“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
In the opening of “The Metamorphosis,” Kafka bluntly declaring that the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, transforms from a diligent young man into a despicable and idle insect. The author turns absurdity into reality with just a few words, leaving us and Gregor to live a bizarre and surreal everyday life and question how to find meaning amid overwhelming change. More than a hundred years later, artist Leung Mee Ping’s exhibition “Souvenirs de Choses” continues Kafka’s inquiry through a series of works depicting insects and dust—intentionally or unintentionally. However, Leung does not sever the connection between the human world and the realm of insects as Kafka did. Instead, she brings back the trivial “things”—flies, fleas, ant corpses, and dust—and questions the weight of their lives. Her works either depict exaggerated and distorted proportions or focus on tiny details, silently observing the universe of microorganisms. They prompt the audience to look at a spider in its dull, compound eyes, listen to the sighs of dust at deserted temples, and occasionally measure the passage of time through the ants’ perspective. In her works, things move, stay still, and feel heavy or light. However, between the visible and the invisible, they involve here and there, the mundane and the sacred, the minuscule and the magnificent, taking actions and doing nothing, and touch upon the meanings of the existence and non-existence, and the real and virtual.
This exhibition can be seen as Leung Mee Ping’s allegory of time, inviting the audience to wander within and measure the weight of time in our ever-changing phenomenal world.
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「一日清晨，葛雷高．薩姆沙從擾人不安的夢境醒來，發現躺在床上的 自己變成了一隻龐然古怪的蟲。」
《變形記》開首，卡夫卡劈頭劈腦的宣佈主角葛雷高從勤奮工作的大好青年蛻變為卑微可憎、無所事事的蟲。輕輕的一句話，作者將荒誕變成現實，我們只好與葛雷高同處於怪誕離奇的日常，探問人如何於異變尋找存活的意義。 百多年後，藝術家梁美萍的展覽《微類誌》以一系列昆蟲與塵埃的作品有意無意接續卡夫卡的的提問。不過，梁美萍沒有卡夫卡以昆蟲之軀割斷人世的決絕，反而將微不足道的「物」—蒼蠅、蚤、蟻屍、粉塵—帶回人間，叩問微物生命的重量。她的作品或以誇張扭曲的比例、或以微觀聚焦的鏡頭靜靜觀察微物宇宙，促使觀眾時而與蜘蛛大得空洞的複眼對望、時而置身蕩然無人的寺廟靜聽塵埃的嘆息，偶爾又借螞蟻的時間量度人世的榮枯盛衰。微物一動一靜、或重或輕，卻在看得見與看不見之間，牽連著此處彼方、室外室內、凡俗與神聖、渺小與宏大、有所作為與無可奈何，乃至虛實存亡有無的意義。
是次展覽可視為藝術家的時間寓言，邀請觀眾遊走其間，時間之於萬象世界的重量。
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Curator’s tour 策展人導賞團
07.10.2023 (Sat) 15:00 – 16:00
14.10.2023 (Sat) 16:00 – 17:00
Register Now at 登記留位: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVBBs_eT8ubFeuuAX7OFmR7dUDtCgDXH3cXtGu-4aD820ISw/viewform?usp=sf_link
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Artists 藝術家
LEUNG Mee Ping 梁美萍
Curator 策展
Vivian Ting 丁穎茵
Jeff Leung 梁展峰
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Exhibition Period 展覽日期
08.09 – 18.11.2023
Opening Hours 開放時間
Mon-Sat 星期一至六 10:30-18:30
Closed on Sundays and public holidays 星期天及公衆假期休息
Venue 地點
Osage, 4/F, 20 Hing Yip St, Kwun Tong
觀塘興街20號4樓奧沙畫廊
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𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 資助
Hong Kong Arts Development Council
香港藝術發展局
Osage Art Foundation 奧沙藝術基金
EPSON
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香港藝術發展局全力支持藝術表達自由，本計劃內容並不反映本局意見。
Hong Kong Arts Development Council fully supports freedom of artistic expression