MUK6 HAK1
by Fish Tank
Photos: Fish Tank
Muk6 Hak1, 2023, Single-channel video installation, 10 min 48 sec
Muk6 Hak1 (目黑) is the alphabetic pronunciation in Cantonese which literally translates ‘seeing darkness’. The meaning of it was first derived from a Cantonese song with the same title, where it embodies an ambiguous encounter with a sight of an eye. This project investigates the ambiguousness in seeing based on the physiological perspective and further develops into an abstract form. It is an envelope of artistic research on vision, encompassing the the natural relationship of two eyes, pupil dilation and constriction according to light intensity, the reflectiveness of the cornea, sensitivity of vision, and natural reflexes resulting in blinking. By poetic means, it takes the form of a mostly static aesthetic in video essay format, departing from physiology which hence enfolds the obscurity, fragility, and authenticity of visual memory. It is also an intention to exemplify the relationship between the spectators and the format of moving images under high contrast of light intensity. The intimacy is layered not only from the abstract illustration of vision but also between the spectators and the perceivable visual before the eyes. The repeated image will burn in the memory of spectators in the form of light and shadow, which brings up the touching feeling right in your eyes.
The Artists
Fish Tank is a collaborative duo of artists comprising Shawn Pak Hin Tang and Yue Yuen Yu. Hailing from Hong Kong, they utilize their artistic practice to address the displacement of time, space, and identity in a transcultural context.
Shawn Pak Hin Tang (b.1994) received his bachelor’s degree from the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, and is currently studying at the University of the Arts Bremen, Germany. His practice encompasses diverse forms and mediums, with sculptures and installations often presenting combinations and manipulations of found objects, industrial materials, and analog electronic-related components. Based on the physical properties of the materials, his visual and conceptual expressions consider the context of the materials, which may present one or more observable systems and transformation of the material nature, examining and encountering everyday topics with themes of anxiety, shifts in power, boundaries, tensions and mobility.
Jennifer Yue Yuen Yu (b.1996), based in Germany, is currently studying MFA – Public Arts and New Artistic Strategies in Bauhaus Universität Weimar. Yue obtained her BA in Fine Arts at Chinese University of Hong Kong. Yue’s practices are performance, interactive installation and printmaking. She uses the body as a medium to interconnect the audience and the surroundings.
First photo. Studio Lights On. Second and third photo. Shawn Pak Hin Tang
About Shawn Pak Hin Tang
| EXHIBITIONS | |
| 2023 | Hong Kong(HK), Diachronic Echoes |
| 2022 | Hong Kong(HK), Your Warmth is the Cut of My flesh |
| 2022 | Hong Kong(HK), Sojourners of the World |
| 2021 | Hong Kong(HK), Landescape Project HK0.3 |
| 2021 | Hong Kong(HK), BED THROW |
| 2021 | Hong Kong(HK), CITYA:Youth Current |
| 2021 | Hong Kong(HK), Residual Heat |
| 2021 | Hong Kong(HK), A Temporal Test for All Possible Clouds |
| 2021 | Hong Kong(HK), Letting Go |
| 2020 | Taichung(TW), Young Voices |
| 2020 | Berlin(DE), Pathfinder |
| STUDIES | |
| Since 2022 | Bremen (DE), University of the Arts, Digital Media, Master Studio |
| 2018 – 2020 | Hong Kong(HK), Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, Bachelor in Visual Arts |
| BIO | |
| Since 2022 | Lives in Bremen(DE) |
| 1994 – 2022 | Lived in Hong Kong(HK) |
| 1994 | Born in Guangzhou(CN) |
About Jennifer Yue Yuen Yu
First and Second photos. Jeff Cheng. Third photo. Jennifer Yue Yuen Yu
| EXHIBITIONS | |
| 2023 | Weimar(DE), Directly at the sun |
| 2022 | Dresden(DE), NORDOST SÜDWEST/ NORTHEAST SOUTHWEST |
| 2022 | Bristol(UK), IMPACT12 |
| 2022 | Hong Kong(HK), Noble Rot |
| 2022 | Hong Kong(HK), Landescape Project Hong Kong 0.3 |
| 2022 | Hong Kong(HK), NOTHIN’ LIKE THE TASTE OF PRINT |
| STUDIES | |
| Since 2022 | Weimar(DE), Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, MFA-Public Art and New Artistic Strategies |
| 2016 – 2020 | Hong Kong(HK), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Bachelor of Fine Arts |
| BIO | |
| Since 2022 | Lives in Weimar(DE) |
| 1996-2022 | Born and lived in Hong Kong |