Project Description

Inheriting the Spirit of Dragon | 龍的傳人

Description:

Ever since his graduation, Fine Art major freshmasonry Ian Wong has committed himself to pursuing his dream of becoming an independent art-toy designer. The collaboration with streetwear brand Dragonmade8 was his first attempt to bridge the genres of
fashion and toys, and also an opportunity to express his opinion for various social topics through these mediums.

As a homage to the culture of independent toy making, Ian used traditional PVC rotational molding to create a brand new art-toy for Dragonmade8. The figurine features a toddler wearing a cape with a dragon imagery on it. The chinese characters tattooed on its body translates directly to ‘A dragon stuck on the beach will be teased by the shrimps’. Dragonmade8 and Ian used this proverb to represent their personal feelings about growing up in Hong Kong. As an aspiring individual, it is natural to have fantasies about changing the society for the greater good (one’s inner self is represented as a dragon, a symbol for potent and auspicious power, particularly in traditional Chinese culture).

However, when circumstances are not favourable, it feels like being stuck in a situation where you don’t belong, or even despised for having a vision for the future. Having a rich contextual meaning separates art-toy from the rest, it raises a question to the audience: When faced with adversity, would you confront it with might or whine like a toddler?

The art-toy market has begun to receive attention from mainstream media lately. This collaboration further strengthens the position of art-toys as a weighted influencer in popular culture.
自畢業以來，主修藝術的設計新鮮人黃華希一直致力追求成為獨立藝術玩具設計師的夢想。與街頭品牌Dragonmade8的合作是他第一次嘗試在時尚和玩具兩個界別之間築起橋樑，這次合作也給予他通過這些媒介，就各種社會議題表達看法的機會。

為了向獨立玩具製造文化致敬，黃同學使用傳統的PVC滾塑成型技術為Dragonmade8打造了一款全新的藝術玩具。小雕像是一個穿著斗篷的小孩，斗篷上有龍的圖案。小孩身上的漢字紋身是「龍困淺灘遭蝦戲」 ，Dragonmade8和黃同學運用了這句諺語來表達他們在香港長大的個人感想。作為一個有抱負的人，幻想為了得到更大利益而改變社會是很正常的（龍代表了一個人的內在人格，而且在中國傳統文化中，龍更是權力和吉祥的象徵）。

然而，當景況未如理想時，你的感覺就會像被困在一個不是你歸屬的地方，甚至因為你對未來有憧憬而被鄙視。豐富而且貼近現況的內在意蘊將藝術玩具與一般玩具區分開來，它向觀眾拋出了一個問題：當面對逆境時，你會昂首挺胸面對它還是像小孩一樣怨天怨地？

藝術玩具市場最近開始得到主流媒體的關注。因此，這次的合作也進一步鞏固了藝術玩具在流行文化中作為加權意見領袖的地位。

Design Graduate:
Wong Wa Hei, Ian

Collaborator:
Dragonmade8

Email:
deepfriedgarlic@gmail.com

School:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong 香港中文大學