With fair fever due to arrive in Hong Kong next week, Cao Fei has been commissioned by Art Basel and the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong to create an entirely brand new work. The Chinese multi-media artist is known for her works in video, photography, and performance.
The art and music show, titled Same Old, Brand New, will be projected on the highly-visible ICC building, the city's tallest structure at a towering 1,588 feet. Drawing inspiration from iconic 1980s video games, Cao will superimpose images from Pac-Man and Tetris onto the monstrous skyscraper.
Starting March 13, viewers can download the ICC Light and Music Show app to their smartphones to listen to the accompanying music scored by sound artist Dickson Dee while watching the synchronized light show.
Cao Fei was a finalist of the Hugo Boss Prize in 2010, and received the 2006 Best Young Artist Award from the CCAA (Chinese Contemporary Art Award). Her work mainly grapples with Chinese cultural identity, looking at both its history and its current contemporary state.
The artist will also be talking with Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of London's Serpentine Gallery, in this year's Conversations program at Art Basel in Hong Kong (see Art Basel in Hong Kong Takes Global Approach to Salon Programming).
Cao Fei: video art
Dickson Dee: sounds
"Same Old, Brand New" will be on view Friday, March 13–Tuesday, March 17 with five 10-minute sessions every evening at 6:30 p.m., 7:20 p.m., 8:10 p.m., 9:00 p.m. and 9:50 p.m.