Composing Stories with Fragments of Time

Inspired by the emigrant’s honest reflections on his relationships, Carmen Ng’s Missing Words (2017) comprises four letters, each meant for one of her own family members—all four are devoid of content, and are only distinguishable due to their format. Placed above one of the letters was a set of metal type used in movable type printing, in reference to the artist’s father who worked with the now near-extinct technology before he retired. The work was reminiscent of letter templates found in teaching materials of Chinese classes, and created a sense of nostalgia. 

Instead of addressing the letter itself, Luke Ching focused on the stamp. By binding a collection of vintage stamps together like a book, Ching created sets of flipbook animations, which are accompanied by video. Rainy Day (2017) features a stamp with the iconic Hong Kong landmark, the Peak Tower. The artist added his intervention by flicking blue and white acrylic paint onto the surfaces. As the book is flipped through, there is the illusion of a dreadful downpour that grows stronger, at last covering the whole landscape. The dreariness is also seen in Victoria Harbor (2017), in which four flipbooks were created with used stamps from before the handover. The postmarks branded on the stamps resemble waves, and as the book is animated, it appears as if Hong Kong is once again drowning. In another part of the work, Queen Elizabeth II’s head appears to be bobbling on the surface of a sea. The works can be seen as reflections of the anxiety that has loomed over Hong Kong since before the 1997 handover and which continues to pervade the city today. Through his appropriation, the artist assigns new values to the stamps, inserting a less optimistic narrative to their official, commemorative purposes.