Synopsis
Every dinner at our grandparents’ home always finish with the ritual of having small sips of Kung-fu tea made by my grandfather, my definite consultant to this Coffee and Tea Piazza 2000 project. It’s always fun to watch my grandpa making the tea with each step being so sophisticated, yet so rational. I have decided to begin with my project from this very personal experience, an everyday ritual with my family.
To get into how to create the set, as in most of my projects, I begin by observing the locality of where I belong: Hong Kong. This time, I look into another day-to-day phenomenon of having lunch at a local Chinese Restaurant having Dim-Sum Food which literally means “a little bit from the Heart”. These baskets of dim-sum are piled up in the middle of the restaurant, often in a congested situations, like a mind-game as the food inside the baskets are not fully exposed in view. The whole process of eating becomes a vigorous exercise in fighting against tight space within the micro-environment of the restaurant, and then of table, in optimal efficiency of vertical organization and growth. It’s all about our notion of a non-visual pragmatism of Change, Choice, Co-existence and Connection.
The collage of the dim-sum baskets is literally transformed to become our Kung-Fu Tea Set, created out of an ensemble of sterling silver in Italy and the Chinese Red Clay from Yixing, China; with different elements for various functions that can pile-up according to different scenarios. While having potentials for growth to include even elements for other uses, the set eventually becomes a totem for the micro domestic landscape.
Exhibitions
2005
ALESSI: Coffee and Tea Towers Exhibition
Cassina ixc. Aoyama Shop, Tokyo
2003
ALESSI: Coffee and Tea Towers Exhibition
The Milan Triennale
Palazzo dellarte, Milan
2003
ALESSI: Kung Fu Tea Set & Coffee Tower Exhibition
Max Protetch Gallery, New York
2002
City of towers, La Biennale di Venezia
Corderie dell'Arsenale, Venice