SKY 天空 2017 –

China’s reform and opening-up policies began 40 years ago, attracting many Hong Kong businessmen investing there, particularly in the manufacturing sector.  Most of the factories were set up in southern Guangdong for the cheap labor and raw materials.  However, it caused severe air pollution, just like the Industrial Revolution between the 18th and 19th centuries.

Hong Kong often gets polluted winter thanks to the northerly winds bringing mainland Chinese smog in.  The murky smog hovers over the city at worst, blocking the sun as if it is in the night time!

We all know that smog is harmful to human, especially for those having respiratory diseases that are prevalent among Hongkongers.  I am unfortunately one of the victims of air pollution — I must stop my work when I am illy seized with nasal allergy!  This situation continues over a decade and can’t be cured.

I feel a lot better when I look up at the sky.  Although people around the world look at the same sky, the one we see is somewhat different from the one seen by others.

The sky is beautiful.  On a sunny day, I must take photos of it to record the stunning moment.  If I don’t do so, no matter it is during sunrise, sunset, or at noon, I don’t know when I can see the beautiful sunny day again.

Whenever I take a photo of the sky, I wonder if this is the last photo of the sunny day that I can capture.

This idea is not unreasonable.  When I was young, I watched a movie “Blade Runner” that talked about Los Angeles in the future.  Because of the pollution, the climate changed.  It only rained every day without a sunny day at all.  35 year ago, people predicted a doomsday scenario; perhaps, part of it came true.

A very close Rinpoche told me recently that the world is in a precarious situation, and the five elements are continuously changing.  The human behaviors, including wars and air pollution, make the universal magnetic field unstable.  Having many uncertain factors that hinder his prediction of the future, he can only look at today and remind us to live in the moment.

Hoping to present some Chinese elements in this work and also highlight my Chinese identity, I use the ratio of Chinese ink wash painting in vertical format as the format of this work.

中國開放改革接近四十年，香港結束英國殖民統治回歸中國政權已經二十一年。其間很多香港的商人在中國大陸設廠，以製造業者為首，廠房大多集中於中國廣東南部一帶。大量且廉價的勞動力、原料等因素令工廠越建越多。嚴重的空氣汚染由此而生！

嚴重的空氣汚染產生了霧霾 (smog)。 就像18、19世紀工業革命一樣，當時空氣污染對歐洲的影響甚巨。

在香港，當吹北風的日子，霧霾便從中國大陸被吹到香港。霧霾嚴重的時候，陽光被有毒的濃霧遮蓋著，日間的天空看起來像是夜晚！霧霾對人體健康有嚴重傷害。在香港，呼吸系統疾病非常普遍。我亦是這樣環境下的受害者，我患有嚴重的鼻敏感，病情嚴重的時候我什至不能工作！這樣的情況已持續了十多年，看過很多醫生也不能把病治好。當我抬頭看著天空的時候就感覺良多。全世界的人都看著同一片天，但我們看的天與其他人看的又截然不同。

天空是美麗的，在晴天萬里無雲的日子，我總覺得要為它拍下一張照片，紀錄了這一刻色彩斑爛的時刻！不論是日出、日落、或正午的藍天，如果我不把這一刻的天空拍下，總覺得下一次能看見美麗的晴天不知將會是什麼時候？！當我每次拍攝天空的時候我便想：「這次是否能拍到晴天的最後一張照片？！」

這個想法不無道理，年青時看的電影「2020」（Blade Runner)，在未來世界的洛杉磯，完全沒有晴天，每天只下著雨，因為污染的關係，氣候也改變了。三十五年前的人預測的未來也許抱著末日的心態，但亦也許部分應驗了。

最近與一位相識多年的靈波車(Rinpoche)談話，他說現世正處於一個極不穩定的局面，五行(5 elements) 不斷在改變；人類的行為包括戰爭、空氣污染等，令宇宙的磁場極之不穏，令他對未來的預測有很多不確定的因素所防礙，只能放眼今天，提醒我們把握活在當下是最重要的事情。

是次作品的格式(format)是源用自傳統中國水墨畫的垂直畫幅比例，希望在作品中呈現一些中國元素，藉此亦突顯了我中國人的身分。