The 24th ifva Awards
Media Art Category Jury Meeting Transcript
Jury Members: Bryan Chung (Chung), Tamas Waliczky (Tamas), Ng Tsz-kwan (Ng), Yang
Yeung (Yeung), Minoru Hatanaka (Hatanaka)
Organizer Representatives: Kattie Fan (Fan), Sandy Lai (Sandy)

Fan:

Today our mission is to decide on the awards. We have three awards, Gold, Silver
and Special Mention. The Gold Award winner will receive HK$50,000 and a trophy;
the Silver Award winner will receive HK$30,000 and a trophy; Special Mention winner
will receive a certificate, no cash prize. Also, Goethe-Institut Hongkong is sponsoringa solo exhibition and a festival visit to Transmediale Festival. The top Hong Kong
division winner is entitled to receive the two prizes. If you have no questions, we candiscuss the works you have just seen one by one. After a brief discussion of each
artwork, we can proceed to nominate the award winners. The first work is Between
Happening.

Yeung:

We just discuss and throw out comments and you will moderate?

Fan:

Right. Usually, we first discuss the artworks one by one, you can express youropinions on the artwork and then we can nominate award winners.

Yeung:

Do you also talk about the marks?

Fan:

We usually don’t calculate the marks because each of you have a different marking
scheme. The marks can be used as a reference for yourself in the discussion. I hope
when we discuss the awards, we can get your agreement on which works deserve
the awards. The 10 finalist works were selected from some 60 submissions. The firstround jurors including Bryan Chung, Ip Yuk-yiu and Orlean Lai reviewed all thesubmissions in proposal format, and then selected 10 finalists to be showcased in thegallery. When we come to discussing the artworks, maybe Bryan can let us know why
they were selected as the finalists.

Chung:

Between Happening is one of the most complete works when we received thesubmissions and nicely made.

Ng:

What did it look like? Do they send you pictures?

Chung:

Videos, some kind of construction diagram and some technical information on how to
set up the piece. For this work, the submission is pretty similar to the work we saw.
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For me, the work is quite suitable for exhibition. It may not be extremely innovative;
there are a lot of artists using this type of magnets and magnetic powder. I would liketo see something more complex than the two bands of moving magnets.
Ng:

I have similar views. The work looks really complete, it looks like something you cansell in a gallery. But it is certainly not very creative in making use of new media or interms of the concept. Somehow, for me the work is very retro, it’s a very Modernist
work.

Waliczky: I agree. I thought it’s very artistic, but not complex enough. It’s just this very simple
movement, left to right. It’s a nice idea to make an image out of metal particles, but
I’d like to see more.
Hatanaka: I gave it very high marks because my impression is very strong. It’s a pity we canonly see one artwork presented, I’d like to see more samples and types of painting. I
want to see that instrument do different types of drawing. If the artist showed more
samples, it’d be more interesting. The idea is simple but it gave me a strong
impression.
Yeung:For me, the simplicity can be an advantage. There are two ways of thinking about thisfor me. One, maybe she is too ambitious in wanting to make a painting out of it,
because it is the simplicity of the movement of the magnets and the little pins, thevery subtle movements up in the sky and down there that is captivating and moving.
Yet it becomes such a complete drawing that I wonder if it is what she intends. She
claims in the statement that it’s about human impact on the landscape, but that is not
attained by the way she deals with the materiality. So, there is this distance between
what she claims she is trying to achieve and what she’s actually doing. This
discrepancy is unfortunate.

Hatanaka: Sometimes, simplicity makes for complexity, a simple formula can lead to a complex
conclusion. That’s why I’d like to see more samples.
Fan:

If there are no further comments, we can move on to the next work, codenamehk:
shitennou.

Ng:

I can’t connect with the work, for me it looks like Morse code. These four screens aretrying to communicate with me, but even though I tried very hard, I couldn’t get what
it was trying to say. It’s intriguing, and I kept looking at it to see what it wanted to tellme. I can see some small texts, but are they lyrics?

Hatanaka: The artist told us yesterday, they are lyrics from 1990s Cantopop, so it’s a kind of
karaoke. The images are a visualization of the lyrics. I don’t know why the lyrics don’t
2change too much.
Waliczky: My problem with it is it’s supposed to be an interpretation of a 1990s Cantopop song,
but I don’t see the interpretation or the rules. It’s just the loudness of the music thatmakes these horizontal lines, and that’s not complex or interesting enough.
Aesthetically it’s nice with the four large screens and nice characters, but whensomeone wants to interpret the music, there should be something more complex thanthe loudness of the sound.
Chung:

I have a similar impression, I wondered if there is an encoding and decoding process
at work, but I failed to make sense of it. A general phenomenon with all the works thisyear is the sound penetrating from all directions, I try to listen to the sound to see if
there is some relation with the lyrics but I cannot make sense out of that one at thismoment. I also agree that the lyrics do not change during the several minutes I stayedin front of the work. I am not sure about the physical arrangements; we need to lookup at the four panels, I am not sure if the intention was to have them at eye-level andcloser to the audience. It would make more sense to invite communication with thework.

Yeung:

I see it as a kind of worshiping, it is less of a translation between codes but more theartist’s own guilty pleasure. So, for me, it’s an installation of guilt, which I findinteresting, but I agree with Tamas that it is crude. It could be anything, not necessarily
1990s music, so the context and content is not radical enough.

Fan:

The next work is Crosswalkers.

Ng:

This work is like a reversing process of having the image and display and somehow
come back to the way you get the image and how it is displayed, it’s close to the
Buddhist concept of “sentient beings”. The way you get the image and the way it isdisplayed, it can be anyone around you.

Yeung:Can I ask a technical question about the work? Is it intentional that on the left side
where they enter the image, it is deliberately loose?

Chung:

I don’t think so.

Fan:

We assigned this dark room for him, and the arrangement inside the room is totally
his decision.

Ng:So, in the drawing when he submitted the work, it is not necessarily a triangle?

Fan:

It is already in triangle.
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Waliczky: For me, this work raises a lot of questions, which I can’t answer. First of all, I like slitscan very much, I have worked with it since a long time ago and it’s a very interesting
technique. This film is aesthetically beautiful, I just didn’t understand why. I get that it
wants to record time, but actually I don’t see time, I see a lot of people. My firstquestion is why slit-scan? The second question is, you have this very nice film strip,
but why is it going in a triangle space? Then there is a video camera watching the slitscreen, but I don’t understand where the image of the video camera is. What does it
do? Also, there are these two lights making shadows on the wall, they are nice but
the shadows are not sharp, so I don’t see what it adds to the artwork. The whole thing
looks nice, it’s just that for me, there are lots of questions I cannot answer.
Yeung:

It is not well-integrated for me.

Chung:

The work won the human-rights prize a few weeks ago. In that particular context, it
was mentioned that the artist shot a protest with a lot of people walking across to theChinese news agency, and then he took that particular footage and converted it using
slit-scan technology, but that’s not mentioned in the submission notes. For the humanrights exhibition, the people walking in front of the Chinese-controlled news agency
makes sense, but for the presentation here, it seems out of context. It’s more like anexperiment of spatial arrangement. I cannot make sense of the use of CRT and thelocation of that particular CRT at the entrance, why not in line with the video camera?
And the visibility of that video camera, I am not sure if it is necessary to have that one
in the film reel.

Waliczky: The political layer didn’t come out for me at all, I didn’t know anything about this. If
the camera represents control, I would like to somehow see or understand it. It is not
well-integrated into a fully understandable piece for me.
Sandy:

The work that won the human-rights award is not the same as this one. I talked to theartist yesterday, he said the video was shot in the flyover in Wan Chai, it’s not shot at
a political protest.

Waliczky: Yes, it seems to me the image is just of people walking. The film and the room arenice, but they don’t come together somehow.
Fan:

The next work is Eventually, Obsolete.

Yeung:

It’s very easy to connect with this work, almost too easy, in a way. There is a certain
language, a discourse that the artist is trying to use and engage with to create a mood,but that’s all there is to the installation. I think the artist wants to do something
conceptual, but if the claim is about the hybrid between humanity and technology,4then it’s an older, dated sort of hybrid. It’s not nostalgic but it’s a little bit flat.
Hatanaka: This kind of technology-inspired art criticizes what is CRT, what is TV monitor,
connecting imagination and the eye with the camera.
Ng:

I am not sure why this is in the Media Art category. It is not media art, unless it is trying
to challenge the boundary of media art.

Fan:

I think Bryan can give more information. Among the finalists this year, many question
the technological and social situations rather than trying to use technology and new
media to create artworks. I am not sure if this is some kind of trend, but it happens a
lot with many of the submissions this year. In the past there may be one or two works
that challenge the idea or respond to the culture, but this year, it’s not quite like theusual ifva media arts context.

Chung:

Many submissions use the sculptural form of the TV monitor, but I agree that this work
does not go beyond the visual art form in using different parts. It talks aboutobsolescence and old technology, but one of the key things missing is the use of thetechnology and the original intent of the display. The artist is just appropriating theparts as some form of image and sculpture.

Waliczky: I have the feeling that this work can be in any modern gallery. It’s a sensitive, nice
work, and these elements are well-positioned. It’s a little bit like a work from the 1980s.
It’s not really radical and not new media, more like a traditional work, very nice andprofessional. If we are interested in new media work, then this one is not.
Ng:

I want to understand more why this work was entered into the finalists. Do you believe
there is a trend and you want to include this type of work in a media art exhibition?

Chung:

We try not to limit…

Ng:

If someone submitted a painting…

Chung:

You can consider the magnetic work a painting…

Ng:

What if there is no magnet?

Chung:

I would not exclude a work if they make use of some alternate practice of painting.
For example, one year there was a work that showed Chinese calligraphy by using
magnetic ink, by moving magnets behind the paper. That can be an intervention in
the practice of painting or Chinese calligraphy with the use of technology. We try not
to exclude things like kinetic sculpture.
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Yeung:I can think of some examples along those lines, like Rolf Julius’ work where he would
use vibrations made by speakers to make painting.

Ng:

What if I paint someone using the internet?

Yeung:

It’s a good question, it’s something we should discuss. I think of the idea of what is
stable and static, how the artist could have pushed that if this work is a comment on
movement and kinetics in media art, but that part had not been pushed. If there wasa painting of someone using the internet, and it is a statement of what media is, thenwhy not?

Waliczky: It seems to me that new media art is in a strange and interesting position now. Manyof my old friends are going in extreme directions by pushing the boundary and limits,others try to make traditional things and go to galleries because they think you cannot
push the boundary all the time. Still others try to use it in an entertainment way. The
clear enthusiasm that we had in the 1990s where people are sure that what they are
doing is radical and new does not exist anymore. It’s a good strategy to try to be open
and say if this thing is not really new media art but has some connection withquestioning new media art, it can be included. Things are changing radically.
Fan:

From the organizer point of view, we are open to different possibilities. I want to draw
your attention to our judging criteria. One of it is innovative use of technology, but wedidn’t put a percentage on each criteria because it differs from year to year. Many
years ago, this category was called the Single-screen Based Interactive Media, andinteractivity was the must-have item in this category. Since then, we changed it toMedia Arts, but since including other artists in the region to participate in this category,
we find different artists interpret media arts in different ways, so this category haschanged a lot every year. The organizer does not say a work has to be very
technological or something, we can be a bit more open and see how things come up.
At the same time, we can bear in mind that innovative use of technology is one of the
judging criteria, and when you consider the prizes you can put it under consideration.
The next work is Falling Flowers.

Waliczky: It is a nice machine, for me, this idea of turning newspaper to flower doesn’t work.
It’s not a clear idea and the end result is not a flower. This is my problem.
Ng:

I don’t buy the artist statement, and the whole mechanism is not related to the artist
statement at all. It’s almost like the artist enjoys the making which makes people wait
for the next moment. If it was another artist statement…

Chung:

I try not to make too many comments since this is my student. I understand his writing6

is not that good. I have seen two versions of this work, one in Vancouver and theother is here. The Vancouver one is a bit nicer in a sense, it also uses newspaper, but
the wall it’s attached to is cleaner than the one we are using and it had a frame. I
agree that the newspaper part is not working. If it can show the relations or
associations of picking up the file and seeing the text related to newspaper about
Hong Kong, it should work better. The Vancouver exhibition was near Chinatown,
where the people are in some state of diaspora, and they have this remote connectionto Hong Kong newspaper, but here, I am not sure.
Hatanaka: He mentions “I try to escape from reality”, but he cannot escape. If there was many
newspapers added to flowers, there will be more possibilities to escape. So, thestatement has problems, in the end he cannot escape.
Yeung:

I think there is a lot of potential in how he can transform news into beautiful objects
that are not beautiful, according to the artist statement. It seems to me to be the firststep towards many things the artist can do, I feel it’s just a device now. For instance,is the flower just a flower or some specific flower? The falling, is it just for watching oris the falling itself something? There are so many little details the artist could havedelved deeper into, and I hope he does get to do that to push himself out of escaping
from reality.

Fan:

The next work is HeartfeltSPAM.

Ng:

You guys call it “net art”.

Fan:

Do you think it’s very old fashioned?

Ng:

There are a lot of retro works this year.

Yeung:

When we lose hope, we go back to the past. We borrow from the ancients.

Hatanaka: It’s so-called post-internet art. The artist is part of Internet Yami-ichi or internet black
market, a group of Japanese artists leading this movement. Now Internet space andreality space exist at the same time. Before, as in The Matrix, we go into cyberspace,but now cyberspace and reality space exist at the same time. We use smartphones
to always go into cyberspace, so we are living in cyberspace all the same time.
Internet black market is a market in reality space that sells internet inspired things.
For example, someone buys a “follower” and the person follows someone in reality
space. They sell internet attitude in reality. These markets are held in many places
now, like transmediale. This artist is a member of Internet Yami-ichi, so I canunderstand his idea. He did a workshop doing handwritten spam mail. It’s an upside-down, weird idea. I like this idea, but I am not sure what is the meaning of this action.
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Yeung:Is it a kind of activism, or just buying and selling weird stuff? Do you see internet black
market as a kind of activism?

Hatanaka: Internet Yami-ichi started five or six years ago, and now it is independently organized
and the movement has expanded. I don’t know about their intentions, but this type ofactivity has become very common in the contemporary art scene.
Ng:

Why do they call themselves black market? Are they doing anything illegal?

Hatanaka: Yami-ichi comes from post war era. At the time, many Japanese cannot buy foodbut many black markets existed to sell daily necessities. That’s where the word comes
from, but I’m not sure why they chose it.
Yeung:

I find it interesting, I have never seen anything like it, but I have two problems with it.
One, I read the description which says “I asked a female friend to rewrite spam email”,
why do they exoticize females? I question what the artist is trying to do to challenge
the internet? The other problem I have is the presentation. If it is emphasized that it
is a black market project, there is a mystery to it and there is a reason for it to beunderground or over-ground. If it is to challenge what is lawful, then why does it
present itself like that? It’s too cute. The setting is very domestic, which defeats its
own force (if it is a force), to own spam messages from a human point of view.

Chung:In the submission, the artist mentioned there will be a new version.

Fan:

They consider this to be an on-going project. For this exhibition, the artist collects thespam mail in Chinese to fit with the present location.

Chung:Is the mailing part working? Does anyone carry the mail to the post office in Hong
Kong?

Fan:

We have to find out how it works. It also mentions you have to pay $50 to buy the
artwork, but that may clash with gallery policy. We will sort this out with the artist.

Chung:In the original submission there was no mailing component, there was just the writingof the spam mail messages by a female. Now it tries to open up by having theaudience do the tracing, writing and mailing, which is not mentioned in the originalsubmission.

Fan:ifva also has a short film and video competition. For that we have never had this kindof differences between submission and the presented work, because once theysubmitted the art work, we don’t allow them to change anything, not even color
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grading. This is to maintain fairness. The juror picked this animation or short film
based on what they saw, so when we come to the final round, there should be nochanges. Media art is more difficult to manage because of the spatial requirements,
they have to convert their artworks to something else. In some way, we allow them tomake some adjustments but sometimes there are too many adjustments. We try toremind them, but when they come on site to do the set-up, perhaps they get some
new ideas. That’s something I have to tell the jurors to bear in mind.
Waliczky: When I saw this work, I liked the idea. Usually this type of mail art is not my cup oftea, but I like the idea to write down by hand such spam mails. I hope the artist goesin that direction. I grew up in a dictatorial regime and some of our teachers taught usthat we should never read any mail without signature because that’s the way usually
your neighbors or somebody wrote anonymous letters about you with accusations,such as you are against the party or something similar, and the next morning thepolice would come. So, for us, the anonymous letter is the worst thing in the world
and a normal person never reads or writes an anonymous letter. And 20-30 years
later, my whole computer is full of anonymous letters! Everybody writes anonymous
letters as comments, blogs, fake e-mails, etc. When I saw this work, I thought this isa good idea, to make something impersonal to personal and unique. But as I checked
the hand-written letters, I find them problematic, first of all, why ask the female friend?
And then the female friend made nice illustrations and so on, which changed the topic
to something cool and funny. I was a little bit disappointed.
Hatanaka: In Japan, girl students often write letters to male students, and so many envelopes
and letter paper have female characters, so it is the same idea here. The letter andenvelope comes from this kind of Japanese culture. The artist does not take things
seriously when he says his close female friend comes to assist him.
Ng:

I quite like this idea, but for me, what is more interesting is how spam-mailers target
their victims, what they want and why people get into the trap. People say the only
way to attack them is to reply to them and waste their time.

Chung:

I think the missing part is the business side of the spam mailers and how theygenerate revenue. This work is a poetic way of looking at spam mail.

Fan:

The next work is That • This.

Yeung:

This is at the top of my list. I don’t know how it is innovative technically, but it’s a very
precise and well-managed work. The sensibility lies between in and out, up and down,
breaking up space and matching it together. I appreciate the strangeness of it, andthere is this sensibility of urban condensed kind of feeling as well. The fact that thesound doesn’t come out clearly makes a lot of sense. It’s almost like a nowhere
9without going too far into dystopia. I find it very artistic.
Chung:

I like this piece of work very much in the original submission and the work they showed
here. The submission and the description are better than the actual work. I
understand the way she created those images by using very low-tech cameras andasking her mother or older relatives to do the scanning and reconstructing the spacesomewhere else, as they are living in different locations in the world and through theinternet they communicate. The artist asks the older generation to adapt to thisseemingly advance technology, but the communication is very old fashioned in thesense that they are talking in dialect that we don’t understand globally. The only thing
I have issue with is about the sound, the dialect is not very clear and there is a lowfrequency sound that makes it too dramatic—I prefer not to have that kind of drama.
The topic they talk about is everyday mundane experiences of the older generationand the space created is quite disoriented. I am not sure if it may be better tooccasionally have some realistic video images hidden in the space to connect the twosurreal parts with something more grounded. Again, I like this piece of work.

Ng:

The whole video is this fragmented space?

Chung:

Yes, fragmented domestic spaces.

Waliczky: I like very much this dialogue and spaces. Maybe I am not a good guy to judge thiswork, because for several years I have been doing a work with photogrammetry,
which this work uses. I don’t like it when a work shows the problems ofphotogrammetry, since she uses imperfect technique, we get these holes everywhereand poorly-matched images and so on. I agree it’s an interesting aesthetic work, butsince I try to teach my students there cannot be holes, etc., maybe it’s not good forme to speak about this work. I’m too critical about this, especially when somebody
shows the wireframe behind this, I’d like to see someone do it high level. It’s abeautiful idea and an interesting conversation, so please do it beautifully instead ofthese half-merged images with holes everywhere and so on. Otherwise it’s a nice andpoetic work, and this situation is something that more and more people know every
day—we are conducting endless conversations with relatives in other parts of theworld and trying to reconstruct the spaces that we can be together, so that’s nice.
Maybe I am being too technical and perfectionist.
Yeung:My reading is that is part of the concept, maybe?

Waliczky: Yes, in fact I have seen several such works recently that try to make an aesthetics
out of this technical failure. For me, you can do this, but please explain how and why
you do it. If it’s a hole, then please give me a very strong hole, a real hole!

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Ng:

I read the statement before I saw the work, and when I saw the work, I didn’t connect
to the statement. I liked the space despite the error and the mistakes. When I lookedat the space, I didn’t feel like they were talking to each other. I liked the image, eventhough it is not under control, however, the message it conveys does not make useof this technical failure.

Hatanaka: I saw this work after The Way We Are, and for me they are very similar concepts.
The Way We Are is very analogue, while this work makes use of virtual reality, andseems an updated concept compared to The Way We Are.
Fan:

Let’s move on to The Way We Are.

Hatanaka: It’s also an interesting concept, it’s a condition of the sunlight changing, through thelandscape image outside the window. My impression is that the space and the image
are not much connected and the installation does not work well. Maybe the installation
should be made more like a room or something.
Chung:

I have a similar impression. I think the installation may not work that well, but I likethis work and appreciate the research that the artist did in interviewing and collecting
information from the nine families, including his own. I’m not sure whether it can be
more integrated, because at the moment, quite a number of things rely on the bookof photos and the textual description. The moving image is more or less scatteredaround the one major panoramic moving image, and I’m not sure whether it can be
more integrated by not using an installation and using one single screen or multiple
screens. The interviews and some key points about their feelings about that location
can be integrated into the video and consolidated into one piece of work.

Ng:

The Wilson Twins did a similar installation, but on a more daily life version. If this artist
did it in a more spatial montage way, it would be nice. It’s a nicely mixed video
installation, but is it media art?

Walliczky: It is a professional and nice video installation, the video is professional if a little bit
old-fashioned, going endlessly from one room to another. The book is very nice andwell-designed, but it’s not new media art, it’s a video art installation.
Yeung:

I sat down and started to flip through the book, and I found a relation between my
movement of flipping and the movement of the pen, which is very interesting for me.
After I finished the book and I looked at the other installation, also the curtain thatwants to conceal and reveal, maybe the artist wants to instill a certain kind ofloneliness or alienation. Perhaps the artist needs to let go of certain objects like thebook; the position of sitting there is too safe and centered, almost academic, in a way,
like: sit down, look at this, this is the research. But it’s nice to be in the room.
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Fan:

The next work is Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

Yeung:

It’s nice to be inside the fortress, but it’s reproducing images but not radicalizing. I
don’t see a strong narrative coming out of the images. It’s more like a reproduction ofwhat is already happening in the world.

Hatanaka: It’s anachronistic, but I like this image. It reminds me of 1980s computer graphics.
In the 1980s, many such kinds of images come from TV and reproduced on TV
monitors. The installation is a public realization of 1980s retrospective images. But
I’m not sure what is the meaning and what the artist wants to express.
Chung:I am also old enough to enjoy the nostalgic image, I have worked with those kinds ofgraphics in the past. The sound is mixed in with other ambient sounds and it is difficult
to isolate the soundtrack coming out of the monitors. I tried to make sense of thespatial arrangements, but I cannot make sense of it, and it seems not connected withthis and that directions. I also tried to make sense of any organization principle thatthe artist put in different monitors, but I am not 100% sure. It seems to be some kindof chaotic information overload in that kind of environment in the 1980s and 1990s
with those kinds of animated GIFs.

Ng:

When I read about what he says, the work is not bombarding enough. This corner ofthe gallery seems to be the nostalgic corner, and putting these two works together isinteresting. The CRT monitors remind me of a video circle. The set-up and the images
are very old, and I don’t understand why it’s called Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

Waliczky: I also tried to find connections and structures, but there is no special structure, justinformation coming from every direction. It’s a sort of organized chaos, I think. In thisway it’s quite refreshing and the monitors are a little bit nostalgic, but I didn’t findanything new or radical. It’s nice to see these animations.
Fan:

The last work is Witness.

Hatanaka: Is there something happening in this work? I saw only scrolling monitors.
Chung:

There is nothing else.

Waliczky: It tries to make with real elements that you can do on a computer easily. It seems tome that it is fashionable now, in SCM (School of Creative Media, City University ofHong Kong) many students want to imitate with real things what you can do withcomputers, just like in very early film history, they have this sort of real background. I
don’t understand this sort of nostalgic way. I don’t think there is much more to this12

work.
Yeung:

I think the artist wants to do a parody, but I don’t think it’s working. I think he is faking
fake reality, but somehow the scale and trans-location are not working. It’s not fakeor exaggerated enough. If it is a commercial, then it would be very exaggerated inselling you a view. I wonder what entry-point the artist is using.

Chung:

I expected more from this piece of work, I expected that all the paper can move, it
reminds me of a work I saw one year in Cinema 2.0 of a train moving, which tries todeconstruct early cinema.

Fan:

The artist’s name is Ito Ryusuke.

Ng:

I was also expecting something to happen, or it should be a very important moment
to be frozen, it could be a very poetic work, but it is not very poetic when you sit in a
car waiting for the light to change. It’s not a right moment.

Fan:

Having discussed all the works, if you are ready, we can nominate the award winners.
To be honest, this is not the best year we’ve had for this category. If you prefer, we
can also omit some awards. This is a statement that we are looking for something
better in the future. If you have works you like to nominate, we can go straight for thenomination. Otherwise, we can shortlist three best works for discussion.

Yeung:

I have two works I’d like to nominate, but I don’t know for which awards: That • This
and Between Happening, but for the latter, I would not go for Gold or Silver, it is atbest Special Mention.

Waliczky: I did not find any of these works exceptionally high quality. Three works that I likeand is close to me are Eventually Obsolete, That • This and The Way We Are.
Chung:

I can nominate three: Between Happening, That • This and The Way We Are.

Hatanaka: Between Happening, HeartfeltSPAM and That • This.
Ng:

Can we just focus on these 5 works?

Fan:

Let’s focus on Between Happening, Eventually Obsolete, That • This,
HeartfeltSPAM and The Way We Are. At the moment, four of you selected That •This, Between Happening got 3 votes, but the artwork that got the most votes does
not mean it’s the best work. You can talk about it a little bit.

Waliczky: The Way We Are got 2 votes, right?
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Fan:

Yes. Eventually Obsolete and HeartfeltSPAM each got 1 vote.

Ng:

I vote for Between Happening, Eventually Obsolete and HeartfeltSPAM.

Yeung:If I have to choose one more, I choose HeartfeltSPAM because it is to acknowledge
something that is coming, maybe. Can we have two Special Mentions?

Fan:Yes, if there is something you really want to mention. We have some flexibility. We
want to encourage the finalists, but we also want to maintain the standard that ifva islooking for.

Waliczky: As I said, I don’t really highlight any of the works, I can imagine something like two
Silver Awards and no Gold Award, but it’s up to you. For me, the works are more orless the same.
Chung:For me, between Between Happening, and That • This, I rate the latter a bit higher
in terms of innovation.

Yeung:

Me, too, but I’m not sure if That • This is Gold at this point, it’s just a bit higher than
Between Happening. But as a gesture of encouragement, That • This can be Gold.
Why not?

Chung:

I don’t have a problem with that.

Waliczky: Sure, sure. I am absolutely okay with that. Every jury’s judgement is relative, we cansay this is this year’s best work.
Yeung:

We don’t need to send alarm signals.

Waliczky: Who am I to send alarm signals? I am okay with giving Gold to That • This, and it issomehow at a higher level than Between Happening in terms of complexity andtechnicality.
Yeung:Can we spend a bit of time to talk about HeartfeltSPAM, Eventually Obsolete and
The Way We Are? How do you weigh these three?

Chung:In terms of complexity and suitability of being in a gallery environment, Eventually
Obsolete is more complete, but I hesitate to offer it a prize because the way it works
is not altogether innovative. HeartfeltSPAM is not very presentable in addressing theconcern the artist would like to raise and answer. In terms of innovation, degree of
newness and up-to-date appropriation of technology it is high. The Way We Are is14

good in a gallery setting and good in the degree of completeness, the issues the artist
wants to address is effectively communicated, but it is not particularly innovative inthe use of technology.
Hatanaka: Between Happening is aesthetically perfect, and I gave it the highest mark. But I
am now thinking that the work is only good aesthetically, but it does not mention
anything social or technological. For That • This the conceptual, technical and social
elements are all included, so my impression of it is much better. Most of the works
are more or less on the same level, but That • This includes many concepts.
Chung:The technology in Between Happening is more or less invisible, while the technology
in That • This is extremely visible.

Hatanaka: I mentioned that the artist of Between Happening should present more samples, toshow that this simple method can produce complex works. The concept of Between
Happening includes scientific thinking, and the magnetic physicals can produce moretypes of expression. I’d like to see this work conduct more experiments. This is anexperimental work because of the behavior of magnetics. It’s be much better if theartist has scientific thinking. That’s why I said this work only works aesthetically.
Waliczky: Do we agree that That • This is the best work?
All:

Yes.

Waliczky: So, this is the Gold Award. The second should be Between Happening, and the third
is HeartfeltSPAM.
Chung/Yeung: I am okay with this.
Fan:So, the Gold Award goes to That • This, Silver goes to Between Happening andSpecial Mention is HeartfeltSPAM. The Gold Award winner is a Taiwanese artist, shewill get HK$50000 and a trophy. The Silver Award winner, Between Happening, will
get HK$30000 and a trophy. Because she is the top winner in the Hong Kong division,
she will also get the two prizes sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Hongkong, thefestival visit to Transmediale Festival and a solo exhibition to be held at the GoetheGallery.

The 24th ifva Awards - Media Art Category Award Winners
Gold Award
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That • This
Hu Ching-chuan(Taiwan)Silver Award
Between Happening
Carla Chan
(Hong Kong)
Special Mention
HeartfeltSPAM
Katsuki Nogami(Japan)16