Manghkut
Mangkhut depicts a fantastical, frozen image of 2018's Super Typhoon Mangkhut dramatically colliding with one of of Hong Kong's iconic corner houses. The facade is in shambles, buffeted by the 200 kilometer an hour winds. Scaffolding is wrenched from the facade, windows are shattered and laundry disappears into the storm's eye, creating a scene of chaos bordering on the apocalyptic.
The work embodies the indomitable forces of nature as they clash with what the wind reveals to be our vulnerable and tenuous man made structures. Hong Kong, on a normal day an indestructible and impenetrable concrete jungle, becomes, in the face of hurricane force winds and rain, frail and delicate.
Shek-O Opera: Celebrating the Ephemeral
The setting is Shek O's bamboo theater. The structure is partially dismantled, the echo of the performances only a memory. On stage, however incongruous, Shek O's maritime horizons still provide the backdrop.
A surviving mangrove tree stands proudly, holding the starring role in this altogether new performance. Next to it, lie piles of branches and ripped concrete structures, the tragic victims.
These remains tell the story of the typhoon’s aftermath.
The scene evokes the fragility of our environment and human condition. All is celebrated in what is only a temporary structure, torn down and rebuilt, like the not so distant city that houses it.