Photo Gallery

Exhibition dates 展覽日期：23.08 - 22.09.2019 

軟糖，是一種柔軟且微具彈性的膠狀糖果。軟糖含水量高，口味多樣化，因應不同種類和需要而被製成各種形態、顏色和口感。由於含糖量高，這代表軟糖純具極高能量（卡路里）。

《夾軟糖》乃本屆 Women's Festival 特別呈獻的展覽。是次展覽由黃嘉瀛策展，聯合七名風格迴異，特立獨行的本地藝術家，以變幻繽紛的軟糖作思考的引子，於性別常被倒模成形的當代語境下，試圖擺脫現成象徵物的絕對和單一，利用創作釋出並轉移「夾」、「軟糖」等代名詞背後所蘊含，靈活、流動而具韌性的巨大能量。

Gummy candies are soft, gelatin-based chewable sweets. Gummies have a high water content, are available in a wide variety of flavors, and its shape, size, texture is easily manipulable depending on one’s desire and needs. Due to its high sugar content, gummy candies are very high in energy (a.k.a. calories). 

Yummy Gummy is a special exhibition presented by the Women's Festival, curated by Wong Ka Ying. Wong lined up 7 local artists in a critical reflection on the gender moulds and stereotypes we are so often forced into, and the possibilities of resistance. By using the colorful and shape-shifting gummies as the point of entry, their works explore themes such as artificial bodies, beauty, corporeal desire, resistance, fluidity, and flexibility.

1. Alysa Chan 陳倩琳 - 剪就對了！JUST CUT IT! (2019)

今年年頭我開始習慣把頭髮剪得比過往更短。之後，有時身邊的人會嘗試因為自己的外表和髮型而斷定我的性取向和個性。當我慢慢習慣但又厭惡別人對自己的偏見是建立在傳統社會對女性形象的期望，我不自覺地把剪短頭髮這件事當作是一種向外人表示自己不在意大眾期望和展現個人獨特性的方法。直到自己畢業和逐漸離開自己既有的社交圈子，重新審視剪短髮這個行為時，漸漸發覺將持續剪短髮的習慣與保持個人獨特性和做自己的概念連成一線的想法，也可能是建立在同一個層次和邏輯的偏見上。這矛盾令自己以為自己能夠自由選擇自己想變成的模樣，但同時又被自己的偏見控制著。

 I have been obsessed with short hair since the beginning of 2019. I received  criticism and heard rumours about the way I look with people connecting my hair to my sexual orientation and personality. While I have gotten used to people’s preconceptions of what a female should look like, I have also started to become more determined to keep my hair short - it is as if I am defending my individuality and my right to determine how I dress and look. After I graduate and leave my social circle, I might realise that I have fallen into another kind of trap: my insistence on self-determination has kept my hair short and my appearance different from others, self-consciously. To me, this paradox highlights the fact that while I think I have the right to choose to be who I am and how I look, but in fact, I don’t.  

2.  Chan Ka Kiu 陳嘉翹 - 最好的，給你 I Give You the Best (2019)

故事是說話，畫面是表情，加在一起就像面對面親口跟你說我最重要的話語。小心翼翼的比喻因為要說的話如此重，情願婆媽婉轉也別錯，而輕重要因為溫柔。

The story are the words and the images are facial expressions, together they enter into conversation, as though two people sitting face to face. The metaphors are made carefully, because it is better to be nuanced than inaccurate. And when presented delicately they can also express tenderness. 

3. Cheng Ting Ting 鄭婷婷 - 輕輕的海 Soft Sea (2019)

作為一個女性, 平日總面對諸多定型和框架, 簡單如髮型, 都會惹來非議, 過往剪短髮甚至剷光時, 會有小孩子好奇問我「你是男孩子嗎」, 而走在街上亦不乏路人投以疑惑眼神。

回應這種對性別的刻板印象, 或許我們會用更大力度好好說明, 但我害怕粗糙描述, 因此只選擇分享一個平常陳設, 沒有什麼印象不印象, 只有就是如此, 本來就是原此。

As a woman, its difficult to escape from stereotyping. Judgement is common, even on small things like a hairstyle. When I had short hair or a shaved head, kids would ask if I was a boy and look at me funny.

While there is a tendency to over explain or use strong statements, in order to not misrepresent or direct others’ interpretations, I prefer to express this nuance through the mundane as if it is simply like this, as if this is how it was always meant to be.
 

4. Ho Sin Tung 何倩彤 - 「我經常在她內航行。」“I’ve often sailed in her.” (2019)

字典以其正統、權威的姿態詮釋這個世界，不單單是被動地反映一時一地的社會觀點，更是主動地透過分類、標籤、增刪等手段去重新書寫創造，並小心翼翼地把不同性質的詞語分配給僅有的兩個性別。作品源自藝術家由閱讀《牛津高階英漢雙解詞典》而衍生的長期研究和寫作計劃。藝術家抽取詞典中所有以「她」為主體的例句，把本來此起彼落的斷句，嘗試重新組織成一個有關「她」的短篇故事。

Dictionaries have long been regarded as a truthful tool through which to understand the world. Despite how legitimate it seems, it is not simply an unbiased reflection of the society that produces it. Editing actively re-invents the world through categorisation, labelling and selection of words, and all of them are carefully assigned to two available genders. This is an on-going research and writing project based on the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, in which the artist extracts several sentences which involve the pronoun “She”, and re-arranges those fragmented moments into short stories.

5.  Irving Cheung 張蚊 -

瘋癲手術 The Crazy Surgery (2013)

進行第二次手術的時候，我30歲。我用當時醫生幫我做脊椎融合手術時拍下的片段製作了一件作品。要親眼看著這些坦盪盪揭示我身體內部的片段，原來真的頗難受。手術後8個月，我將片段快速回放由6小時加速到6分鐘，並將血肉模糊的色調重新調較。調速的用意是縮短整個觀看時間，同時可令到觀賞者略去手術的細節。一切都是一個短暫的體驗，痛楚亦然。手術過程只是一霎眼間的事。我們要承受的苦，其實不如所想的長久。如果我們任由痛苦在當下持續並置之不理，痛苦就只會不離不棄。

Since my second surgery at the age of 30, I have been making artwork based on a video my doctor helped me record during my spinal fusion operation. I found it very difficult to watch the video revealing the inside of my body until 8 months later, I sped up the video from 6 hours to 6 minutes, and changed the colour composition of the blood and flesh.  My use of speeding up is meant to shorten the duration of time for viewing and simultaneously to reduce the viewer’s attention to the ‘detail, movement and change’ of the operation.  Everything is a transient experience, including pain. In the blink of an eye, the surgical hand of life has taken its toll. Whatever we are to suffer actually ends much faster than we imagine, if we simply allow pain to stay in the moment, and let it go, gracefully, from moment to moment.

我最愛的裙子 My Favourite Dress (2015)

我最愛的裙子上面的圖案就是由《瘋癲手術》(2013) 錄像抽取的硬照印製而成。這件就是我在婚禮上穿的嫁衣。當人人都走過來讚賞我這件圖案原創而華麗的嫁衣，郤全然不知那些原來是我那恐怖手術的圖像時，我承認我的確心中有點暗喜。原來讓那東西看起來不太痛苦，的確會令痛苦減少。所以將我的痛苦偽裝成一條漂亮的裙子來表現時，不只給觀賞者製造了一個假像，亦同時令我自己也被說服了。這個經驗，毫無欵問是痛苦的，但也可以是美麗的。

My Favourite Dress was printed with still images taken from The Crazy Surgery (2013) video. I wore it on my wedding day.  I have to admit I experienced a sort of “secret pleasure” when people came to admire the gorgeous, original patterns on my wedding dress, without knowing these were, in fact, images taken from my gruesome operation.  By making something look less painful, it really becomes less painful. Therefore, by presenting my pain in the guise of a beautiful dress, I am also creating a false perception among viewers that in reflex, have myself convinced that what I have been going through, while undoubtedly painful, could be a beautiful experience where the beauty of pain can be shared and openly admired.

6.  Tsang Ching, Sadako 曾晴(晴晴) - 私人感晴 My Personal Feelings (2016-2019)

「沒有醜的女人，只有懶的女人」。偽娘要成為偽娘就要比一個女生更愛美。而且偽娘是一個「不許人間見白頭」的組群，青春時光一過就追悔莫及，本著這種的心態，晴晴就希望可以做盡自己，紀錄自己偽娘的每一刻。

回想每次的創作，每次源起都是自己一個瘋狂的幻想及直覺，例如:想像自己的婚禮，就會想計劃影婚紗；感到被束縛就會想去影緊縛相。感覺到自己每次的想像能夠成真就有由心的滿足感~

“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones,” beauty entrepreneur Helena Rubinstein famously declared. As an Otokonoko - a self-made woman - I am devoted to crafting myself. As biological males dressing up as women, Otokonoko don’t age well, but while we are young and beautiful, we record and enjoy every beautiful moment, and live it to the fullest.

When I recall what inspires and compels me to create, it is always my wild fantasies and spontaneity: imagining my own wedding, wanting to experience bondage… being able to realize my dreams and fantasies is the most fulfilling and rewarding part of being an Otokonoko artists.

7.  Yu Shuk Pui Bobby 余淑培 -

《√念珠2》《√C.albicans x Rosary》(2019)

想像當你遇上一些纏著你很久的事情，不停用不同的方法去解決它，解決了它又會再回來，令到你達到一個幾乎崩潰的狀態。無論你係處女或者不是處女，只要你患上就會一輩子跟著你。

在患念珠菌的時候長期痕癢得不到一份安靜 ，巧妙地念珠作為其中靜思冥想一個道具，念珠對他們的使用者可能有物理、形而上學和心理的作用。由於數珠由手指的撥動，它們允許使用者記錄多少自己已經重複過的事情，當我們跳出相對遠的距離觀察這一場無限絶望輪迴，你會發現，只有平靜面對才可回到日常，只是回歸日常才可擺脫輪迴，不管你是患者如否，不管是念珠菌或其他。 

Imagine you encounter a situation that has been around for a long time, you use different methods to solve it, but it still comes back, eventually, you reach a state of collapse. Whether you are a virgin or not, as long as you are suffering, it will follow you for the rest of your life.

When I was suffering from Candida, there was a continuous itch and never a moment of quiet. The rosary is a subtle prop for meditation, it has a physical, metaphysical and psychological effect on its user. Since the beads are moved through the fingers, they allow the user to record how many times they have repeated the same thing. Through meditation, we can create distance to observe this ‘eternal return’, you may find that only through this practice can one break out of the ‘eternal return’ and enter back into our daily life. Returning to our daily life allows us to break out of the ‘eternal return’, whether you are a patient or not, whether it is Candida or not.

You're so SMALL, so CHINESE. 「你的胸部真精緻，真中國。」(2015)

藝術家透過以自身乳房的尺寸生產矽膠情趣用品把個體身體商品化。她的乳房不再是獨特的，它們失去個性，它們成為共有的平庸產品。矽膠作為人造合成物指向其仿制品的本質，它們只能是虛偽的，非真實的。當“中國”成為形容詞，國家身分其實是一種空想。

The artist commodified her own body by applying the size of her breasts to produce silicone sex toys. Her breasts have lost their character when they are no longer unique to herself. Anyone can own them. They become as banal as a product. Silicone, as an artificial substance, suggests phony nature of the object. When “China” is just an adjective the identity of a country is just an imagination.

8.  Clit Revolution 陰蒂革命

陰蒂起革命！在#metoo運動之後，女性在公共領域開始擁有談論關於自己身體的空間，慢慢掀開關於女性身體和慾望的種種禁忌和規限。《陰蒂革命》是由女性主義者Elvire Duvelle-Charles 和Sarah Constantin創作的網上紀錄短片特輯，帶大家探索女性的情慾與力量。

What if it were the start of a whole new movement? The post #metoo era has finally given women a voice and exposed the numerous taboos that surround our bodies and our desires. Written and directed by feminist activists Elvire Duvelle-Charles and Sarah Constantin, the documentary series Clit Revolution, reveals a world where being a woman is all about pleasure and power.