HONG KONG ARTISTS VIDEO ARTIST INTERVIEW
In a short five minute interview on ChooChooTV’s weekly show [art]attack, emerging Hong Kong artist Phoebe Hui gives viewers a peek at her creative process.
In the interview, Hui expresses a strong interest in the transformation of text from one medium to another. To her, such transformations serve as a way of linking text to other concepts.
Artist Phoebe Hui at work in her studio.
“The way I view text is not just a form of communication but also as an image.”
By removing the meaning of written words, Hui transforms them into more than just a method of verbal expression. In an early piece titled Doublets Doublets Doublets, Hui bases her process on a game by author Lewis Carroll.
“I will remove one alphabet letter in a word…and gradually change other letters too. These are still text that we are familiar with but once we change it our focus is no longer on the meaning of the text but simply on the relation of the symbols.”
After graduating from the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong, the artist travelled to England where she studied for a masters degree at the University of the Arts London. Following graduation she decided to move back to Hong Kong.
Although Hui has achieved considerable success as a young artist, it has not come without disappointments. On her move to London from Hong Kong Hui states:
“For me, my path from attaining the scholarship from HKADC [Hong Kong Arts and Development Council], I thought I would have a very successful year in London, but it was not as good as I thought it would be.”
In spite of this setback, Hui went on to win the Bloomberg Emerging Artist award in 2008 after her return to Hong Kong, an accomplishment she is “very satifisfied with.”
While she expresses concern about support for artists’ programs from both organisations and Hong Kong audiences, she remains positive and driven.
“It seems like a very successful road, but I’m still not where I want to be.”
Watch the video here (length of video, 5:22 mins).
EH/KN
Related Topics: Hong Kong artists, emerging artists, installation art, conceptual art
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