LEANDRO ERLICH
Reflection!
Oi!, 12 Oil St, North Point, Hong Kong, China
May 17th through August 7th, 2014
In the exhibition of Reflection!, Leandro Erlich from Argentina and Meta4 Design Forum and Kingsley Ng from Hong Kong construct a point of convergence for reality and fabricated imagery through installations, sound and vision.
Leandro Erlich creates three-dimensional visual illusions that invite the viewer’s interaction. Specially tailored to Oi!, his extraordinary Bâtiment incorporating a huge mirror sets out to alter reality and defy common sense and our perceptions of space. The participation of the audience and their creativity in interacting with the mirror forms the essence of this work of art that challenges our understanding of our own reality.
Inspired by the historical buildings that house Oi! and the modern high-rises that surround them, the architects of Meta4 Design Forum team up with documentary photographer Tse Pak-chai to rethink the relationship between the old buildings of the city that are gradually disappearing and the new ones that are taking their place. The installation assimilates a curtain wall, the symbol of urban redevelopment, and projects on to it images of old buildings that have been demolished in order to stimulate the audience’s memories of the city and their response to its modern incarnation.
Reflecting the street scenes outside the arched windows of Oi!, Kingsley Ng’s light and sound installation gently recounts stories of the past and present. As the original home of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, 12 Oil Street has always been associated with leisure, while North Point also offered plenty of entertainment in the old days. In an exploration of the relationship between “recreation” and “re-creation”, Ng invites the audience to find their way through a series of scenes, composed of images, sounds, scents, taste and narratives that are part real, part imaginary, and to travel through the urban landscapes of the Oil Street of yesterday and today.