Artist Statement

Satellite Event: The 5th Large-Scale Public Media Arts Exhibition: Human Vibrations

Mobile camera obscura as a form of expanded cinema.

Location: Tram between Sheung Wan and Causeway Bay.

Twenty-Five Minutes Older departs from a number of sources. It takes the form of a camera obscura, an optical phenomenon considered by many as a metaphor for perception. The title pays tribute to Ten Minutes Older, a 1978 film directed by Latvian filmmaker Herz Frank, about the emotional journey of small children watching a 10-minute film. A fragmentary narrative was borrowed from Liu Yichang’s Tête-bêche. The novella’s title refers to a pair of joined stamps in head-to-toe print; in a stream of consciousness, a chiasmus unfolds as the stories of two strangers intertwine.
Weaving together these threads, the twenty-five minute tram ride invites the audience to become passengers. In a contemplative time capsule, punctuated by the rocking of the tram, alongside non-stop traffic, they travel through the city and see its scenery in reverse. At times, reality of the present overlaps with the past in fiction: “next to a trendy boutique is a gas company; next to the gas company is a gold shop; next to the gold shop is a gold shop…”
A prototype of the work was made together with HKBU MVA Alumni for detour 2013. The first rendition of the work was commissioned by Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2016.

With excerpts from Tête-bêche by Mr. Liu Yichang
Editing and Translation by Stephanie Cheung
Music Composition by Steve Hui
Music Performed by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble and Steve Hui
Voice-over by AMA, Chiara Kung
Technical design by Jason Wong
Software design by Cheuk Wing Nam
Sound Engineering by Anthony Yeung and Thomas Wenzl
Technical support by Cheung Wing Yan Rivian and Lee Chi Wai
Technical Production by Stage Tech Limited

Supported by Art Basel, MGM Arts and Culture, The Pawn, Osage Art Foundation, HKBU Academy of Visual Arts, and Hong Kong Tramways
[source: kingsleyng.com/wp3/portfolio_page/twenty-five-minutes-older-art-basel-hk-edition]

Video: Art Basel: Kingsley Ng’s ‘Twenty-Five Minutes Older’, Hong Kong 

• Kingsley Ng Siu King is an inter-disciplinary artist and designer with a focus on site-specific and participatory projects. His creative practices are driven by a belief that art can be socially relevant and transformative. Ng holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in New Media from Ryerson University, Canada; a Master of Science degree in Sustainable Design from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland; and Post-Diplôme avec les félicitations du jury à l’unanimité from Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains, France. He has served as an Assistant Professor at the Academy of Visual Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University since 2015. kingsleyng.com/wp3 [source: ava.hkbu.edu.hk/en/academy/academic-staff/kingley-ng-siu-king]