Printing Kwun Tong – Public Art Scheme of Tsun Yip Street Playground Interactive Installation

SIn ProgressInstallation / Event Hong Kong, 2020 Client: Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Art Promotion Office, Energizing Kowloon East Office Team: Helen Kwan, Ehang Leung, Magic Kwan, Kenrick Wong, Victor Leung, Izk Chan, Wilson Cheung

The industrialization of Hong Kong was rapid from 1960 to 1970. The export of industrial products required a large amount of packaging, thus promoted the growth of the packaging and printing industry. In the 1980s, Kwun Tong was the hub for printing factories. Nowadays, many of them were closed or relocated to the Pearl River Delta. The installation “Printing Kwun Tong” resembles a giant printer to commemorate the faded industry. The device will “print” the user’s silhouette with the primary colors used in Offset Printing. Whenever a visitor stands in front of the installation, the Kinect motion sensor at the top will capture their motion. Data will be translated into four colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK), which are represented by four-color brushes. The motor will push or pull the brush towards or away from the glass, causing expansion or contraction of the brush tips. With all the brushes combined, they create large and continuous images. When the Kinect motion sensor is not triggered, the installation will show prefabricated animations, for instance, the photos of Kwun Tong’s old factories.

“Printing Kwun Tong” was the winner of the competition for Public Art Scheme of Tsun Yip Street Playground, and the exploration of the scripting graphics continue until 2022.

六、七十年代,香港工業起飛,加上轉口貿易產品需要大量包裝印刷品,促使印刷業日益蓬勃。觀塘亦因此於八十年代時成為印刷廠房的集中地。

這個「戶外藝術裝置──列印觀塘」代表一部巨型列印機,同時以此紀念褪色的印刷工業。藝術裝置會以柯式印刷的四種原色「列印」出參與者的剪影。

當參與者走到藝術裝置的正前方時,設於頂部的鏡頭擷取影像,並把數據轉化成四色,然後推動毛掃。摩打控制筆掃前後伸縮,毛掃尖碰到玻璃會散成不同大小的圓點,形成圖像,參與者可從中發現不同的「我」。鏡頭閒置時,裝置會顯示不同的預設影像與環境互動,例如一些抽象的圖案;同時能賦予遊人想像空間,亦為觀塘打印出深一層的意義。

Collaborators

Energizing Kowloon East

Architectural Services Department

Art Promotion Office