As one of the most active conceptual artists in Hong Kong, Ching twists the roles of artist and observer within and beyond the city. 1972, Hong Kong) earned his MA in Fine Arts in The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The mutual interference of works in the exhibition space builds unexpected connections all the while pointing to the daily experience of imbalance encountered through the occurrence of recent events in Hong Kong. In Cold Calling, Ching invites the audience to use a landline telephone installed in the exhibition to randomly call a number from a Hong Kong phone book from 1997, that might or might not still exist. Other works in the exhibition invite the audience’s participation, such as a work which sets out the rule that the audience has to take off their left shoe before entering the exhibition space. The prolonged period of solitude spent drawing these objects also allowed Ching to meditate on the blurring of the passage of time experienced by the incarcerated refugees and asylum seekers. Represented in these scenes are the few objects allowed to be brought inside Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre by visitors meeting detainees. In new work Still Life, Ching depicts everyday objects in the style of conventional still life drawings. These echoing chirps evoke caged birds and, in this new presentation, the artist broadcasts the recording from a loudspeaker to the world outside the exhibition’s window as a metaphor for the release of those who are victims of daily predicaments. In Whisper, Ching recorded the bird sounds in Hong Kong Museum of History’s Hong Kong Story exhibition. On view in the exhibition are over ten of Ching’s early works, alongside new comissions, revealing political perspectives that are relevant to the current social climate in Hong Kong. In Ching’s case, his daily experiences often make him feel caught between a sense of déjà vu and jamais vu, leading him to question whether there is a glitch in the system. This is a result of a glitch in the matrix, leading to changes in the coded virtual world. The title Glitch in the Matrix is borrowed from the film The Matrix, in which protagonist Neo gets a feeling of déjà vu when he sees the same black cat appearing twice. He breeds a discursive system with a wicked sense of humour, responding to and interrogating the cultural and political collisions occurring in Hong Kong. Glitch in the Matrix is curated by Para Site Curator, Celia Ho.Īs one of the most active conceptual artists in Hong Kong, Ching twists the roles of artist and observer within and beyond the city.
Para Site is proud to present Glitch in the Matrix, a solo exhibition by Hong Kong-based artist Luke Ching Chin Wai, featuring newly commissioned works and re-enactments and adaptations of Ching’s earlier works.