A New Language 新語

2022 | School desk, chair, ink and colour on paper | booklet: 19 x 13 cm (15 pages); painting: set of 3 : 80 x 137, 80 x 139, 80 x 137 cm 

作品以石頭圖像取代語言,探討表達的限制。語言形塑我們對世界的理解,詞彙與文法決定思考的深度,當圖像被簡化、重複抄寫,創作便顯單調乏味,通過反思山水畫的臨摹與書法訓練,探討語言的對表達局限。

裝置模擬教室,設有課桌、椅子、一本練習簿與手稿故事,簿中列出十五種石頭圖案,仿照香港小學生學漢字的九宮格格式。牆上手稿只用簿中的十五種圖案重複「書寫」十五段故事,顯得單調無趣。觀眾站在課桌前,尋找練習簿與手稿的關聯,發現圖案無法表達複雜想法,體會簡化語言與單一思維的侷限,進而反思語言、自由與思想邊界。


The artwork substitutes language with stone imagery, examining the limits of expression. Language shapes our perception of the world, with vocabulary and grammar defining the depth of our conceptual thought. Reflecting on the rote imitation in Chinese landscape painting and calligraphic training, the work reveals how simplified imagery and repetitive practice yield monotonous results.

The installation recreates a classroom, featuring a desk, chair, manuscripts and an exercise book listing fifteen rock patterns, modelled on the jiugongge copybook used by Hong Kong children to learn Chinese characters. Manuscripts on the wall, “written” with these fifteen patterns in fifteen repetitive paragraphs, form a tedious narrative. Standing at the desk, viewers trace links between the copybook and manuscripts, realising the patterns’ inability to convey complex ideas, confronting the constraints of simplified language and uniform thinking, and prompting reflection on language, freedom, and the boundaries of thought.