Crossing Boundaries 藝術走過界

'It's good if the art helps people to stop / pause from their routines.'
'We call public art 'listening energy'.'
'Public art can be communicative, like creating a new game.'

Public art has been a recent topic of fervent discussion in Hong Kong. Established over decades in Western societies, the art is still debatable from the point of view of aesthetics, the use of public space, to the participation of stake-holders. Trespassing borders between fine art, design, architecture, environment and planning, public art can create a platform for issues such as public awareness, city identity, economic and environmental sustainability. It can provoke questions and actions for a contextually unique future.

Using City Art Square in Shatin as an example, Crossing Boundaries invited over thirty artists, architects, curators, residents, venue owners, sponsors, policy-makers, urban-planners and others to explore various possibilities of public art in Hong Kong.

「最好是可以親近，可以觸摸的，沒有距離感。」
「公共藝術應該引起對話、沉思，建構一個人對地方的認知。」
「整個社會未必因為多了公共藝術作品而馬上改變，但有些影響正在生活中慢慢地發生。」

公共藝術在西方國家實行多年，從美學的討論、公共空間的使用，到持份者的參與甚至創造，仍是一個充滿爭議的題目；在香港，更是方興未艾的熱門話題。公共藝術跨越建築、設計、純藝術和環境規劃等不同範疇，為公民意識、城市身份，以至經濟和環境的持續發展，搭建了全新的討論平台，提供更開闊的想像。

《藝術走過界》以位於沙田的「城市藝坊」作藍本，邀請三十多位藝術家、建築師、策展人、居民、場地擁有者、贊助人、政策制定和執行者、規劃及設計師等，探討公共藝術在香港，以至海外的種種可能性，期待讓美學的公共價值在本土扎根。年的生活。