Date and Time
Venue
Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Admission
Free
Deadline for Talk’s Registration
4 Apr 2021 (Sun)
Overview
The 10th programme of Culture Masseur: Talking Heads “Art X AI” features Hong Kong renowned lyricist Chow Yiu Fai. He will be leading an experimental showcase “Touch Me: Massage, Music, A.I.” which combines real massage experiences and creative writing practices. He will also be conducting an artist presentation and a chill chat salon with Feng Yi, songwriter and arranger of local band The JUNK, and software engineer Daniel Tam.
【Experimental Showcase: 《Touch Me: Massage, Music and AI》】
10 Apr 2021 (Sat) 19:00 – 20:30
11 Apr 2021 (Sun) 13:00-14:30
“Body” has always been a recurring theme in Chow Yiu Fai’s writings in the past decades, and through which he explores the different faces of bodily sensations. Right when human activity was first recorded, we, as humans, have always been yearning for all types of sensations and stimulations through writing with their bare hands, and strived to figure out the possibilities of these fleshy bodies.
However, this is a generation where AI, through science, computing and algorithms, is now capable of assisting one to write, to create and even to produce “texts”. Through this experiential showcase, Chow Yiu Fai is keen to explore with the participants the following issues: how bodily contact like massage and unbodily system like the AI could collide with creative writing? And in what forms could everyday practice like body massage connect with a seemingly conventional art space? All these have led to one core question: could non-human medium express on behalf of human?
Join us at this final session of Culture Masseur for a cross-disciplinary artistic experience where art actually crossovers with real body massage.
【Artist Presentation & Chill-chat Salon】
11 Apr 2021 (Sun) 15:00-17:00
Chow Yiu Fai will first share the result of 《Touch Me: Massage, Music and AI》, and also present how he write to evoke the bodily sensations. Followed by a conversation with Feng Yi (Songwriter and Arranger of The JUNK) and Daniel Tam (Founder of 0243.hk and Software engineer), discussing how can AI assist in body writing.
Conducted in Cantonese in Pao Galleries, HKAC and via Cultural Masseur Facebook. Free admission.
Respondents:
• Feng Yi (Songwriter and Arranger of The JUNK)
• Daniel Tam (Founder of 0243.hk and Software engineer)
Conducted in Cantonese in Pao Galleries, HKAC and via Cultural Masseur Facebook. Audiences must be aged over 18.
*Please note that fragrance will be applied during the event. Audience should decide whether to participate in the event based on their own health conditions.
Free admission, first come-first served. Registration by 4 Apr 2021.
Registration link: https://guidedtour.typeform.com/to/TS5rM50Q
Special thanks: Daniel Tam (0243.hk website), Feng Yi (Live music performance), Team of Masseuse Volunteer, Hava Massage (Professional massage training)
Artist
Chow Yiu Fai
Born in Hong Kong, Chow Yiu Fai received his PhD degree at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam. Currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing of Hong Kong Baptist University, Chow is also an award-winning writer. He released his first lyrics in 1989. Since then he has penned some 1,000 lyrical works for a diversity of pop artists in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. Lately, Chow has been increasingly involved in prose writing, multi-media and visual art projects.
Respondent
Feng Yi
Feng Yi is an ardent champion of diversity in music and expunging boundaries. His style is deeply influenced by Black Music, Indie Folk, Neo-psychedelia and Jazz. He believes music should not be bound by format or genre, which is evident in all of his creation, whether it be his solo work or music by his band. He founded indie band The Ginkgo and TheJUNK in 2009 and have since been active in both Hong Kong and Taiwan’s independent music scene. With his band, he performed in live houses and countless other venues around Asia. Feng Yi has performed solo in various multimedia live shows, recorded for film scores, organized and played at his own music festivals as well. In 2019, Feng Yi officially kickstarted his solo career in both Hong Kong and Taiwan, with his first solo album set to release in 2021.
Respondent
Daniel Tam
Daniel Tam is a software engineer. For the last 15 years, he worked on applying Artificial Intelligence in Silicon Valley, for Facebook, Amazon, and three start ups. His code spanned Search, Recommendation, Spelling, Image understanding, and Classifiers. He is the founder of 0243.hk, building solutions for learning and writing Cantonese lyrics. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he once led an orchestral performance for Governor Patten. Also while in secondary school, he massaged tens of swimmers between competitions. Now his main massage clients are his wife and their dog.