M+/ Design Trust Fellowship | 2018 Recipients Research-In-Progress Presentation
19. 9. 2018
Call of Duty: Black Ops. 2010. © Activision Publishing, Inc. Research undergoing by 2018 M+/ Design Trust Research Fellow Hugh Davies.
Design Trust joined M+ / Design Trust Research Fellows Hugh Davies’ and Fan Lok Yi & Sampson Wong’s research-in-progress presentation on Wednesday 1st August 2018 at the M+ headquarters, with the participation of Alan Lo (Co-founder/ Chairman, Design Trust), Marisa Yiu (Co-founder/ Executive Director, Design Trust), Aric Chen (Curator, Design and Architecture, M+), Ip Yuk Yiu (Associate Dean, School of Creative Media, City University, and Thomas Tsang (Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, University of Hong Kong), amongst other scholars and academics.
Hugh Davies is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and investigator. His research explores the history of technology, screen practices, and expansive games. He has been studying the psycho-geography of virtual spaces in Hong Kong and the fellowship has enabled Hugh to extend his research “to be in the city and see their indexes against each other”. During the presentation Hugh shared his research development on “Hong Kong Architecture in the Video Game Vernacular”, bringing to light the multifaceted representations of Hong Kong in video game culture. He has examined the interplay between the city and virtual spaces, and revealed Hong Kong’s striking visual prominence across the gaming landscape, and often times, the inconsistencies that come with it.
Concurrently, the team of Fan Lok Yi and Sampson Wong investigates the movement of constructing “revolutionary playgrounds” during the 1960s and 1970s in Hong Kong, focusing on Shek Lei Playground and its extended context in East Asia. The research seeks to join the broader dialogue concerning how architectural discourse and practice were received in East Asia and Hong Kong. During the presentation, the duo probed into the definition of playscape, including its social and cultural conditions and related play theories. The sharing also touched upon policies that influenced architecture and urban planning. Using research as an intervention, Lok Yi and Sampson’s work enabled us to better understand the playground discourse.
Design Trust and M+ are pleased with the progress of the 2 fellowships and look forward to more sharing at the upcoming public lecture.
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- Playground of Shek Lei Resettlement Estate, 1960s – 70s © Information Services Department, Hong Kong
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- Playground of Shek Lei Resettlement Estate, 1960s – 70s © Information Services Department, Hong Kong
Images: Shek Lei Adventure Playground, Shek Lei Resettlement Estate, 1969. Courtesy of Hong Kong SAR Government. Research undergoing by 2018 M+/ Design Trust Research Fellows Fan Lok Yi and Sampson Wong; Call of Duty: Black Ops. 2010. ©Activision Publishing, Inc. Research undergoing by 2018 M+/ Design Trust Research Fellow Hugh Davies.