MATTHEW
Tsang Man Fu

Two Places Under the Same Sky

Two Places Under the Same Sky created by Matthew Tsang and Cordelia Tam is a work that was inspired by the seemingly large differences in how people in the two places Echigo-Tsumari and Hong Kong perceive the connection with nature and time. People in Hong Kong are surrounded by skyscrapers and often work around the clock. Echigo-Tsumari is a region with great mountain ranges, and the famous local rice is the outcome of the farmers’ respect for and adaptation to seasonal changes and the natural environment.As artists from the city, Matthew Tsang and Cordelia Tam experienced deeply the local natural environment and Satoyama during their residency in Echigo-Tsumari. They shredded waste-paper from Hong Kong and Tsunan to make handmade paper and transformed it into a natural shanshui (mountain and water) landscape — providing a metaphorical cleansing of urban trivialities. Animated sky scenes and lighting effect shift with the passing hours projected on the wall, mirroring the rapid pace of urban life. Handmade soil plates symbolise the enduring bond between farmers and the four seasons, with farm tools rotating like a clock’s movement, revealing an interesting perception of time between the two places.Leveraging Hong Kong House as an interface, the work pays tribute to the local way of living in harmony with nature and invites the audience to reflect on this. Despite the differences between the two places, they are under the same sky, and time and nature still flow in parallel.

《一樣不一樣》

對於自身與大自然和時間的聯繫上，越後妻有和香港兩地人們看似有著很大的差異。香港城市人被高樓大廈包圍，時常不分晝夜地工作；越後妻有則環抱秀麗的群山，當地著名的稻米是農民尊重並順應四時變化和自然環境的成果。藝術家曾敏富及譚若蘭創作《一樣不一樣》的靈感便源自於此。曾敏富和譚若蘭在駐留越後妻有的津南期間，感受當地自然環境和里山文化，作爲來自城市的藝術家感受特別深刻。他們把從香港及津南兩地收集的廢紙打碎製作成手造紙，再轉化為一道山水風景，過程就如洗滌城市人生活的繁瑣。投影和燈光效果在牆壁上的動態天空景像，隨著時間流動變化，反映著城市生活的快速步伐。手造的泥盤象徵農民與四季之間的持久聯繫，而農具像時針般旋轉，同樣流露著兩地人對時間不同的感知。作品透過香港部屋作為交匯點，向當地人與大自然共融的生活方式致敬，同時邀請觀眾反思，縱使兩地各有差異，但在同一片天空下，時間和自然仍然平行地流動著。