雅虎香港新聞 Yahoo Metaverse to launch series of NFT exhibitions ‘Revitalizing Kwun Tong’
What kind of place does ‘Kwun Tong’ mean to you? What kind of scenery will pop up in your mind when you think of ‘Kwun Tong’? Is it the ‘Yue Man Square’ that has been built for the community for more than 50 years? Or the hustling industrial centre in How Ming Street? Or the notorious traffic jam of Chun Yip Street? Or the promenade and pier in which you and I might have spent time day and night? We might all perceive an unique ‘Kwun Tong’ in each of our imagination. We, with honour, have the opportunity to invite four artists, SIUKINS, Au-Yeung Chun Hay, Stirring Light and Bread Poon to share their imaginations and memories of ‘Kwun Tong’. Through their art work, we will witness the disappearing scenes of old ‘Kwun Tong’ coming back to reality.
“The night scenes of the Yue Man Square under the rain” by PureHay
Amongst the many memories in our lives, childhood memory is always the fondest. When you think back to your childhood, it’s full of every little tiny chip of memories making up the most colorful world of your lifetime. To PureHay, the landmark of Kwun Tong – McDonald’s – symbolizes his vivid childhood memories. Being the base of children in the neighbourhood, McDonald’s bears witness to PureHay’s game time and study time with his closest friends. Young couples broke up and reunited at the same table. The Yue Man Shopping Centre nearby was the amusement park of that age. The comic bookshop was small. The video game shop was small. The hallway of the shopping centre was narrow and shabby. Yet, students were squeezing into the mall for the most updated games, for meeting their best friends, and for sharing the laughter that would cheer up their entire day. The shopping centre was the world to them, and that world printed into collective memories that are permanently preserved. With now the old Yue Man Square is gone with urban regeneration, PureHay revitalizes the memory of many in the form of ‘Cyberpunk’ and preserves the historical landscape for the future generation. The NFT art piece - “The night scene of Yue Man Square under the rain” – imprints the day-to-day livelihood of Yue Man Square in the Metaverse.
About Au-Yeung Chun Hay (PureHay)
PureHay, currently the chairman of the Hong Kong Society of Illustrators, has 14 years of solid working experience in animation and game design. His painting style is characterised by his strength in cyberpunk, and his heavy visual emphasis on “Disintegration, resemblance, and accuracy’. PureHay, in recent years, enjoys combining the ‘Old Hong Kong’ with robots to express the nostalgia and showcase the creativity and passion of Hong Kong artists in painting. As a landmark shared by many HongKongers, the McDonald’s at Yue Man Square, Kwun Tong, was the meet-up point for the kids, students, and elderly within the community. Memories of different generations precipitate in McDonald’s. While Kwun Tong, including the former site at McDonald’s, has been regenerated into now a modern city, McDonald’s is now transformed into a piece of memory in PureHay. The NFT art piece – “The night scene of Yue Man Square under the rain” pays tribute to the ‘Old Kwun Tong’ and shares the wish of the artist to preserve the city in the Metaverse.
“Sunset over Kwun Tong Pier” by Stirring Light
That is a typical morning scene in old Kwun Tong: White smoke spewed out from the chimney flue of factories, and roads were jammed with cars and lorries. Workers were queuing to buy their breakfasts. Some of them then entered the industrial buildings, getting ready for the start of another busy day. The others turned to Kwun Tong pier, starting to breathe heavily, sweat, and squeeze themselves into the ferry leaving for Hong Kong Island. Kwun Tong was once vibrant and bustling, being the generator of Hong Kong and that momentum of the city gave rise to a rich variety of industrial architecture. The “Stirring Light’ captures the essence of the Kwun Tong Pier and displays an enlarged version of the cube-shaped tower of the pier. Once being a paper recycling station, the cube-like tower is now re-designed with cyberpunk art. The art piece symbolizes the operation of the pier and reveals the charm of the industrial centre of the city.
About Stirring Light
Stirring Light is an art production team that pertains its design to the intercept point of real-world urban design, sound effects, and animation. The team believes their creativity comes from calming from space. Stir your coffee and look at the ripple. This is how you meet your muse in life to create more beautiful art pieces. “Sunset over Kwun Tong Pier” chooses one of the prominent landmarks of Kwun Tong District – the Kwun Tong pier – as the core idea for the creation of this art piece. By combining the Pier at sunset with sound effects and animation skills, the art piece brings to you the most romantic moment of the Pier.
“Traffic - Industrial - Noise” by Siukins
The artist believes Kwun Tong leaves everyone a similar impression – Unbearable noise, endless traffic jams, crowded streets and pedestrians, and the working-class lives the life of a working ant. They are trapped in the industrial buildings, losing their way in the congested Tsun Yip Lane. “Traffic – Industrial – Noise” symbolizes how mankind struggles in the melting pot of Kwun Tong, and how they strike to survive through it.
“The Abyss of Kwun Tong” by Siukins
If someone said “Traffic – Industrial – Noise” is SIUKINS’s reflection and feeling on nowadays Kwun Tong, “The Abyss of Kwun Tong” would be SIUKIN’s imagination of the city. The city is filled with silence from the lack of people. The empty flyover stands next to the bus stop with finally no one queuing. It is the deafening lack of noise that becomes the only sound SIUKIN, as the only person staying in the city, can hear. The silence stares at Tsun Yip Lane like a black hole, releasing all the pressure and depression trapped in Kwun Tong.
About Siukins
Siukins is notable for his series of NFT work known as “Overthinkers”. Being a boy who deems himself as one of the overthinkers, he tailor-made the NFT artwork to reveal his overthinking in stories. His works are mostly his interpretation of the world after the buyers share their own stories with Siukins. As for Kwun Tong, Siukins’ biggest impression is the bustling traffic of the city. This is why Siukins creates “The Abyss of Kwun Tong” and “Traffic – Industrial – Noise” to echo with the public.
“Anti-gravity” by Bread Poon
Bread Poon has her belief that every single girl has experienced the ‘mission impossible’ on public transport. She is no exception. For years working in Kwun Tong, every time she passed by Lung Cheung Road she falls into the imagination of being in a space camp. The spaceship is ready to launch. As one of the little astronauts, she has to grab all the suspending cosmetics in the space to finish the mission – Get the makeup done in the chaos and land on the ground with no accidence. The artist has fond of using sharp colours and an energetic brush stroking technique to reveal her funny experiences in Kwun Tong.
“The Backstreet Time Tunnel” by Bread Poon
Kwun Tong contains a myriad of lifestyles. In the hustling industrial hub filled with smoke and factories, the narrow backstreet connects everyone like the blood vessels of the city. When people make their shortcuts in the city through these backstreets, they suddenly enter the time tunnel of Kwun Tong. Surrounding by graffiti and storage boxes, you are speeding up to your destination. The backstreet is the unspoken secret of the city shared only by the locals.
About Bread Poon
Bread Poon is a member of the Youtube channel “Very Surprise” and also a local illustrator. On her own Instagram page “breads_bakery”, she loads her work with colours and cuteness to bring joy to her audience. Being one of those who works in Kwun Tong, Bread Poon creates “Anti-gravity” and “The Backstreet Time Tunnel” to share her daily encounters in Kwun Tong with her signature colourful and cute illustrations.
‘Revitalizing Kwun Tong’ NFT exhibitions
Date：13-19 June
Location : Yahoo Metaverse 1/F gallery
