Spatial reconstruction via imagery: Hong Kong’s collective memories: "Lai Yuen" /

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Student Projects

2024

Lam, Suet Ying

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

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This capstone project aims to reconstruct the intangible imagery of a demolished local amusement park, “Lai Yuen”, which witnessed half a century of Hong Kong's history. Based on the Dual Coding Theory (1971), the Context Reinstatement Effect (1983), and the concept of Mental Imagery in psychology, the project develops a concept of reconstructing intangible imaginary spaces through visual artworks. The output is a series of three artworks integrating the three eras of Lai Yuen space in a bird's-eye view. The objective is to evoke and transmit the collective memories of Lai Yuen to the viewers. A memory list accompanies the artwork, listing the characteristics of the three generations of it. Through the searching interaction, viewers can visually tour the scenes of Lai Yuen and find the historical value and memory fragments of the place.Halbwachs, M. (1925) proposed that collective memory is not only an objective review and description of past events, but also the collective subjective experience of the event by the group, and is a social construction. The content of artworks is based on objective data and overlaid with socially shared subjective fragments to recreate collective memories. The objective data collection includes reading many old newspapers, photos, maps, documentaries, advertisements, and promotional products to integrate the specific and objective geographical space of the Lai Yuen for the artwork. At the same time, social media pages and community platforms disseminate posts and comments about Lai Yuen, and relevant literary works are used as subjective data to depict detailed character actions, presenting collective memories. The research also collected fragments of memories shared by 30 people who have been to Lai Yuen through an online questionnaire and selected some of them as “Easter eggs” to add interest to the artworks.The presentation of the artworks is available through both a website and a physical exhibition for viewers to browse. After appreciating the artwork, 70 viewers provide feedback through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire is used to evaluate the specificity and authenticity of the artwork in restoring the space of Lai Yuen, as well as the changes in viewers' perception of the place before and after appreciating the artwork. Ultimately, the effectiveness of "spatial reconstruction via imagery" in evoking and transmitting collective memories of Lai Yuen is demonstrated.In conclusion, the research results demonstrated how visual art can reconstruct imaginary spaces in memories, to evoke and transmit collective memories of demolished places. Additionally, the study aims to enrich the understanding of the relationship between visual art, collective memory, and social-cultural connections, and contribute to preserving and transmitting intangible cultural heritage that once had spatial significance

LG51.H43 cp BA(CAC)/BEd(VA) 2024eb Lamsy

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/DM4wdEO6