Culture and Leisure

Art village sprouts in factory zone

by Joey Wong

Visitors kept streaming down the cool and dim corridor from a metallic cargo lift and headed into different factory spaces. Inside the lofts, the scenes were contrastive, beaming warmth and brightness.

One of the rooms, Loft 21, showcased a broken chair, a worn-out mattress, a light box and some railings of a double-bunk bed. In galleryMill, another loft, there were ceramics and paintings on walls, whereas Studio 615 displayed conceptual artworks, including a parody of Da Vinci’s the Last Supper.

Those were, in fact, just a tiny fraction of “Fotanian: Open Studio 2007”, a collaboration of more than 30 studios managed by about 100 artists that are scattered in the industrial area of Fo Tan near Sha Tin.

“Some people used to think that only items exhibited in galleries or museums are art, but now they know that art can be something right next to them in their daily lives,” said Gordon Lo Ka-yin, a mixed media artist and an organiser of this year’s event, as he explained how things as common as abandoned furniture could become artworks.

The crude decor of the studios and the artists’ socialising on the spot, such as chit-chatting, listening to vinyl records and sipping wines, blended into a casual and relaxing atmosphere, which is a far cry from the “please keep quiet” and “stay behind the line” of conventional galleries and museums.

The loft ambience also favoured the interaction between visitors and artists, who usually station in the studios 24-7 to work, chill out with friends or even stay overnight.

Visitors, professionals and laymen alike, discussed with artists about meanings of specific artworks, artists’ personal experiences and feelings.
“The development of the local art circle is very healthy, just like a food chain,” said Chow Chun-fai, one of the Fotanian open studio organisers. Chow, the artist who parodied the Last Supper, said an increase in number and diversity of the artisticallyliterate population was a good sign comparable to a growing food chain.

The art community in Fo Tan, which has dubbed itself the Fotanian, has bloomed alongside as well, reaching the highest in number and diversity in this year’s event in January.
Visitors who were lucky enough would see the one-time-only performance of Stephane de Medeiros, who came all the way from Paris.

The French behavioural artist’s seemingly absurd performance aimed at invoking spectators’ interpretations by sticking himself with adhesive tapes onto a wall for an hour.

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