GBA4 | GBAFOCUS Friday, August 21, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY Creative Heads Making materials matter

The winner of BMW Art Journey 2020, sculptor LeeLee Chan will travel around the world, studying the evolution of material cultures and community-engaged art. reports from Hong Kong.

Rejected materials, such as the astroturf uprooted from this tennis court, tend to trigger LeeLee Chan’s creative impulses.

Construction lights and crystals from a scavenged chandelier figure in LeeLee Chan’s Sunset Capsule, shown in UCCA Dune in Beidaihe, China.

eeLee Chan could have been in Japan by now, checking out plastic pallet manufacturing bases, or Lperhaps in Pulpi Geode in Spain, or maybe even in a concrete research institute in Switzerland, watching how bacteria embedded in concrete LeeLee Chan paints clay units can be made to repair cracks. like the ones used in her Blindfold Chan is the winner of BMW Art Receptor sculpture. Journey 2020. Launched in 2015 by the luxury-car manufacturing brand wall, in a sculpture called Absorber and Art Basel, the generous annual #2 shown at Hong Kong’s Duddell’s, award sponsors an artist’s touring for example — she is reluctant to call of proposed destinations around the herself a crusader for environmental world with a view to enhancing their Detail from Pallet in Repose (Marine), protection and sustainability issues. artistic philosophy and helping to from a 2019 Capsule Shanghai “As an individual I try to be develop their practice. By August exhibition. responsible in my behavior towards end, Chan would have begun her the environment as far as I can. But travels across three continents, fol- I don’t see myself as an environmen- lowing a trajectory that nearly circles tal activist,” Chan says, noting that the globe, had it not been for COV- some of the materials used in her ID-19 which has practically ruled out A piece of broken works, like concrete and resin are not international travel. concrete collected bio-degradable. “But I try to strike a Chan’s winning proposal, titled from a car park balance. Instead of buying new poly- “Tokens from Time”, aims to trace could be turned styrene or Styrofoam, I use recycled some of the materials used in her into a work of art by material.” Chan. sculptures — crystal and silver, for “I fi nd it interesting to use struc- instance — back to their source and tured material to build organically. experience them in their raw, organ- If I had the choice of using more ic forms. At the same time Chan is LeeLee Chan flanked by the columns environment-friendly material I will interested in how craftsmanship — of her Blindfold Receptor sculpture go for it,” she adds. At the same time, from the ancient times down to her (above) and displaying pieces of Chan would prefer not to have to own — has left its imprint on such Things no one wants broken astroturf (left) which are leys used in logistics companies. So worry about whether every piece of potential material for her creations. materials and helped build commu- She has a fondness for using inex- PHOTOS BY RAYMOND CHAN / CHINA DAILY on one hand, the sculpture, as Chan material used in her sculptures is nities around them. pensive materials of everyday use points out, embodies a process of environment-friendly. Her wish to visit the silver mines that most often get binned after serv- evolution from wheels to a roller con- Chan came back to Hong Kong in Mexico was inspired by the history ing their purpose — plastic pallets veyor system, while on the other it after thirteen years in the United of revival of pre-Columbian silver used for ease of moving stu around conclusion. draws attention to “caterpillars cam- States, where she had moved to designs in Taxco by the American in logistics establishments, for exam- “So I was struck by the contrast oufl aging themselves as protection study fi ne art — fi rst at the School of designer William Spratling in 1931. ple. An upright pallet in her Pallet in that while we human beings end up against human beings destroying Art Institute of Chicago, followed by “He brought his modernist ideas to Repose (Marine) installation was the changing the environment by exces- their environment.” the Rhode Island School of Design Mexico, setting up workshops and centerpiece at a Capsule Shanghai sive use of technology, getting more from where she received her MFA in hiring hundreds of silversmiths gallery-hosted exhibition in 2019 — and also mother of pearl tiles. “So all disconnected from our bodies in the Eco-friendly art? painting. One of the reasons for her from across the country who were a solitary giant among hundreds of the objects used in it are meant to process; caterpillars have adapted to Although Chan uses a lot of scrap return was to be able to inherit some encouraged to freely express their much-smaller metal hardware pieces protect things. The sculpture looks the Anthropocene environment by and found objects — pieces of bro- of the knowledge and skill sets of her ideas, creating designs truly unique strewn all around, like a crowd on a like a totem pole that is monumental developing a mechanism to sense ken asphalt, arranged parents, who are experts in Chinese to Mexican culture,” says Chan. beach, unrelated and aloof. and carved out of stone. But it’s actu- color through their skin,” says Chan. like a circle on a antiquity. As she awaits the lifting of “I am interested in the ways in The idea is to invest mass-pro- ally Styrofoam and super light,” says Once she had finished reading travel restrictions to embark on which value and desire are project- duced and recyclable stuff with the artist. the article, Chan’s eyes fell on the her journey in search of the ed,” Chan says. For instance, crystals meaning, dignity even. “For me, mak- Chan’s Blindfold Receptor com- grooved columns of metal frame materials and people whose lives are ascribed di erent values depend- ing a sculpture is a process in discov- prises two sets of metal columns storage racks used to hold height they touch, Chan remains firmly ing on their use, she notes. They ery. When I fi nish working on a piece shooting upwards. The wheels are adjustable shelves in her studio and anchored in her native soil, assured could be “fetishized as lifestyle prod- of material, I see it in a completely placed on, rather than under, the subsequently on the high-rise public in the knowledge that Hong Kong ucts,” made to serve as a vital compo- di erent light. And that process is narrow base. Seen from a distance, housing buildings away in the dis- is where she would like to stay and nent in computers and phones, and very humbling,” says Chan who sees the sculpture can look like elon- tance outside the window of continue to make her art. could also be split into nano crystals herself as a mediator between objects gated bird feet with talons from a her Kwai Chung studio. “I saw To read a Q&A with sculptor which have a variety of industrial and her audience — as someone try- mechanized future. Chan says the a connection between these LeeLee Chan, go to the web page use, including as fl exible substrates ing to open up newer possibilities piece represents a hybrid of natu- three unrelated things and https://bit.ly/31eDDhn in solar panels. of seeing things that could be anti- ral and mechanized elements. It wanted to make a sculpture “I think it could be interesting to thetical or unrelated to the way they was inspired by a New York Times based on the idea,” Chan says. trace the journey of crystals from appear at fi rst. article which mentioned caterpil- The series of rollers being an organic form to nano crys- Her sculptures can look huge and lars being able to sense the color of between the columns tals,” Chan says. She has plans to go imposing but most often they are their surroundings through their were covered with to Germany to have a close look at made of fl imsy material, picked up skin and changing their own body clay, spray-painted the application of nanotechnology from the roadside. For instance, in a color accordingly. Apparently the in caterpillar col- on metal — the sort “they are using piece called Protector, Chan used egg caterpillars were blindfolded dur- ors. The wheels to make airplanes lighter.” packaging material, a car windshield ing the experiment leading to the came from trol-

Films Art-house wonders on the home screen

By ELIZABETH KERR and morality rather than sin, as away tends to be polarizing) but the leper colony they live in and well as perception. The stories are the seeds of his great, defining embark on a road trip across Egypt At a time when the theaters are numbered but don’t necessarily The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & to locate what’s left of their families. closed, Netfl ix and other stream- correlate to a commandment as we Her Lover are all here, and watch- It’s a picaresque adventure about ers have quickly become the go- know them. This is a master at the ing his hallmarks gelling in their two outcasts with fl ashes of criti- to option for our entertainment top of his game, able to be funny, formative stages — the painterly cism and humor. But it’s anchored needs. Here in Hong Kong, MOViE touching, melodramatic and shock- compositions, tensions between by a moving performance by Rady MOViE has also been helping fi lm ing in equal measure. In Dekalog 1 architecture and nature, and pain Gamal, an actual leper, which adds buffs catch up with overlooked a math professor wrestles with his and pleasure — is enlightening. a clear-eyed honesty to a story Egyptian director Abu Bakr Lu Over the Wall, a mermaid gems, all available on MOViE faith in science over god. Anyone At the far end of the spectrum that also touches on poverty and fantasy by Masaaki Yuasa. Shawky’s debut feature MOViE Play. who considers themselves a fan from the weighty contemplations abandonment — by families and Yomeddine. The adventurous might want of cinema needs to check this out. of Kieslowski and Greenaway is societies. to consider checking out what is On nearly Kieslowski’s artistic Egyptian filmmaker Abu Bakr Finally, Japanese animator (hopefully) the art-house channel’s level is Peter Greenaway’s 1982 Shawky’s debut feature Yomeddine. Masaaki Yuasa’s razor-sharp dys- kick-o of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s psychosexual murder mystery Earlier this year, The Peanut Butter topian series Japan Sinks 2020 The Dekalog. Better known for The Draughtsman’s Contract. If Falcon demonstrated why repre- debuts on Netfl ix this month, but his Three Colours trilogy, it could the courtly shenanigans of Yorgos sentation counts by casting a young fans of Yuasa’s bold colors, stylized be argued Kieslowski’s best work Lanthimos’ The Favourite hit the man with Down’s syndrome in a art and tendency for the unconven- is this 10-part series of one-hour spot this should too. The story of movie about a boy with the condi- tional can check out Lu Over the films examining the Ten Com- a young artist contracted to paint tion. And while an actor should be Wall, basically a ningyo (mermaid) mandments. An agnostic has the family estate by a bored land- able to play any role, Falcon had fantasy, as well as Night Is Short, nothing to fear from the series of owner’s wife while her husband’s a level of authenticity that helped Walk On Girl, his breakout rom- Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, by intensely human shorts, set in a away is elegant, literary and cruel the story. com about a young woman on an Krzysztof Kieslowski interprets the Masaaki Yuasa. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO Ten Commandments in Dekalog. dour Warsaw housing complex. in that signature Greenaway way. In Yomeddine, a middle-aged all-night party — neither like any CHINA DAILY Kieslowski is interested in ethics Contract isn’t for everyone (Green- man and an orphaned boy leave anime you’ve likely seen before.