Cit:diction 「城。癮」

Lai 黎永添／Morefree Chan 陳偉華


“Cit:diction would not directly cost one death,
but those addicted are not living fully either.”

After the preview of "Cit:diction" exhibition held at the end of 2012 and the subsequent advance research, each graduating student of Hong Kong Art School (Higher Diploma in Applied Art) attains a deeper understanding towards “Cit:diction”. Therefore, an exhibition of mixed media artworks by these artists will be held at Hong Kong Art School Main Campus, 10/F Hong Kong Arts Centre, in the coming July. This exhibition will be a continuation of its former one, starting from July 19th to July 29th, 2013. In order to survive in this competitive world, people are forced to go along with the main stream, living a life that is far from their expectation. In order to make up for the sadness and helpless feeling caused by the compromise, people start to repeat actions that can satisfy their superficial emotional desire unconsciously. The most common types of Cit:diction include internet addiction disorder, money addiction and shopaholic etc. According to Dr. Judith Wright, the author of "The Soft Addiction Solution", those seemingly harmless habits actually keep us from the life we want. After receiving an immediate gratification, we become hooked on these habitual behaviors, eventually they cost us money, rob us of time, numb us from our feelings, mute our consciousness, and drain our energy. By observing the daily life in the city and analyzing the phenomenon of Cit:diction, artists notice that the relationship between Cit:diction and people in the city is inseparable. Even though Cit:diction would not directly cost one death, those addicted are not living fully either.

9 sets of artwork will be displayed at the exhibition. These artworks reflect the understanding and personal view of artists towards Cit:diction, which include:

• Using silk-screen printing to show people's desire for money;
• By mimicking an immigration counter at the departure hall to express people's hope of escaping the city;
• Through some ceramic tree branches to present how things that have always been taken for granted by people are slowly disappearing;
• Using fungus with strong spirit to bring out the sadness and conflict of slaves in our society;
• Through 7 pieces of huge mixed media artworks to trace the source of seven sins; and
• By creating a "secured space" to demonstrate how people is looking for a security feeling that never existed, etc. Once again, through the exhibition, the artists attempt to let the audience, from a new angle, to understand their own self and the city that they are living in, which is extraordinary absurd but everyone seems getting used to it. The artists want to provoke the audience to think and observe their life within the city. Do they wish to be trapped in Cit:diction or they don't even know that they have already been trapped? "「城。癮」不會令人直接死亡，但陷入的人也沒有真實地活在當下。"

繼2012年底舉辦的「城。癮」預展及其後的進一步資料搜集，九位香港藝術學院應用藝術高級文憑課程應屆畢業生對「城。癮」都有更深體會，並將於七月於香港藝術中心十樓，香港藝術學院本部舉辦混合媒體藝術作品展覽作為預展的延續 。展出期由七月十九日至二十九日。

城市人為適應弱肉強食的世界，無奈地隨波逐流，每天過著的生活與自己所期盼的總存在著頗大的落差。為彌補日復日的失落與空虛感，不自覺地重複做著一些可帶來表面情緒滿足的行為。 較為普遍的「城。癮」有網絡成癮、購物成癮及賺錢成癮等。

根據“The Soft Addiction Solution”作者 Dr. Judith Wright，這些習慣好像沒什麼危害，一旦過度沉溺其中，在獲取短暫的快樂之後，它更多地是在榨取我們的時間、精力、金錢，麻痺真實的情感， 蒙蔽我們的意識， 使我們遠離自己真正想要的東西。

創作者透過在城市中的日常觀察，研究並分析香港的「城。癮」現象，發現當中「城。癮」與城市人的關係密不可分，絲絲緊扣。縱然「城。癮」不會令人直接死亡，陷入的人也沒有真實地活在當下。

整個展覽將展出九組作品，圍繞著各創作者對「城。癮」的認知了解，利用作品從新演繹。當中作品包括：

• 利用絲網印刷展現城市人對金錢的慾望；
• 模仿海關離境櫃台表達逃離城市的冀盼；
• 從陶瓷樹枝表現在城市𥚃正在慢慢消失中的「理所當然」；
• 透過菌類探索在壓制下生活的人的生活及心理狀態；
• 利用七幅以混合媒介製成的大型圖像追溯城市人七宗罪的根源；
• 城市人為自己打造所謂的「安全空間」，尋找那不存在的安全感等等。

最後，創作者嘗試讓參觀者透過作品從新的角度了解自己及所生活的城市: 極盡荒誕，大家卻竟已習以為常。從而引發參觀者思考 - 審視活在這個「城。癮」中的自己，是甘願被困，還是已被困而不自知？

免費入場 / Free Admission
查詢 / Enquiries: +852 - 92280973 (Joanne Ho)