Non-semantic Expressions in the City
In spite of the regular urban traces, there are also vague traces, such as the small adverts and graffiti on the streets that have been cleaned up or covered, and which turn out to be traces of disorder on the buildings. They are the exclusionary reaction of the established urban appearance to the culture of the citizens. They are the silent expression of the city itself, after the values that people attach to it have faded away.
Unsuppressible urban trace
This vitality seems to correspond to the irrepressible desires and needs of urbanites.
People seem to be caught in a cycle of losing and finding.
Fluid Identities
People's subjectivities are formed and reshaped according to the roles assigned to them by society and their desire to invest in various networks (family, school, society).
Urban traces are in a freer context than symbols in formal public space, where the viewer can criticise, erase, praise and respond to the trace according to his or her own point of view. Thus, our identities are fluid with regard to urban traces, and we can become a viewer, a creator, or a purger at any time.
Urban Traces As a Language
Urban traces can be seen as the physical, visual and acoustic traces left behind by the city over time, which are different from written or spoken language, they have their own visual characteristics and ways of expression, and they can convey the thoughts, emotions, political and cultural views of the people in the city, at the same time represent the deepest spiritual needs of the citizens.
The connection
between
self and the world
「1」Through their nomadism in the city, the viewers also connect their "selves" to the "world", linking themselves to urban images, culture, politics, art and even the inner world of the graffiti artist.
「2」Graffiti creators connect their "selves" to the "world" through the nomadism of graffiti, linking themselves to the series of images produced over time in the city and all the possibilities associated with them.
Nomad Traces
Another characteristic of trace languages is that they are usually an ephemeral form of expression; they may exist only in a particular time and space and disappear or be overwritten as soon as that time and space change.
To prevent the traces from fading away, creators often wander through the city, leaving marks in different corners, which explains the nomadic nature of these traces.
At the same time, viewers, upon seeing these things, change their paths and follow the movement of the traces, becoming a part of the nomadic experience.
Inspiration of this project
This nomadic behaviour of following the traces of the city forms a kind of alien urban wanderings. I would like to take "Lost and Find" as the theme of this alternative urban wanderings, linking the routes through various informal traces in the city, and the audience will finally find the end of the story and their own answers in the nomadic traces of the city.
Roaming Guide
I would like to use three literary genres representing Hong Kong's youth and urban culture to link up three routes of urban roaming. Roamers will unlock different passages of the story at each route node, and the content of each passage guides to the next destination.
How to weave stories into city corners
I use QR codes to hide a variety of urban stories in the corners of the city, and interested walkers scan the QR code with their phones on the street to see a part of the story and be guided to look for the rest of the story in a location that has traces of the city.
Thoughts on my creative process
「Transformation of self-identity」
In the process of putting up QR codes and posters in Hong Kong, I realised that I had also experienced a shift in identity. Before doing this theme, I was inspired by seeing these traces on the streets as a viewer. Now I am transformed from a viewer to a creator of traces on the street, and the act of cleaning up other traces in the process of creation makes me a cleaner as well.
Derivative project: Doodle LAb
︎Lastly, thank you so much for your participation and browsing, it was a pleasure to share this project with you ! 👋️😋️