Interview with Joe:
1. Why you choose cubicle apartments as the theme?
2. Why you choose to film a luxurious version of the cubicle apartment instead of the reality apartment (poor condition) one?
3. What kind of researches you did before you start your work?
In the past few years, my works are usually related to the living environment of our city. When I was exploring what is meant by an ideal living environment, I realize that the marketing promotion materials for properties are trying to construct a “luxurious /stylish” living style, and trying to make you believe that it is what an ideal living space should be.
In order to analyze how they portray an ideal living style through the use of this “property promotion language”, I had made many site-visits to “luxurious” apartments, collected and studied the property promotion materials, studied promotion adv, agents’ manners and show flat setting methods etc. I tried to find out the pattern of this language and position it in an extremely different position – a subdivided flat.
This language is used in the hope that audience will have reflection on the issues about the unrealistic set up of show flats and the ridiculousness of property promotion method and the unreasonable size and rental of apartments nowadays,.
The way how the public perceive the meaning of "luxury" through property promotion language is further studied in the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Kings-Cube/136765079733116
4. Which part did you mainly responsible in the work?
Formulating the idea of the work, data collecting and analyzing, site searching and studying, project and content design and organization, all preparation works for shooting, storyboard and characters design, script writing, finding props, all aesthetic decisions making( e.g., decorating the site, shooting and editing, presentation of the final work...etc), bill board and brochure making, online page making… etc.
5. What is the medium that you used in your work?
6. Why you choose those medium (e.g. video,filming)?
7. What are the advantages of those medium?
The whole work consists of a billboard installation, brochure, video and a facebook page. The setup was trying to imitate the property promotion setting while the online page shows how this language works.
As the work touches certain social issues, and YouTube is a platform able to reach a wide range of people, it then serves as a suitable platform for a broad discussion.
8. What is your biggest and most inspired feeling after finishing this work?
In my creative path, my concern and starting point used to be something directly related to problems of the people under certain situation. For example, in one of my projects “Gift”, I tried to bring people the things they have the rights to enjoy as urban dwellers but for various reasons taken away from them. For example, I tried to “provide wind” for those suffered from living near “wall building” and I tried to “provide darkness” to those who live in a place affected by light pollution. All these revealed certain problems in the living environment of our urban space. However, how all these problems have come along is something I hope to discuss and explore together with the audiences through my works.
In my current project, it shows how property promotion language is trying to influence the public’s conception of “ideal living environment” and vice versa, what does it mean to our value system? And what will happen to the development of our city if people here continue believing in it? Another thing that arouses public’s awareness was the high density living environment shown in the video and it is a real case in certain district in Hong Kong. As an artist, I am trying to create a platform for the discussion over these topics and it’s a channel for us to explore the issue together.
In order to analyze how they portray an ideal living style through the use of this “property promotion language”, I had made many site-visits to “luxurious” apartments, collected and studied the property promotion materials, studied promotion adv, agents’ manners and show flat setting methods etc. I tried to find out the pattern of this language and position it in an extremely different position – a subdivided flat.
This language is used in the hope that audience will have reflection on the issues about the unrealistic set up of show flats and the ridiculousness of property promotion method and the unreasonable size and rental of apartments nowadays,.
The way how the public perceive the meaning of "luxury" through property promotion language is further studied in the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Kings-Cube/136765079733116
4. Which part did you mainly responsible in the work?
Formulating the idea of the work, data collecting and analyzing, site searching and studying, project and content design and organization, all preparation works for shooting, storyboard and characters design, script writing, finding props, all aesthetic decisions making( e.g., decorating the site, shooting and editing, presentation of the final work...etc), bill board and brochure making, online page making… etc.
5. What is the medium that you used in your work?
6. Why you choose those medium (e.g. video,filming)?
7. What are the advantages of those medium?
The whole work consists of a billboard installation, brochure, video and a facebook page. The setup was trying to imitate the property promotion setting while the online page shows how this language works.
As the work touches certain social issues, and YouTube is a platform able to reach a wide range of people, it then serves as a suitable platform for a broad discussion.
8. What is your biggest and most inspired feeling after finishing this work?
In my creative path, my concern and starting point used to be something directly related to problems of the people under certain situation. For example, in one of my projects “Gift”, I tried to bring people the things they have the rights to enjoy as urban dwellers but for various reasons taken away from them. For example, I tried to “provide wind” for those suffered from living near “wall building” and I tried to “provide darkness” to those who live in a place affected by light pollution. All these revealed certain problems in the living environment of our urban space. However, how all these problems have come along is something I hope to discuss and explore together with the audiences through my works.
In my current project, it shows how property promotion language is trying to influence the public’s conception of “ideal living environment” and vice versa, what does it mean to our value system? And what will happen to the development of our city if people here continue believing in it? Another thing that arouses public’s awareness was the high density living environment shown in the video and it is a real case in certain district in Hong Kong. As an artist, I am trying to create a platform for the discussion over these topics and it’s a channel for us to explore the issue together.
