Multi-disciplinary Media Artist GayBird’s Music for 9 Exhibition
Reintegrating the sound of close-to-completeness
梁基爵《九重奏》展覽‧重新整合那差一點點的完整樂章……
Opening Reception 開幕酒會:
27.04.2023 (Thur 四), 18:00–20:00
Exhibition date 展覽日期: 27.04–27.05.2023
Opening hours 開放時間: 10:00–19:00 (Closed on Monday 星期一休息)
Venue 地點: Unit 1701 H Queen’s, Central 中環
Free of charge 免費參觀
Screens occupy our lives, and we spend nearly every waking moment with them. When screens have become part of our bodies, art and culture would also happen on screens that may no longer be the representation of an era, yet, how does art adapt to this medium?While the number ‘10’ represents completeness in Chinese culture, ‘9’ may sound incomplete because it is ‘1’ short to be considered whole. However, the deficiency of ‘9’ creates possibilities. Avoiding preset ceilings encourages us not to take things for granted. Complex images could be seen on a monitor without a light source; a robotic dog on a leash might still be able to go wherever it could; ‘Ode to Joy’ with no tones might evoke another kind of delight.
The exhibition seeks to arouse interest in sight and hearing, reintegrating the sound of close-to-completeness. A percussion performance gets fragmented, visually and aurally in a video work; Close-ups of body parts are displayed on synchronised screens, while pairing speakers fill the space with gritty sound. The full spectrums of visual and audio are filled with rhythms and melodies built by re-integrated moving images and sound. The aural gradually transits from percussion music to sounds of the city. While the moving images on the screens remain unchanged, the sound gradually dislocates, transporting audiences beyond the walls of the exhibition space to the city soundscape, and discovering the diversity of Art Tech that creates new possibilities for audiences to explore.
Music for 9 Exhibition is part of the The Missing Link series. Curated by Multi-disciplinary Media Artist / HK Composer GayBird and Vanissa Law, The Missing Link consists of three Arts Tech exhibitions, an immersive performance, and a series of open lectures concerning the current issues in the use of technology in arts. By introducing two essential elements in music - timeliness and performative into art forms that have not yet existed, the two composers/curators wish to inspire new creations and to offer new dimensions to existing art forms. Through the creation of multimedia artworks, the artists would explore ways to deploy technology for the sake of storytelling. Along with GayBird, the two participating creators, media artist Kenny Wong and architect Wyan Yeung, explore the possibility of applying timeliness and performative in their works of art.
「九」好像是一種不圓滿，加了「一」才算十全十美，但「九」充滿可能性，缺陷造就了新的感觀；原本理所當然的雖然不再理所當然，但沒有前設的過程反而更發人深省。沒有光源的螢光幕也可看得更複雜的影像，不太自由的機械狗或者可行得更遠，好像沒有音調的貝多芬第九交響樂「快樂頌」，可能有另一種快樂。
藝術家梁基爵向來擅於製作聲音媒體裝置，在是次展覽中，作品在屏幕上顯示著零碎的肢體，喇叭播著雜質的聲音充塞著整個空間；分解的身體變成了節奏，摻雜的聲音變成了旋律。資訊被分解後又被拼湊，圓滿整個頻譜，就這樣把不圓滿片段變成了完整的樂章。聲與影同步，由打擊樂慢慢轉化為城巿的聲音，雖然眼睛看到的影像不變，但漸漸脫離影像的聲音會帶你衝破展覽空間，到逹城巿的另外想像。就這樣把不圓滿片段變成了完整的樂章，帶領觀眾探索藝術結合科技的無限可能。
《九重奏》展覽是由兩位跨媒體藝術家及作曲家梁基爵和羅穎綸策劃《連繫不明》展覽系列的延伸，靈感來自科技與音樂的應用，將「時間性」 (timeliness) 和「展演性」 (performative) 套用在不同媒體的藝術層面，輔以科技的運用，給予藝術形式一個新看法、新生命，從而啟發更多新的作品。
《連繫不明》展覽系列計劃包括三個分別以聲音雕塑、動態裝置及虛擬現實裝置為題材的展覽，是一個時空扭曲的媒體演出以及六節免費的科技藝術公開課。除了上述兩位作曲家外，其他參與藝術家也包括媒體藝術家黃智銓和建築師楊理崇，他們都會從不同界別去透視時間性和展演性應用在其他藝術形式的可能性。
Public Programme 公眾活動
#1 Music for 9 Beyond Music: electronic sound, media installation, and the idea of incompleteness 聲音以外的九重奏：聲音、媒體裝置和不完整延伸
07.05.2023 (Sun 日), 3–4pm
Speaker 講者: GayBird 梁基爵
Moderator 主持人: Arman Lam 林昶汶
Venue 地點: Unit 1701, H Queen’s, Central 中環
Conducted in Cantonese 廣東話進行
Free of charge 費用全免
GayBird will introduce the concept behind media installation Music for 9 and talk about how he applies the idea and theory of music composition into other art forms.
#2 Create for Screens; Compose with Images 從屏幕到影像的虛實構象
13.05.2023 (Sat 六), 4–5pm
Guest Speaker 客席講者: Henry Chu 朱力行, Ip Yuk Yiu 葉旭耀
Moderator 主持人: GayBird 梁基爵
Venue 地點: HART Haus (3/F, Cheung Hing Industrial Building, 12P Smithfield Road, Kennedy Town 堅尼地城士美菲路12P號祥興工業大廈3樓
Conducted in Cantonese 廣東話進行
Free of charge 費用全免
About the Artist 藝術家簡介
FB: madebygaybird │ IG: madebygaybird
Leung Kei-cheuk, aka GayBird is an Multi-disciplinary Media Artist / HK Composer. GayBird’s career is defined by his versatility as a music director, composer, and producer. He has produced hundreds of works in music, concert and theatre since 1996. His compositions and productions have been recognised with nominations and awards from major music organisations including the Asian Composers League Young Composers Awards, CASH Golden Sail Music Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, and Chinese Music Media Awards.
In recent years GayBird has focused on exploring the possibilities of sound through media art. He has been commissioned by various museums and art institutions, including the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, M+, the East Kowloon Cultural Centre, and the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre. His installations have been exhibited at major events such as Art Electronica in Austria, OzAsia Festival in Adelaide, Australia, Athens Digital Art Festival, EXIT Festival in France, Hong Kong Art Basel, and the International Symposium on Art & Technology Taiwan. In 2017, he was commissioned to create a large-scale outdoor installation called ‘Home’ in Australia, and his sound installation ‘From the Heart’ won the 3D/Interactive Award at The Lumen Prize.
Since 2011, GayBird has formed an artistic interrelationship among theatre space, media installation, visual imagery, immersive sound and live music. His recent works include ‘18 Ways to Create or Mute Sound’ commissioned by M+ in 2021, ‘Breathing At Zero’ commissioned by the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, ‘One Zero’, a collaboration with renowned director Tsai Ming-Liang, presented by Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival, ‘18 Scenes in a Cage’, a site-specific work presented at historic building, commissioned by the Hong Kong Visual Art Centre in 2018, and ‘Emergency Kit & Swimming Pool’, a site-specific performance that took place at a swimming pool.
跨媒體藝術家梁基爵一直以多重身份活躍於香港音樂和藝術界，音樂作品曾於亞洲作曲家聯盟青年作曲家大賽、金帆獎、香港電影金像獎、台灣金馬獎、華語音樂傳媒大獎及多個音樂獎中獲提名或獎項。
近年專注媒體藝術創作，探索呈現聲音的可能性，並獲不同博物館和藝文機構委托創作，當中包括香港藝術館、香港故宮文化博物館、M+博物館、東九文化中心、香港視覺藝術中心等。裝置作品分別展出於奧地利 Ars Electronica Festival、澳洲阿德萊德 OzAsia Festival、雅典數碼藝術節、法國 EXIT 數碼電子藝術節、香港巴塞爾藝術展、台灣科技藝術展示會等；2017年獲澳洲委約大型戶外聲音裝置「家」；聲音裝置作品「忐忑」更獲得英國著名媒體藝術獎項 Lumen Prize 3D/Interactive Award。2022獲香港故宮博物館委約創作大型聲音裝置「慶」。
自2011年起，開始探索有關媒體藝術演出形式上的不同可能，創作多個革新的媒體藝術作品，將劇場空間、媒體裝置、視覺藝術和沉浸式聲音效果混合於現場表演中，當中包括由 M+博物館委約作品「18種發聲或失聲的方法」、香港演藝學院委約作品「息在零地」、與國際導演蔡明亮合作《一零》、以歷史建築作為表演場地的場域特定作品《籠裏的18種風景》和以泳池作表演場地的《急救箱與許願池》。除藝術創作以外，近年亦積極推動香港藝術與科技發展，成立跨界別製作公司 Machine & Art NOW，於2021年主辦了混種藝術企劃「活人電機」和今年正在進行的「The Missing Link」《連繫不明》科技藝術企劃。