Report

The special exhibition, Ubiquitous Humanity, was held in partnership with the Techstyles Series 1.0: Ariadne’s Thread exhibition organized by the Hong Kong non-profit arts and culture organization, MILL6 Foundation, from Saturday, 26th to Tuesday, 29th November.

Planning director Mizuki Takahashi, senior curator of MILL6, selected works by 13 artists and groups for display at the Annex gallery space in the Nang Fung Place commercial center in Hong Kong’s Central district. In Kowloon Tong, there were also screenings in keeping with the exhibition’s theme (3 feature-length animation films, 5 curated program items, and 19 works in 2 screening programs) and talks at the Run Run Shaw Creative Centre, an educational institution specializing in the media arts attached to the City University of Hong Kong.

At the reception on Saturday, November 26th, speeches by the MILL6 director and president of Hong Kong City University were followed by Taro Yasuno’s thrilling opening performance of Zombie Music, which selected as a jury selection in the Art Division of the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival.

On Sunday, November 27th, artists participating in the main exhibition convened a lively talk event in which they shared many fascinating stories about their works that had gone wrong.

Couleur de Peau: Miel (Approved For Adoption), Grand Prize winner of the Animation Division at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival, was screened at the Hong Kong City University’s Run Run Shaw Creative Centre on Tuesday, 28th November, its first ever screening in Hong Kong. Afterwards, the film’s co-director, Jung, and Professor Tamas Pal Waliczky of Hong Kong City University took part in a talk event. Jung also impressed by answering the many questions asked by the student audience so fully.

People of all ages, children and adults, visited the exhibition to enjoy these artworks generated at the interface between human beings and technology. News of the exhibition spread by word of mouth and many students and people in the art field flocked enthusiastically to see the exhibits and interact with the artists during the second half of the exhibition term, especially.

Voices

TAKAHASHI, Mizuki

Co-director of MILL6 Foundation
（Planning director of Japan Media Arts Festival special exhibition at The Annex, Hong Kong）

This exhibition in Hong Kong, where media artists are quite active, attracted considerable interest and a greater than anticipated number of visitors. Its focus on media arts and human linguistic activity, physical expression, and the involvement of sensitivity paradoxically provided the main theme of questioning what it means to be human. This theme was clearly conveyed by the images and illustrations, as well as by the performances and demonstrations of the participating artists.
In their talks, the artists spoke of failure, the inability to achieve what they set out to do their artistry, and the unanticipated reactions from audiences, and yet they were able to reveal their true character that had been otherwise inscrutable in their art works, and they were indeed able to provide a human glimpse through identifying with one another by their recounting of failure.

LEUNG Chi Wo

Visual artist / 19th JMAF (Japan Media Arts Festival) Art Division Jury Selection
（Participated artist of JMAF special exhibition at The Annex, Hong Kong）

The Japan Media Arts Festival was a medium to bring together artists from Japan, Hong Kong and elsewhere around the world.

JUNG

Comic artist and illustrator / 17th JMAF Animation Division Grand Prize
（Participated artist of JMAF special exhibition at The Annex, Hong Kong）

I am grateful for this opportunity to show Couleur de Peau: Miel (Approved For Adoption), being able to screen it at the JMAF exhibition Niigata, as well as in Hong Kong.

LAU Hochi

New media artist / 17th JMAF Animation Division New Face Award
（Participated artist of JMAF special exhibition at The Annex, Hong Kong）

It was an honor, a valuable experience and very meaningful to show Learn to be a Machine DistantObject #1 in Japan three years ago, and wasd human at the special exhibition in Hong Kong. Thank you.

Special Exhibition in Hong Kong
on the Theme of Ubiquitous Humanity

The Ubiquitous Humanity exhibition at the Annex, a key art space in Central, from Saturday 26th to Tuesday 29th November will feature works which look at the uses of technology to expand human sensitivity (physical, emotional and behavioral) and examine the boundaries between the human and mechanical. This examination of the people and technologies which create works will pose fresh questions concerning the human condition.

Artwork

Outline

The Annex Hong Kong　「Ubiquitous Humanity」

Period：	Saturday, 26th to Tuesday, 29th November, 2016
Venue：	The Annex （Hong Kong）
Sattelite Venus：	Future Cinema Studio(M6094),Screening Theather(M1052), Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong
Admission：	Free
Facebook：	https://www.facebook.com/Special.Exhibit.from.JMAF.HK/
Organizer：	Japan Media Arts Festival / Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan
In cooperation with：	MILL6 Foundation School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong

Affiliation Event