Learning Curves/Shing Mun River by Alessandro Carboni

Installation | Sound Topography around Shing Mun River
5.4.2013 (Fri) | 11.00am – 7pm
6.4.2013 (Sat) | 10am – 6pm
Open area near Pai Tau Village, Shatin, Hong Kong

Performance | Dialogue on Maps
6.4.2013 (Sat) | 11am – 12.30pm
Shatin Rural Committee, 248 Pai Tau Village, Shatin, Hong Kong

I spent two months studying, through an interdisciplinary approach between visual art, geography and architecture, the Shing Mun River as Place of contact bewteen two points - the natural landscape and the urban and cultural landscape. (Alessandro Carboni)
經過兩個月考察,透過田野錄音及影像搜集、我以跨界手法包括視覺藝術、地理、建築去審視城門河這個文化及自然環境的交匯點。(Alessandro Carboni)

The new stage of Learning Curves takes place in Hong Kong and focuses on the Shing Mun River. The project intends to focus the research on the transformation of the landscape caused by major land reclamation that irrevocably changed the Shatin area.
The dramatic human activity around the Shatin area, which started at the beginning of the 1970s due to land reclamation and extension over the sea, transformed the villages into the biggest residential urban agglomerate in Hong Kong.

Installation “Sound Topography around Shing Mun River”
裝置作品:音地誌-身體與沙田屋村及鄉村之對照日記
5.4.2013 (Fri) | 11.00am – 7pm
6.4.2013 (Sat) | 10am – 6pm
@ open area near Pai Tau Village, Shatin, Hong Kong
@ 沙田排頭村對外空

Performance “Dialogue on Maps”
演出地圖對談
6.4.2013 (Sat) | 11.00am – 12.30pm
@ Shatin Rural Committee, 248 Pai Tau Village, Shatin, Hong Kong
@沙田排頭村248沙田鄉事委員會
Learning Curves/Shing Mun River by Alessandro Carboni has been developed in the frame of The Library by soundpocket Artist In Residence

Project by Alessandro Carboni
With the support of The Library by soundpocket, the Italian Institute of Culture and the General Consulate of Italy in Hong Kong and Formati Sensibili.
Hong Kong's dramatic urban transformation, from the late 50s until now, has changed the city's face and identity. The anthropomorphic activity on the Shatin area, that began in the early 70', after land reclamation and extension of land over the sea, has cancelled a many rural villages creating the biggest residential urban agglomerate in Hong Kong. Alessandro Carboni, a visual artist in residence in Hong Kong, tells us about these transformations starting from his explorations around the Shing Mun River, the river that runs through Sha Tin area. The river becomes the place of contact between two points, the natural landscape, in particular the coastline, the river and the mountains, and the artificial landscape, that is the effects of production activity, social, cultural and environmental life in the various neighbourhoods starting from Tai Wai up to Tai Po. The river, according to the artist, is the central element of the transformation, a tangible landscape system, that is an element in balance where all natural and artificial elements can be variably connected.
After two months of residence, Alessandro Carboni presents an exhibition of the installation “Sound Topography around Shing Mun River”. It is a recount of a travelogue conducted in different locations around Shing Mun River. Alessandro explored the areas of Tai Wai, Tai Po, Pai Tau Village, Siu Lek Yuen Village, Fo Tan and Sam Mun Tsai village with the practice of soundwalks that involves listening and recording while moving through a place at a walking pace. While recording, Alessandro wrote a diary concerning the relationship between his perception and the surrounding sonic environment. The installation, composed by six audio players with headphone and six chairs, is located outdoor around a square nearby Shatin Mtr Station. Local people, visitor, passing by people, in response to it becomes a listener of the space that incorporates Alessandro’s perception and experience around Shing Mun River. During the residence, Alessandro Carboni met Mr. Choy Hon Sum, an elderly Tai Wai villager. After several meetings, interviews on the history of Shing Mun River Alessandro Carboni proposed to Mr. Choy to present their dialogue in a performative format. The performance is a duet based on the different perception of a map of the territory Shatin. Alessandro recounts his experience and perception collected during his exploration around urban area, villages, estates, paths, people and parks. Mr. Choy tells the evolution, the geography of Shing Mun River the through the history of his village. Mr. Choy's descriptions are enriched with anecdotes, legends and stories. Alessandro and Mr. Choy, share in the same table, a map which becomes a metaphor of a new territory, a place for a new interpretation of objective and subjective representation of space. As part of the performance, Alessandro presents a series of aerial photography from 1963 collected from the Lands Department. For each of them, Alessandro creates drawings with the aim to explore his perception in connection within objective mapping as photography and subjective mapping as drawing. Learning Curves/Shing Mun River is part of Carboni research and interdisciplinary project Overlapping Discrete Boundaries, a multidisciplinary research project focused both on an objective analysis of urban context and on the other hand focused on the intimate, subjective relationship between the observer and the perceived environment. Overlapping Discrete Boundaries has been carried out by early 2010, through sponsorships and residences both Asian and European cities.
Alessandro Carboni

Bio
Alessandro Carboni addresses his research paths that always involve multiple domains and that draw from both the theoretical and practical studies. His experience, gained as a visual artist and performer, focuses on the body and its relationship with space. Its practices were consolidated over the years through a method of composition that approaches similar paths in science (particularly some of the research carried out in architecture, urban geography, cognitive processes and complex systems theory). In recent years, he has developed several projects, exhibitions and performances at festivals, museums and galleries in Europe, USA, Hong Kong, India and China. His practice is also expressed through teaching and research at the School of Architecture in Hong Kong and the research project Body Complex Network. Recently, he presented the performance Learning Curves, KaitakRiver, at the XIII Biennale of Architecture in Venice. More info: www.progressivearchive.com

Alessandro Carboni is supported by Formati Sensibili, an independent production company for the artistic and scientific research. The activities are aimed at supporting and promoting innovative projects that go in various directions: from art to science, from landscape architecture through training projects. Formati Sensibili is driven by a team of professionals, working in synergy with scholars, artists and scientists, educators, groups, companies and research laboratories involved in the development of innovative products and quality from their study and design until their production and post‐production. More info: www.formatisensibili.it



Alessandro reportage has been published for the Italian magazine Frontierenews.it

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