Public Garden [ work in progress ]
2023
Risograph & indigo printed postcards
144 postcards, size variable
 

Public Garden, a site identified on a Hong Kong postcard from the 1950s, is the predecessor of the Zoological and Botanical Gardens. It is also commonly known as ‘Bing Tau Fa Yuen’ , a reference to its former status as the private garden of the British Governors of Hong Kong. The changing power dynamics through the faults in its names serves as the driving force behind my creation of this relational site. By inviting people to make a wish upon its rainbow, I turn the site into a collective wishing fountain.

On the night before my departure, I struggled to pack all that I had into my suitcase. I divided the collective wishing fountain up into 144 postcards, which were printed in Hong Kong and mainland China through two systems—risograph and indigo printing—to create a panoramic view. To the blue sky above, I added white clouds taken from postcards of different eras. I uproot them, relocated them, reproduced them, and in the process also transplanted our wishful thinking. The senders see the rainbow, and so will the receivers. For these fragmented pieces of history are the only evidence of our atlas of the future.

香港50年代的明信片寫上「Public Garden 」，即香港動植物公園，它被慣稱為「兵頭花園」因曾是港督的私人花園。名字的落差反映權力關係，驅使我實驗以關係塑造地景。當彩虹於噴水池中冒起，我邀請各人許願，以集體意志構築一座許願池。 

臨別前夕，我試圖把家放進行李箱，把這共同構築的許願池散落在144張明信片之上。一半於香港印製，一半於中國印製，以兩種印刷機制構建全景。在藍天中，我加上來自不同年代香港明信片的白雲。掏空、遷移、複製一朵白雲，移植對美好的一廂情願，寄件人相信彩虹，收件人看見彩虹，以歷史的碎片推算未來的藍圖。