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deTour 2021 details “Use(fu)less” design festival

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 6 December
2021 – deTour 2021, Hong Kong’s design festival, makes its annual returns to central PMQ from 26 November to 12
December. Organised at PMQ and sponsored by Create Hong Kong, the 2021 deTour festival
is a collaborative effort between local creative Shin Wong with Trilingual
Design’s Chris Tsui and Adonian
Chan that links the virtual with the physical through interactive exhibitions, design seminars and
workshops under the singular theme “Use(fu)less”. Though rudimentary concepts and thinking, the exhibition
encourages audiences to actively rethink the very basic functions of design.

deTour 2021 is divided into three main exhibitions presented via
37 workshops and 12 design lectures in both virtual and physical formats, available to the public
for free:

 

International
Collaboration: Sputniko! “Red Silk of Fate – The Shrine”

 

There’s a single common
symbol that ties together Chinese, Japanese and Korean mythologies: the “Red
Silk of Fate”. Believed to be tied by the gods to two people that are destined
to be together.

It is the common subject
for Japanese-British artist Sputniko!, who has brought the symbol to life with
biotech scientists from NIAS, spun by engineered silkworms and injected with
the social-bonding love hormone, oxytocin. Featured through a selection of
mediums, from costume design to Japanese short films, each offers an
alternative possibility and potential to the red silk thread.

 

For deTour 2021,
especially Sputniko! has collaborated with local design firm, Napp Studio &
Architects, for a brand-new reimagining of this mythical silk thread. Carefully
ribboned through a piece of fabric, the piece is folded to replicate an ancient
shrine that’s dedicated to love. It carries new meanings of beliefs and
desires, emotions and purpose. Backed by diffused lighting to mimic the soft
glow of moonlight, guests are encouraged to admire the ornate floral patterns,
and with the ancient lore still fresh in mind, reflect on the meaning of
emotion and connection during the time of social distancing, and how innovative
biotechnology has granted new meanings to time-honoured tales.

 

Curators’
Choice: Four design installations that present the power of collaboration

  • Philosophy
    x Design: I know not what CAFÉ (Upper left)

Your
everyday coffee run is transformed as an experiment; a captivating performance.
In “I know not what CAFÉ, designed by Dr Li Hong Ting from local initiative
Corrupt The Youth and local designer Renatus Wu, the ordinary coffee-shop
experience is completely renewed.


Wherever your go-to spot may be, it is the cup of coffee that defines the
experience –– design often relegated to a second after-thought. “I know not
what CAFÉ” flips this traditional model and brings design to the forefront to
demonstrate how the subtle function of spatial design can shape the coffee shop
experience –– and personal perspectives –– as a whole.

  • Sound
    x Design: The Interpreter (Upper right)

Just
like a piece of virtuosic music, language has its own rhythm and beat. Listen
closely and you’ll notice a change in languages will show a change in prosodic
patterns: English, for example, is stress-timed, meaning some syllables are
longer; others shorter. Cantonese, on the other hand, is syllable-timed, with
syllables all of equal lengths; introducing an unmistakable sense of rhythm in
every conversation.

“The
Interpreter” explores the space between sound and music. Ideated by instrument
designer Ng Chak Lam of Oblik Soundwork with Sociolinguist Dr Jackie Jia Lou,
this sound installation records casual dialogue and transposes into a series of
sounds and rhythms performed by a band of musical instruments that repositions
everyday conversation into melodic musicals.

  • Typography X Design: Type–11 (Lower left)

Does

typography matter?

This three-part showcase from psychologist Dr Cheung Sing Hang, typographer
Keith Tam and graphic designer Mak Kai Hang, is presented via Type-11, a
convenience store that explores the presence of typography in our everyday
lives. It introduces real-life decisions that typographers face when designing
for various situations:

How do minor design decisions influence particular perceptions for the
efficiency of communication? Type-11 invites viewers to share their own
preferences as readers and discuss common typeset issues when reading different
circumstances, i.e traditional print from a screen.

  • Sports
    x Design: Strong Hold Pavilion (Lower right)

The

growing popularity of bouldering has opened up new avenues for a deeper

understanding of the sport. Indoor bouldering, for example, relies on more

conversation and communication of discussions regarding climbing routes and techniques

in comparison to outdoor climbing. More importantly, it allows encouragement

that can effectively motivate climbers to push further.

Hong Kong rock climbing athlete, Au Chi Fung, joins sustainable designer, Match
Chen, in the creation of “Strong Hold Pavilion”, an experimental installation
that explores the effectiveness of team camaraderie and verbal motivation. Can
the presence of a full team push you further than an individual practice?
Guided by a common training technique in sport climbing –– “hang-boarding” ––
viewers are challenged to physically put this theory to the test and discover
the “useful” and ‘uselessness” of team camaraderie and verbal motivation in the
occasion of self-performance.

Selected Entries: 10 locally sourced design groups share
creative angles

deTour has always operated as an inspiration space for
creativity and open exchange between various design facets. This year’s open call entries were
met with an enthusiastic response, receiving over 120 design proposals. Along with professional
design teams, this year’s deTour 2021 extended to
design students. 10 exhibitors were selected based on the 2021 “Use(fu)less” theme and covers an
extensive range of concepts including living environment, technology, interpersonal
relationship and spatial design. Two highlights include:

 

  • “ELDER”, designed by JONO Craftspace (Left) – Inspired
    by the bones in our bodies, “ELDER” reimagines the basic framework of the human figure through the
    lens of precision manufacturing borne out of the Industrial Revolution. Wood
    scraps are ingeniously engineered with bionics to replicate the spine, with industry hardware
    posing as tendons and muscles. It presents a moving art installation that asks, “Can we replicate function
    shapes of bones in design?” Like those in the human body, the ‘bones’ are subjected to “evolution” overtime to learn new functions –– in this case, the adding of connecting
    parts impart new meaning and a structural purpose to defunct pieces of wood.
  • “Work in the Woods” (Right) – Ideated
    by three architects, Anson Kwan, Jackie Cheung and Ryan Tung, who collectively graduated from the Bartlett School of
    Architecture at the University of London, “Work in the Woods” subjects its viewer to a futuristic look into a mixed work-life
    reality in Hong Kong’s micro apartments. Inspired by the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, changing realities have
    prompted us to reassess how we live in the future, with a growing desire to work from home. Redefining the meaning
    of a traditional workspace, “Work in the Woods” reimagines a space that is intuitive and physical to transform
    banal working routines.

Special Exhibition: Sci-Fi artist Lucy McRae on the future of
human existence

To encourage further reflection on an item’s intrinsic
Use(fu)less”, deTour 2021 invites world-renowned Sci-Fi artist and body
architect, Lucy McRae. She is widely known for her thought-provoking pieces
that comment on the future state of humankind through installations,
photography, artificial intelligence, edible technology and film.

At PMQ, McRae shares five of her most iconic pieces that reflect
this subject through exploring various limits of the body, beauty,
biotechnology and the self. It’s a continuation of her exploration of the
cultural and emotional impact on science and technology in redesigning the body
and the state of the “Future” viewed while questioning “Who am I?”

A virtual exploration of exhibitions and design dialogues at deTour

As exhibitions at deTour are available in both physical and
virtual formats, it has allowed deTour to become a destination for design
enthusiasts near and afar. The installations are all accessible online through
the official website, which is dissected into a short explanation and an
accompanying audio track. The track can be played and paused throughout for
easy addition of noted connotations at points where the listener feels are
useful or useless — fitting into the design festival overall theme
“Use(fu)less”. For digital visitors, design dialogues are available online and
easily accessed via YouTube. It is these interactive features that have allowed
deTour to bring a successful, multi-faceted experience to a wider audience.

For more information on
virtual design festivals, please check back on social media.

For
more information on the deTour2021 Design Festival, please visit: http://detour.hk

 

Opening Hours for deTour 2021 Design Festival:

Date: 26 November 2021 – 12 December 2021

(Official showing of Sputniko! Red Silk of Fate – The Shrine on 27 November)

Time: 11am to 8pm (11am to 4pm on 26 November)

Address: PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong

Price: Free Entry

 

About deTour 2021 Virtual Festival:

Date: From now till 31 Dec 2021

Link: https://detour.hk/2021/en/


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