The new extension of the Oil Street Art Space (Oi!) will be open to the public Tuesday (May 24). Oi! is launching 10 art projects, hoping to provide the district with more community art and leisure space, and to become a cultural landmark in Hong Kong.
Located in North Point, Oi! rolled out an expansion project in 2019, in which an adjacent open space of over 3 000 square meters was integrated with the original premises. The new extension features a two-storey building for staging exhibitions and holding activities.
The 10 art exhibitions and public engagement activities launched by Oi! include two highlight exhibitions to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. "Joyful Trees (Arbores Laetae)", a kinetic art installation on the theme of trees, is created by the renowned American architectural group Diller Scofidio + Renfro. A number of Chinese junipers are planted at the Oi! Garden, with three planted at a 10-degree bias in rotating turntables. Dappled light, shade and patterns overlap when the trees rotate, and visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the "unnatural nature".
Three-dimensional digital art exhibition "d'strict Remix" is created by renowned Korean art group d'strict, showing anamorphic projection works of ocean waves and a massive blue whale moving freely in the sea. The exhibition provides a spectacular visual experience to visitors on a large screen, and connects art and technology in a subtle way. The multi-disciplinary artworks exhibition "Digital Muse" with the theme of "mutation of ideas in the digital city", presented by six Hong Kong artists, aims to transform the Oi! Deck into an immersive three-dimensional space.
Other art projects include the six-month-long project "Our Living Library", in which the artists and creative groups hope to engage the public to exchange lived experiences through displays, performances and activities; the art exhibition "Neverending Garden", which interprets the conflict and coexistence between urban development and the natural environment from different perspectives; the "XCHANGE" series, which delivers an array of public engagement activities based on the idea that creativity is the best problem-solving tool in life; the "People-Plant-Place" project promoting urban gardening; "Three Gardens", presenting virtual and actual rock installations designed under the notions of Chinese landscape architecture; "Oi! Sunday", providing the public with opportunities to experience art creations; and the outdoor art works "Branching Benches" and "Mapping Oi!". Through this series of projects, Oi! sets out to connect art and the community, and to build a sustainable future through collective creativity and collaboration.
Oi! Is located at 12 Oil Street, North Point.
Comment