Cover Oscar Wang at Timeless Pavilion (Photo: image courtesy of Landmark)
Oscar Wang at Timeless Pavilion (Photo: image courtesy of Landmark)
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The son of actress and producer Sylvia Chang talks about his Chinese New Year plans and how his designs bring the best of traditional Chinese elements and modern aesthetics together
Four years after Hong Kong-born, Shanghai-based designer Oscar Wang created his first art installation, a giant panda sculpture, for Fendi in Chengdu, he has set his sights on his birth city for his next art installation. This month, he has created for Landmark Timeless Pavilion, a Chinese style-pavilion installation features shadow puppetry-themed animations generated by AI to celebrate Chinese New Year.
On view until February 25 at the Atrium, the stainless steel installation is inspired by pavilions in traditional Chinese gardens. The animations, projected onto the walls made of gauze, show historical figures doing modern activities, such as watching the television, playing golf and travelling from airports.
Wang has also created another interactive, oversized game board installation written with festive blessings at Belowground to pair with Timeless Pavilion. Families and kids can throw the giant dices and race against each other to get to the end.
Tatler recently caught up with Wang on his artwork and holiday plans.
How are you spending Chinese New Year?
Family is crucial. I’ll be at gatherings with my family and my wife’s. Sometimes sitting there and doing mundane things may seem boring. But if you look back at your memories, some of these moments are the most special.
What inspired Timeless Pavilion?
I want to create a space for you to share and capture a special moment with your friends, family and loved ones. [With all my designs,] I’d like to think that they are timeless. When people look back at them, I hope they see that the beauty I’ve been trying to create—in terms of [the message], aesthetics and presentations—withstands the test of time.
On the other hand, you can see how busy Landmark is, so I’m hoping that the pavilion, installed with music, can put visitors at ease from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Above Oscar Wang at Belowground's board game installation (Photo: courtesy of Landmark)
Above Oscar Wang (middle) and his family at Timeless Pavilion (Photo: courtesy of Landmark)
Oscar Wang at Belowground's board game installation (Photo: courtesy of Landmark)
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How do you blend Chinese elements with modern designs?
While the two sides of the pavilion feature the shadow puppet show, which is an old Asian [artform], I used AI to generate the modern designs. The ancient Chinese characters are doing modern activities. It’s cool to see how AI adopts the prompts you feed it with. I want to reinterpret and reintroduce shadow puppetry to the younger generation.
Did you have any personal experience with shadow puppet shows before this project?
I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and I saw these puppet shows as a kid. And of course, you’d always come across shadow puppet shows in tons of Hong Kong movies. When I was designing Timeless Pavilion, I wanted it to be authentic to what I saw as a kid, but I also wanted it to be personal and relatable [to the modern generation], so I added [modern] scenes like lovers taking photos. I’m sure a lot of [people] feel that when they capture moments of their loved ones, they get yelled at for taking bad photos, or the other way round.
How does this design reflect your cultural or personal background?
It reflects my personality a lot, because [this combination of Chinese elements and modern aesthetics] relates to me and is what I like. But of course, it also has the DNA of Landmark, where people and brands from all around the world coexist in one space. It’s a blend of our DNA.
You built a career in product and interior design. What made you branch out into art installations?
When I did my first installation for Fendi in Chengdu, which was a giant panda in a toy box, it attracted a lot of young customers who went into the shop to ask where they could acquire the panda toys. It certainly gained a lot of traction on social media, but I really appreciate how it also created moments for people to come together to look at the installation, feel something deeper from within their soul and have a conversation. With Timeless Pavilion, I’m hoping to have that same effect.
What are your predictions for art and design trends in 2024?
AI is going to be here, and it’s moving very quickly. To use it as a method to enrich your creativity will be key. Instead of being too frightened about it, we should all digest our thoughts about it and talk about what can come out of it and how we can interact with it. Only then can we see what being human is like within this new craze for [technological] advancement.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
