Cookout: Contemporary Condensation

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Odds and Ends is pleased to present “Cookout: Contemporary Condensation”, a group exhibition curated by Eric Kot 葛民輝 featuring works by more than 20 local artists, designers and master craftsmen and women. “Cookout: Contemporary Condensation” celebrates a unique creative culture birthed from the highly condensed city of Hong Kong, it sheds light on an ecosystem of creatives that have quietly shaped the everyday social and cultural experience of the people of Hong Kong. The exhibition opens on 9th July 2022 and will be opened daily from 12-7pm.

“Cookout: Contemporary Condensation” was dreamt up by self-proclaimed Monster Producer, Eric Kot, who is widely known for his work as a fashion and design producer, radio DJ, actor, and a member of Cantonese music duo Softhard 軟硬天師. As Kot’s curatorial debut, he has chosen to address aspects of contemporary living through his personal experience of growing up in Hong Kong’s public housing estates.

Hong Kong is a city constantly confronted with land scarcity, the city’s solution to this is building highly condensed public housing estates that house almost 30% of the its population. Despite the less than ideal solution, as a result of such limited circumstance is the citizens’ trained ability to maximise creative output with minimal resources, and a sense of communal living that is uniquely found amongst residents of housing estates.

Taking over the gallery space is Like Black Box, 2022, an installation piece that encapsulates this spirit of creative and communal living born from Kot’s experience of public housing estates. Inspired by the popular make- shift bunk bed often found in estate units, Like Black Box is an interactive installation collaboratively designed and produced by Kot and woodwork artist collective Start from Zero.

Displayed alongside this installation are individual artworks by Hong Kong creatives such as production designer Jimmy Wonderland, artist Kelvin Ma, and poet MATSUSHIMAON 松島安. The communal spirit extends to a series of unique plaster statues created in collaboration with six special guests— Hong Kong actor and musician Jan Lamb 林海峰, artist and musician Prodip Leung 梁偉庭, designer and creative director Joel Chu 朱祖兒, artist and lyricist Siu Hak 小克, artist Paul Lung, and design production workshop Taurus Workshop. This series of six statues will be sold in the form of silent auction, in-person and phone bidding will begin on 9th July 2022.

Commonly found within the densely populated public housing estates are craftsmen and handymen. The sound of butchers sharpening knives and clanking of metal by metal workers all make up the iconic soundscape and ecosphere of an estate. The humble origins of cultural handcrafting can often be traced back to Hong Kong’s housing estates, training within those walls generations of craftsmen and women who would go on to shape the city’s cultural landscape. Paying tribute to the art of handcrafting, on view will also be artwork, objects and furniture created by local craftsmen and women such as metalworkers master KK Chu and master Tam, crochet artist collective La Belle Epoque, and tufting and design agency Elf Lab.

Curated by Eric Kot, “Cookout: Contemporary Condensation” is a tribute to Hong Kong’s creatives, to the public housing estates that birthed the culture and to the people who continue to shape and define it. Standing tall at a space of 3.6 x 7m is a black box of 2280 x 4210mm, a cultural testimony of a generation’s condensed living.