0 0 6 APRIL 2015
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COVER STORY
BAO
Bao is a self-taught artist who is currently based in Hong Kong. She loves travelling and her work has been showcased by different galleries around the world.
Can you describe a bit of your background and what led you to become an artist? I was a designer for 6 years. Then I realized this is not exactly what I wanted to do so I resigned from my job, bought a plane ticket, and left all of my money with my mom. With my drawing tools and guitar packed, I was ready to get out of my stable and boring life. Over the past 2 years, I have travelled to Australia, Taiwan, and Europe. I was living my life off selling my artwork and busking. Travelling and meeting people from different countries changed my life. Then I moved back to Hong Kong and became an artist. How would you describe your work and what is your inspiration? I don't think too much about my work. I will say they are my expressions of my mind. My style developed these years. Everything inspires me. In my head, there are lots of "boxes" filled with different things. I try to combine everything when I draw.
What are you working on at the moment and what will you be doing next? I was working on some murals in a school and an exhibition with a couple of other artists. I will be painting another mural in the school with some students soon. Also, I am collaborating with my best friend, a very talented artist, Uns. The project is called "SketchesPingPong". One of us creates a sketch and passes it to the other. Drawings are added to and passed back. This will be repeated until we decided to start a new one
You've started doing murals these few years. How do you perceive the growing relationship between mainstream art and 'street' art? I can't say I know them both very well. There are street artists that gained recognition from the murals they painted. Then they started painting on canvas or even created a brand. They brought their skills in painting murals in to galleries, but I don't think that makes any difference. They're still doing art they like. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? At the moment, I think it is unpredictable. I hope I'm still doing something I like, as well as sharing positive energy with people around me.
C O V E R STO R Y
NOBEING A Hong Kong fashion brand established by Yen Yeung. NoBeing specializes in hand-craft accessories and it is well known for its unique and playful design concept. Recently released the Animal Kingdom series to raise awareness of the global warming issue. Previous collections include the Strings Collection that is inspired by weaving, the Antique Collection inspired by metal corrosion and the Bejeweled Collection that played with the rigidity of metal and semi-precious stones.
What does Nobeing mean? When I was young, I liked to work alone so I created this name, NoBeing, for ‘it does not exist’ or ‘it is to be ignored’. I like to be humble and discreet. The Animal Kingdom Collection is very different from the collections you created in the past; I can see a huge progress there. What lead you to creating this series? The collections I made in the past have always been visual based. I put together different materials, colours and shapes to create accessories that are visually pleasing. However, I feel like there’s a lack of story behind them. So I created the Animal Kingdom Collection. For this collection, I also aimed to give my customers a more elaborate experience by designing better packaging, story and shop décor.
What special skills are used in this collection? Laser cut was introduced in the project. I like metal and leather and I have rarely seen laser cut on leather due to its technical difficulties so I wanted to see if I could make this work.
What is the design initiative behind the Animal Kingdom series? This series showcases silhouettes of animals from the perspective of human beings. I love animals and I have recently noticed the effects of global warming and climate change. This will eventually affect the nature and the species that we share this beautiful planet with. So I created this series to raise awareness to these issues.
What is the relation between fashion and people in Hong Kong? I think it is really hard to create your own brand in Hong Kong. In my opinion, there are 3 kinds of customers; the ones go for designer brands, the ones go for designs and the ones go for affordability. We target people who look for special designs. However, as the blooming of Korean fashion, people are more willing to purchase Korean brands due to its credibility. Also, I think it is hard for a local designer to be known globally because of the cultural differences and language barriers. Ideally, I am hoping for NoBeing to be international and I am working hard on that. Last year, our products were displayed in shows and runways in Paris, New York and Singapore.
FA S H I O N
H K WA L L S
HKWALLS
Now in its second successful year, HKwalls is a celebration of street arts - and the only one of its kind in Hong Kong. With fashion brand Agnes b. as their official festival partner, HKwalls 2015 is on a bigger scale than its debut. Starting mid-March, the artists transformed walls and shutters throughout Sheung Wan, Central and Stanley Market. After getting permission from shop owners and the like to paint specific locations, HKwalls invited local and international street artists to participate. The festival is an opportunity for artists to add depth and creativity to the cityscape, while welcoming the general public into the dialogue about street art. Without the stiff structure of traditional art exhibitions, HKwalls creates a casual environment for the public to appreciate art. If you're not familiar with street art, you can check out creations from some of the best just by taking a weekend stroll through the three areas. Plus, you might even discover some new shops and restaurants as you scour for newly painted walls. TEXT BY CONNIE TAM
村上 隆
TA K A S H I M U R A K A M I Takashi Murakami is one of the most recognizable contemporary artists from Japan. His work ranges from cartoony paintings to performance art to quasi-minimalistic sculptures to consumer products such as vinyl toys, watches and other products. He is best known of his bright colored and animate-inspired aesthetic. He is also the founder of the ‘superflat’ movement. Murakami’s work reference traditional Japanese woodblock print while embracing Andy Warhol’s pop art ideology.
‘Superflat' can be explained by two phenomena, first, the pre-modern traditional Japanese art (Nihonga) and second, the post-modern otaku products. Traditional Japanese art is generally ink-based or watercolor based which is 2-dimentional and shows less perspective. Hence, Murakami called it ‘superflat’. This concept of flatness in traditional Japanese art also contributes to the second phenomenon of the ‘superflat’ movement, which is the otaku culture. It indicated a subcultural group that emerged in 1970s and consisted of enthusiastic consumers who were fascinated by various post-war Japanese subcultures, for example, manga, anime, Sci-Fi, models, computer hacking and so on. These subcultures were emerged from the collective expression of post-war Japanese nationalism, although their surroundings in reality are thoroughly invaded and traumatized by American pop culture.
TA K A S H I M U R A K A M I
EVENT
LOOKBACK
PRODUCTION
SUNDAY 19TH APRIL 12:00 TO 17:00 THE COURTYARD, PMQ, 35 ABERDEEN STREET, CENTRAL.
PRESENTS
If you enjoy some good Hip Hop and miss the feeling of just hanging out on a great day outside with some good friends, good jams and community. "The Offset" at PMQ to try to compensate for all the space that we don't get to use and all the time we don't get to enjoy...cause you know, some things in life are worth taking the time to appreciate. There will be an area that kids can be creative. Casual Hip hop and break dance workshops available for kids too. MUSIC / DJ BLAZE (WWW.DJBLAZEHK.COM) / SOL PASSION MUSIC | ARTISTS / XYZ / FORGET ABOUT IT / SAUTEL CAGO / AMT | DANCE WORKSHOPS / SOULOVE KULTURE / PLACE MAKING PRODUCTIONS
F o r m o re i n f o r m a t i o n , p l e a s e c h e c k : w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / l o o k b a c k p ro d u c t i o n s
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SPECIAL THANKS / BAO IG@SIMPLEBAO / NOBEING (WWW.NOBEINGGROUP.COM) / HKWALLS / LOOKBACK PRODUCTION / TAKESHI MURAKAMI | FOUNDER & ART DIRECTOR / AMYMARIAT | LONDON HEAD OF EDITORIAL / ELIZABETH WILLIS | LONDON HEAD OF ART / ELENA CREMONA | EDITOR / CONNIE TAM | GRAPHICS / SAMO | FACEBOOK . INSTAGRAM . TWITTER @ LINKUPZINE
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