Process Gallery
Two Systems is a series that uses contrasting print materials to visually interpret ideological tension in Hong Kong, focusing on the city’s position between two governing systems.
Recurring representational elements are used in conjunction with text from the Basic Law of 1997 and National Security Law of 2020. Selected for their contradictions, the excerpts have been printed on different inks and papers – then torn and collaged with a boundary that traces the outline of Hong Kong’s flag.
An accompanying photographic sequence displays a bundle of oranges placed before the Central Government Complex. Referencing the oranges as a Cantonese symbol for prosperity, their disappearance coincides with the prevalence of text from the National Security Law,alluding to Hong Kong’s diminishing role as an economic and cultural gateway since the law took effect.
This series emerges from witnessing how public-health restrictions coincided with lasting constraints on civil liberties. As an outside observer, it is intended as a call for awareness and expression of solidarity.
– Ryan Jakubek
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