"Hidden Neighbor"

Media: Cross Media - Performance Art, Poem
Artist: Monique Yim (Performance Art), Wiency Wong (Poem)

Artist Statement: In Hong Kong, plastic bag ranks the first among marine debris while fishing gear ranks the second. Humans are being selfish and irresponsible to pollute the ocean and to destroy the ecosystem of marine life by leaving unwanted substances like plastic bags and fishing gear in the ocean. Rather than death, this also made millions hidden and innocent creatures into incredibly alive bodies and souls. Using the theme of biodiversity, the artist uses materials including plastic bags, string... to make herself one of those marine animals suffering from human's activities. Actions, body, and materials work together to create imagery while symbols convey implications in a poetic way. More than using the interaction between the ideology and symbols, she will also try to interact with the audience. The artist meanwhile invited a creative writer, Wiency Wong, to collaborate with her by created an English poem. This work had been exhibited and performed for 2017 “Hong Kong Ecocinema Festival x CULTaMAP : Make Our Seas Come BLUE - Eco-arts Travelling Exhibitions and Parade”, in the Maritime Museum, and Edinburgh Square, Hong Kong.

Poem:
"Grow up! Grow up and live with a soul as if we have a choice.
Outside underwater city, you cannot hear my voice.

All the way to other side, winds are scratching golden sands.
My life is different from yours but we’re sharing the same land.

With families, I sometimes visit those stunning corals-
Reds, greens, yellows, pinks, purple-blues, and then blues for sorrow.

Earlier it was home, it was my only territory,
And private underground where I breathe in and out freely.

A reminder to us living with a lung or a gill:
To avoid suffocating we better learn self-rescue.

Sound waves from boat engines entertain me and my offspring.
Our eyes, ears, flippers and fins begin dancing then cramping.

For now, I can only swim towards the blind horizon.
Polyethylene, copper, oil as supplementation.

Without solace I am satisfied and I am alive!
Gone are solar power and oxygen, can we survive?"

Artist Website: https://sites.google.com/site/moniquewkyim/