Stanley Wong
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
If you grew up in an Asian country, you will undoubtedly recognise the ubiquitous blue-red-white tarpaulin used in Stanley Wong’s redbluewhite - a collection of posters, photographs, artwork and installations centred around the material. Uprooted from my country of origin, this collection very much brought me back to those good old days when my grandmother would, during her weekly Sunday visits, carry a bag made of this material containing breakfast and treats for me…
Though its origins may be obscure, the cheap, durable and multifunctional red, white and blue nylon bag has served many an émigré returning from Hong Kong to China over the years, bearing gifts and foodstuffs for friends and relatives in their native province. Even today, many still use the bags to store or transport things.
Since 2000, Stanley Wong has been incorporating this quotidian and ubiquitous motif into his photography, poster designs and installation art, in an effort to epitomize the Hong Kong spirit so well encapsulated by it. The significance behind this red, white and blue, however, is very different from the themes of liberty, egality, and fraternity underlying that of the French tricolour. The subject-matter of RedWhiteBlue-Building Hong Kong echoes the industriousness and struggle of the Hong Kong people in the 1960s: starting out with nothing, they succeeded in constructing the metropolis that is present-day Hong Kong with their fortitude, positivity and adaptability.
In his work, Wong retains the original sturdy material, but has come up with numerous variations on the tricolour stripes. Through deconstructing, reassembling and recombining the familiar pattern, he has brought to it a completely novel feeling, breathing ample new life into this mundane and oft-neglected “found object” - much like the “Hong Kong spirit” that the designer values above all else. (Hong Kong Design Professional)
“From the graphic designer’s point of view, the red-white-and-blue combination lies somewhere between the beautiful and the grotesque. But, like a screw, it is full of creativity and usefulness. It is part of life and living in Hong Kong and symbolizes its hardy and hardworking people.” - Stanley Wong