Occupying Pedestrian Island

Leung Lok Yi, Sin Wing Yan

2024

Video with audio, objects collected from Tai Kok Tsui (old chairs, flooring sample book, wood boards, wooden cart), painting tools, coffee cans, studio mascots, warning tape, and paintings

We discovered that the pedestrian island located in Lime Street serves as a hybrid space, blurring the boundaries between public and private domains. Residents in Tai Kok Tsui have cluttered this pedestrian island with personal items left unattended for extended periods, prompting our curiosity about the hidden negotiation among government officers, social norms, and residents. We imitated the behaviors of Tai Kok Tsui residents and privatized the pedestrian island with our drawing tools, artworks, and personal belongings. At the same time, different objects collected from streets in Tai Kok Tsui were used as studio facilities, which further transformed the pedestrian island into a studio. To trigger unexpected dialogues and events, we spent a lot of time in the studio to produce artworks. Audio and video were utilized to document our experiences as outsiders investigating the ecology, norms, and interactions within the indigenous community of Tai Kok Tsui.