HONG KONG.- The K11 Art Foundation is presenting The Garden, a group exhibition curated by Enoch Cheng. A garden is commonly conceived of as a space to display, cultivate, study and enjoy nature. Expanding upon this concept, the exhibition replaces flora and fauna found in the natural world with contemporary art pieces to create a multisensory ‘art garden’. The Garden features works by 9 artists, including new, commissioned pieces by 6 Hong Kong-based artists, namely Shane Aspegren, Enoch Cheng, Cheuk Wing Nam, Vvzela Kook, Andrew Luk and Samuel Adam Swope, alongside works by Neïl Beloufa, Cai Kai and Ian Cheng. Presented at chi art space in Clear Water Bay, the exhibition runs from 2 September to 13 October 2017.

A glasshouse is an attempt by man to re-create and examine nature under controlled conditions, allowing man to view nature as if it is frozen in time. An exhibition in a gallery concerns a similar modality – the viewer can see artworks in a specific environment, as if time stands still. The Garden is an exhibition like a garden in a glasshouse, but without plants; it encompasses installations and other time-based works of art made up of sound, video, performances and sculptures. These works reimagine contingencies that form the essence of natural life, such as air currents, temperature changes and our physical sensations. Strolling around the exhibition space, the audience will observe a space in celebration of motions in an environment that meets our anticipation.

Employing new art-making techniques and technologies, the featured artworks take their inspirations from various aspects of nature and provide a multi-sensory exhibition experience. KAF has commissioned 6 Hong Kong-based artists to create new works that examine the concept of nature. Samuel Adam Swope employs ‘aerial art’ to set the stage, almost like accidental scenery, where paper maple seeds fly and settle with the wind and the change of light. Vvzela Kook continues her computer-generated-image (CGI) practice to contour future plants in formation. Andrew Luk takes found objects, including post-typhoon discarded debris, such as air-con covers, to build an environment in which one can scrutinise details of growth in nature. Cheuk Wing Nam animates her sound-infused installation with stones to enhance the sensation of life and death in the universe. Shane Aspegren responds to the specific condition of chi art space by merging the sounds of dehumidifiers with the rhythmic beats that occur in nature. Enoch Cheng choreographs a durational performance piece with an actor who, stationed at the site, shifts between roles as a security guard, a gardener and organisms of nature. The Garden also features a sculpture from Neïl Beloufa’s Scaffolding Series as well as an augmented reality simulation from Ian Cheng’s Emissary Forks for You to emphasise human’s relationship with nature in the contemporary context. Cai Kai, a former resident artist of the K11 art village in Wuhan, presents a video examining the eternity of the sun and embodying the vitality of life on earth.

The Garden transforms chi art space into a glasshouse. Lingering in the ‘garden’ and experiencing the artworks against the idyllic backdrop of Clear Water Bay, the audience is invited to momentarily forget about the secular world and to re-discover nature.