midday, Quarry Bay (2013) from Alex Yiu on Vimeo.
Yasi * We Friend – a cross-media response exhibition to Leung Ping Kwan
“Poet” should be the profession that Yasi stated on his resume. Yet Yasi, as we all know, was fond of bypassing boundaries; he was never such a poet to be confined to his position. Engaged with different art forms, he enjoyed interacting with artists and photographers on the construction of imagery, with dancers exploring the possible fusion of text and the human body, with musicians achieving a dialogic collision within the abstract space of musical notes — not to mention those local and overseas literati who translated or interpreted his works. One can imagine the resonance produced when these verses, regardless of nationality and language, are recited altogether must be as magnificent as a symphony!
Never has the passing away of any poet in Hong Kong aroused such a huge response in the cultural circle. It is because Yasi has taken off his hat of a poet, transcended the boundary of literature and affected friends in different disciplines and of various nationalities.
This cross-border poet had a great passion for life. He was indeed such a vivacious “Hong Kong guy” beneath the label of a “poet”. Although the words “I lived a very happy life ‘as a Hong Kong guy’” may seem somehow exaggerated, its veracity is revealed in Yasi’s works about this city.
He continuously adjusted his perspectives in reading and writing this city, and his explorations gathered more and newer observations. In Ducky Tse’s photographic-journey across the territory, Alex Yiu’s award-winning percussion music piece, Carman Fung’s self-sung poem as well as the response-verses of Chung Kwok Keung and Sandrine Marchand, we can find new portrayals of people and things somewhere on this island.
At the exhibition, a good number of works come from friends who have interacted with the poet, or who were inspired by either the works or personality of Yasi. Chow Chun Fai transforms imageries in Yasi’s works to a “city of films”, invoking continuous clips of memories somehow bizarre yet intimate at the same time. Esther Cheung reminisces about Yasi’s flame tree whose daring redness is then brushed by Thomas Au with his lens.
Li Kam Fai narrates his tribute by recording the reading of Yasi’s poem. Some young text-lovers also interpret their immaterial yet substantial encounters with Yasi in their works: Siufung composes his work of homage with original verses of Yasi, Wing Chan responds with photography and text; while others like Frederik H. Green, Jessie Ng and Madeleine Slavick use their familiar media to remember the late poet.
Yasi’s blossoming laughter and spirited face remain unforgettable. That smile, so vividly depicted by Candaces Leung, a close friend of The Thumb magazine days, is also found in Lee Ka Sing’s photo. How do artists of the younger generation portray Yasi? Chrysanthus Chan records the laughter with acrylics, whilst Chihoi and Lam Tung Pang sketch the visage with charcoal and ink. All arouse deep thoughts amongst Yasi’s friends.
Speaking of good friends, Yasi and the photographer-couple Lee Ka Sing and Holly Lee witnessed the upbringing of each other’s children. Ka Sing uses 27 small cubes and Holly a photographic-image to synthesize their many shared moments and memories. Friends like Liu Wai Tong, Esther Cheung and Agnes Lam respond with poems. Meanwhile, Jam Wu adopts paper-cutting to commemorate his friend while Lee How Chung chooses to work on a hand-made book.
None of his friends would deny Yasi was so addicted to eating, and indeed Yasi has written many poems on food. When praising the bittermelon in poetry, he is savouring different sceneries, both flat and pleated, of the human world. We understand why Andy Yung displays Yasi’s verses inside a vegetable stall, he has to tell farmer Yasi’s story. When farmer tells the story to everyone, poetry then starts linking up with everyone, everywhere. Yasi’s poetry and smiling face are still with us, he has never left this colourful, tasty world.
———Anne Leung Co-curator
Yasi * We Friend -
A Cross-Media Response Exhibition to Leung Ping Kwan
Date: 10 – 28 January 2014
Time: Monday to Saturday,
noon – 10pm
Venue: Hong Kong Fringe Club
2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong
也斯*吾友 —
跨媒介回應展
在簡歷表職業一欄上，也斯填寫的應是詩人。但這位詩人好不安份，總是游離在框與框的邊緣 ： 與藝術家、攝影家在意象的構想上作出交流，與舞蹈家探索形體和文字的可能性，與音樂家在音符的抽象空間中互相碰擊……還未曾計算那些將他的作品翻譯、詮釋成不同語言的本地和外地的文化人，可以想像，這些超越國籍、文字的詩句一起同時朗讀，那共鳴的聲音定可媲美一首壯觀的交響樂！
在香港，從沒有一位詩人的離去在文化界會引起這麽大的迴響，因為他早已脫下詩人這件外衣，跨越文學的界線，他的「吾友」來自不同界別、不同國籍。
這位游離自在的詩人總是那麽熱愛生活，在詩人本位之前，他就是這樣一位活脫脫的地道「香港人」。「『作為香港人』我一生過得很快樂」似乎有點兒誇張，但卻真實從也斯的作品中透出。他不斷調整閱讀和書寫這城市的角度，他的摸索帶來更多更新的觀看。在謝至德的影像旅程、姚少龍的原創打擊音樂、馮嘉汶的自彈自唱詩作，還有鍾國強和桑德琳的回應詩句，都重新記下了這小島某處的一些人、一些事。
在展覽中，不少作品是受着也斯詩作或個人所感悟，或與也斯互動而成的。周俊輝將一段段的意象轉化為一幕幕連續的電影城市記憶，既奇異亦熟悉；張美君則記下鳳凰木的點滴，區國強再將火浴豔紅在鏡頭下傳遞；李錦煇的閱讀過程再造錄像……還有，新一代文字愛好者在作品中演繹自己與也斯一份既飄渺又實在的神交；小風將也斯的詩句解構重現，陳穎華用攝影和文字回應，其他還有葛浩德、吳芷欣和思樂維都以各自熟悉的媒介回應。
也斯爽朗開懷的笑聲、積極的面容總是令人難以忘懷；「大姆指」時期好友肯肯仔細描繪、李家昇以照片佐證。後輩又如何勾畫也斯呢？陳蕙瑜用油彩畫下笑聲，智海和林東鵬輕輕勾勒，着着牽動多少好友的追憶。
說到好友，互相看着對方子女成長的李家昇和黄楚喬夫婦，分別以立體小方塊及攝影概括某部份不能忘懷的場景。還有，好友廖偉棠、張美君和林舜玲等的詩作，像讓大家記着也斯其實是一位詩人；而吳耿禎選擇剪紙，李孝聰選擇用雙手造出一本書去表示懷念。
也斯嗜吃，眾友皆知。也斯寫食物的詩也不少。在頌苦瓜的時候，他咀嚼的是人世間各種平坦摺疊的風景。所以翁志羽將也斯苦瓜的詩句掛在瓜棚，他將也斯的故事告訴農夫，然後農夫把故事告知大家，詩詞就與大家開始連結起來。這樣，他的詩句、他的笑臉在半空中繼續飛揚，觀看大地上各式的風景，從沒離開過這紛陳多姿的滋味人間。
— 梁麗碧 聯合策展人
也斯*吾友 — 跨媒介回應展
日期：2014年1月10日至28日
時間：星期一至六
上午12時至晚上10時
地點：香港藝穗會
香港中環下亞厘畢道二號