«subversiv»

by Law Ho Man

‘In & Out’ Project ‘ is a project about subversive of space, discussing the boundary of indoor and outdoor, private and public spacing.

This project is inspired by the concept of pinhole camera. I cover the whole room with black fabric and cut a little hole on it. When the light sheds inside the room, the image of the outdoor environment is projected into the room, turned upside down. We can observe people from outdoor walking on the ceiling of the room. However, the limitation of this work is that there are too many objects in the room. It’s difficult to see the projected outdoor image. Moreover, this is only a practice of a physical theory, more revisions should be done.

Hole

Digital image, mixed media

Time variable

2012

This work is a subversie of pinhole camera. The original concept is to put the outdoor image into indoor. However, this time is the opposite from indoor to outdoor. Projector is used to project the activities of an indoor on a wall of a building in real time. On the street, people can see what activities people are engaging in the building. The environment of the outdoor becomes a pinhole camera. However, the locations of projection and indoor should be revised carefully in order to strengthen the desirability of the work. The relationship between indoor and outdoor, privacy and public space can be thoroughly discussed.

Spacing

Single Digital Video

Sound, Colour, loop

4’05

2013

       The work is revised to discuss the relationship between my university and me. I studied Fine Arts in the Chinese University of Hong Kong of three years and graduated this year. My university, to which I have grown a strong sense of belonging, has a great impact on my life. I projected the activities of my room to the public space of the university in real time. The reason of choosing my room of the student apartment in university is that I reckon it as the most private place and I spent most of the time there. And I projected the view of my room on the wall of the University library as it can represent the university, in a more academic sense. I recorded about 3 minutes of the real time projection. However, this is not delicate enough and the presentation of the work lacks subtlety. The choice of location, the size of images can be improved, as they are not enough to present my idea.

      Overlapping

 Digital Video in real time, a CUHK journal in 1973

Sound, Colour, loop
35×44 cm, time variable

2013

This is the final work of the project. I keep contemplating about what my university is, what is inside the library of university. Then, I found a book about the history of the university, something far away from me, something official. The book is a newsletter of the university published in the 1970s, when the university was just founded at that time. It is in handwritten form and it recorded every single details of the university at that time. For example, which staff member was having a vacation or which professor is sick. This kind of newsletter has not been published ever. I project the image of my room on the newsletter. It is also in real time in order to evoke and strengthen the sense of ‘reality’ as the matters happened in real time are out of our control in some ways. The newsletter represents the history of the university and next to it is the activity of a student’s room, which is happening ‘now’. The past and present, the great university and the little student form a strong contrast. The camera in my room is focusing the images under the table as to create a feeling of being peeped, or an invasion of privacy. The live video describes different the perspectives towards the school from a student and from the authority