젊은 예술가들이 많이 있다.

Websites:
sunhyuk.com
artsper.com/galerie-oneiro

Facebook: ~/sunhyukk

 

Contributor: Leon Yan

웹사이트:
sunhyuk.com 
artsper.com/galerie-oneiro

Facebook: ~/sunhyukk

 

글 쓴 사람: Leon Yan

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A Profile of Liu Shuwei

December 31, 2015 2015年12月31日

When looking at the photographic work of Liu Shuwei, one is immediately taken back by the painterly qualities of his images, and the way that he is able to capture colors, texture, patterns, mood, and natural lighting. Originally from Tangshan in Hebei province, and now mainly based in Shanghai, Liu Shuwei is preoccupied by many creative endeavors, including poetry, translating texts, fashion design, but perhaps most importantly for him, film photography.

驻目刘树伟的摄影作品时，你可被他画面中的油画质感以及他对色彩、质地、图案、情绪和自然光的捕捉立即吸引住。来自河北唐山、现今常居上海的刘树伟，投身于诸多种类的创作，包括诗歌、翻译、服装设计，然而对他来说，最重要的或许还是胶片摄影。

Shuwei usually shoots his personal work with a medium format Makina 67. What he enjoys most about shooting with film is that it has a certain kind of inaccuracy and roughness, which for him has a warm poetic quality that digital lacks. When asked to describe what his photographic style is like, he prefers just to say that it is eclectic. He strives to be able to master all the different styles of photography that he likes, but feels he has yet to reach that point.

进行个人创作时，刘树伟通常使用中画幅的Makina67作为器材。胶片的不精确和质朴，于他而言有着数码所欠缺的温暖诗意。关于自己的摄影风格，他宁愿用兼收并蓄来形容。他希望可以成为驾驭任何自己喜欢的风格的摄影师，却又觉得自己并未完全企及目标。

 

There are a few recurring visual elements and motifs in his work. Shuwei likes to shoot in mysterious locations and landscapes that convey an unsettling kind of uncertainty. He is drawn to capturing calm scenes of simple folk life in small rural villages – staged or otherwise. His photographic subjects tend to be a bit cool, or perhaps even cold. Shuwei’s preferred lighting is soft, natural, faint, and as he likes to describe it, “romantic”. He rates JH Engström and Boris Mikhailov quite highly, as two of his favorite photographers ever.

他的作品中有一些反复出现的视觉元素和主题。树伟喜欢在带着不确定性的空间进行拍摄。他喜爱捕捉简单的乡村民间生活的平静场景——摆拍与否。他的拍摄对象倾向冷静，甚至或许是冷漠的。树伟倾向使用柔和、自然、微弱的光，如他所述，“浪漫”的光。他对JH Engstrom和Boris Mikhailov评价甚高，指他们为他最喜欢的两位摄影师。

 

One of the biggest challenges he believes he faces as an artist is actually internal. Shuwei believes that his introversion and shyness can often be a bit debilitating, especially when shooting and collaborating with others. Because he sometimes lacks initiative, Liu says that he is in a constant struggle with himself. “What an artist needs most is autonomy,” he says, “and this is what I actually lack”.

他认为，身为艺术家，他所面对的最大挑战之一是来自内在。树伟认为自己的内向与羞涩常会削弱他的自信，特别是拍摄需要涉及到他人的时候。因为主动性的缺乏，他说他时常都要跟自己斗争。“做艺术家最需要的一点是自主性，”他说，“而这正是我所缺乏的。”

In addition to his photography, these past few years, he has also been designing his own clothes. It started out as just a hobby making custom clothes for himself, but soon as others saw the pieces that he was making, they also wanted to buy them. He admits that his interests are many and he wants to be able to continue working on all his of art projects and hobbies, not abandoning anything.

除了摄影，近来几年，他也一直在做自己的服装设计。一切均始于他给自己量身定做衣物的爱好，但是其他人一看到他做的衣物，也想购买这些衣物。他承认自己兴趣广泛，并且想要继续他的艺术项目和艺术爱好，什么都不想丢弃。

 

He has two photo projects that he is currently developing. The first one is related to subcultures in China. The other one is a series about his late grandmother. He is interested in searching for her spirit and follow the trail that he believes she left behind. For him, she is a mysterious and magical figure. When she was in her 50s, she converted to Catholicism. At that time, she was illiterate and couldn’t read. Shuwei gave her a Xinhua Chinese dictionary, and in a very short period of time, she grasped everything and knew the Bible by heart. When he was a small child, Shuwei was often rebellious to her authority. From the start, the two had a rather poor relationship. Through this photo project, he hopes to be able to reconcile his past with her.

目前他在进行的拍摄项目有两个。一个是拍摄中国的亚文化。另一个则是关于他已去世的祖母。他想搜寻她的身影、她存在过的踪迹。他心中的祖母是个神秘又神奇的存在。这位祖母在只字不识的50岁时信奉了天主教，却在树伟给了她一本新华词典后很短一段时间内，掌握了圣经并将其烂熟于心。他小时候叛逆，她又偏执强势，两人之间的关系并不好。他希望能够通过这个拍摄项目得以和家庭的这些过往达成和解。

 

Website: liushuwei.com

 

Contributor: Leon Yan

网站: liushuwei.com

 

供稿人: Leon Yan

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