about the piece

Neon lights were not just a part of the backdrop to my childhood, but they alse served as guides and landmarks to help me get home.

— Brian Sze-hang Kwok, Fading Neon Lights: An Archive of Hong Kong’s Visual Culture

If orientations point us to the future, to what we are moving toward, then they also keep open the possibility of changing directions, of finding other paths, perhaps those that do not clear a common ground, where we can find hope in what goes astray.

— Sara Ahmed, “Orientations: Toward a Queer Phenomenology”

the lights will take you home 隨光尋家 is a media art installation piece, with 3D animation projected onto two perpendicular walls. Two projectors are used to project onto both walls, and two speakers are used to present an immersive soundscape. Three layers of ceiling-to-floor tulle are suspended within the installation space, representing the fading and obstruction of memory.

The piece revolves around my personal experience of feeling lost and disoriented. I grew up in Hong Kong until I left for university in the States at the age of 18. I then transferred to the University of British Columbia (Okanagan campus) amidst political turbulence in Hong Kong and a global pandemic. In the span of four years, I had 15 different living spaces. Therefore, "home" for me has changed rapidly in a short period of time. When Hong Kong — the most constant home I’ve had — starts to disintegrate in my mind’s eye, what is home?

Projected onto the two walls are animations about the conflicting feelings in migration. One wall represents the physical home, Hong Kong. I use familiar scenes and sounds to immerse the viewer in my home, while using a hand-drawn scribbly style to depict how this is my memory of home, not meant to be an exact replica. The other wall represents the metaphorical home. My Cantonese name is 鄭芷路. 鄭 is simply “Cheng,” my family name. 芷 is a white flower that represents 君子 (a Confucian term referring to people who are good for us), and 路 means “road.” To represent this metaphorical home which is heavily connected to my community, I created a 芷路. I oscillate between longing for that physical home and being present in my new home. Combined, the space in between the two walls represents this liminal space that I inhabit.

the lights will take you home 隨光尋家 is an amalgamation of the many feelings that I’ve had in recent years, feelings that I’ve found difficult to fully articulate. It’s a story about migration, loss, belonging. A love letter, a farewell letter, to Hong Kong. An expression of gratitude for community and the people who have lit my path. An attempt to grapple with graduation. Finally, a reassurance that as long as we follow the light, we will eventually find our ways to new homes.

acknowledgments

With a piece that is heavily about community, I would be remiss in not acknowledging that the creation of the lights will take you home 隨光尋家 could not have been possible without the help of the following people.

I’d like to thank Jacen Dennis and Dr. Annie Wan for their guidance throughout the MDST499 Capstone Media Project class, as well as our TAs, Amir Rahsaz and Qihang Liang. A huge thank you to Dr. Melissa Jacques for the extensive reading list that helped form the theoretical basis of the project, and for thinking through theory and media art with me during office hours. I also have the deepest appreciation for Dr. Yujie Gao for providing invaluable technical support with TouchDesigner during the exhibition setup process and for the installation insight.

I am grateful for Sam Neal and Joanne Gervais, who dealt with my incessant equipment booking requests throughout the entire academic year. Sam, along with Kaila Kalinocka and Connor MacKinnon, also provided many hours of installation support.

It’s been a great delight to have embarked on this journey alongside the entire 4th-year Media Studies cohort, and I appreciate the mutual support throughout the entire process. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to Cassidy Markham, my roommate, for the late-night brainstorming sessions.

Last but most certainly not least, I am indebted to all the 君子, the white flowers, who have lit my path. Through all this migration and change, I’ve learned that my time with people is fleeting. This project marks my graduation — yet another ending — and I once again, feel the paralyzing symptoms of a looming series of goodbyes. Despite the goodbyes, I still remember the light, for which I am grateful.

the lights will take you home 隨光尋家 about the piece the process technical information the artist cv ©2024 Ronnie Cheng

the lights will take you home 隨光尋家

about the piece
the process
technical information

the artist
cv

©2024 Ronnie Cheng