Tai Ping Participate at Art Basel Hong Kong 2022

Name: Edward Fields
Price range: $

“Hong Kong Walk On” – a collaboration between Tai Ping and Hong Kong cross-disciplinary artist anothermountainman – revives the iconic Red White Blue series that celebrates Hong Kong culture and the city’s identity in the art scene.

Featuring two one-of-a-kind 3-metre x 6-metre handmade masterpieces to be unveiled at Art Basel Hong Kong 2022, the Tai Ping x anothermountainman installation includes Hong Kong Walk On I, a nod to the iconic red, white and blue fabric in a scrunched up design, and Hong Kong Walk On II, a graphic deconstruction of the Hong Kong skyline – also in red, white and blue.

Hong Kong Walk On

"For everything in life

There is no clear start point

And there will be no absolute ending

It's a journey of straight and winding

Smooth and rugged

Same for everything

Same for our city"

anothermountainman

palms together

/ 2022

photography: Ivan Kwok

West Kowloon

The Warehouse

PMQ

City Hall

Hong Kong Walk On I at Choy Hung Estate

Hong Kong Walk On I at Chater Road

Hong Kong Walk On I at Nam Seng Wai

Hong Kong Walk On I at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Hong Kong Walk On I at the Repulse Bay

Hong Kong Walk On I at Shek Kip Mei Estate

Hong Kong Walk On I at Tin Hau Temple at Stanley

Hong Kong Walk On I at West Kowloon

Hong Kong Walk On I at the Peninsula Hong Kong

Hong Kong Walk On I at Stanley

Hong Kong Walk On I at The Cenotaph

Making of Hong Kong Walk On

In Hong Kong Walk On I, Tai Ping’s most demanding level of craftsmanship in recent decades, anothermountainman reinterprets his iconic Red White Blue series by creating a sophisticated, photorealistic design that gives the illusion of a rippled textile.

To showcase the intricate texture of the original fabric, Tai Ping furthered its exploration into artistic production with a mural-standard execution, an approach that is beyond the reach of technological assistance due to the intricacy of the design. Abandoning computer-generated templates, artisans performed their work directly on the canvas, relying on their unparalleled skills and artistic interpretation in order to bring the image to life – based solely on a photo reference.

To guide the artisans, the first layer of the template was hand-painted onto a 3 x 6m canvas, which divided the carpet into 71,200 small grids of 1.59 x 1.59cm, followed by a second layer of the sketched design.

Each grid was carefully analysed to ensure every millimetre of the carpet was accurately defined. The artisans then applied a combination of yarns to the canvas using a hand-tufting gun to fill each grid, crafting in horizontal, vertical or diagonal directions.

Smooth gradation, dynamic curves and clean lines, together with the regular collocation of red/white grids or blue/white grids throughout, mark the challenges from which this artisanal piece grows.

The complex design required the workshop to appoint four seasoned artisans with over 25 years of hand-tufting experience, as well as 10 craftsmen from various departments including colour matching, sketching, stencilling & brushing, colour separation, and colour marking & processing.

The carpet was made using 64 different hues of red, white and blue along with 628 colour combinations in Grade A New Zealand wool and Chinese silk yarns.

From inception to completion, this extraordinary textile took 12 months to complete.

By contrast, Hong Kong Walk On II makes use of simple geometric lines to trace the Hong Kong skyline. Accentuated with multi-level pile heights in a combination of cut and loop pile, the graphic skyline deconstruction is boldly presented in solid blocks of red, white and blue.

Masterful hand carving and bevelling by Tai Ping artisans add a further layer of interest, contributing to the 3-dimensional effects presented in this piece.

About anothermountainman

Stanley Wong, also known as anothermountainman, is a renowned Hong Kong contemporary artist and designer with over 600 awards including two One Show gold awards from the U.S., D&AD yellow pencil from the UK, Tokyo TDC award. In 2020, anothermountainman was named DFA World’s Outstanding Chinese Designer.

anothermountainman’s Red White Blue exhibition promoting the positive spirit of Hong Kong earned him international recognition since appearing at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005.

With passion for photography, he uses various forms of creative media to express his unique ideas and views on social issues. Collected by the likes of Hong Kong’s M+ and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, past exhibitions of his work include solos at Tokyo’s Ginza Graphic Gallery (ggg) in 2015 and at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in 2019.

The inspiration began with in-depth research on the origins of the fabric first seen on 1960s Hong Kong construction sites, then later evolving to symbolise the city’s positivity, flexibility and unyielding faith.

The collaboration: Hong Kong Walk On is founded upon shared values of community and artisanship between Tai Ping and the artist. It pushes further the boundaries of what Tai Ping aims to contribute to the future of design, art and interiors.

To the artist, the collaboration was fluid, as Tai Ping champions impeccable craftsmanship and “grows with Hong Kong” whilst allowing artists like him to express their visions, unlimited by commercial constraints.