“Beyond Plastic”

I want to share some photos of “Beyond Plastic”exhibition in Hong Kong earlier this year. To be invited to contribute an installation to the prestigious Heritage1881 building, one of the most famous heritage buildings in Hong Kong, shows the importance and concern that cultural institutions, brands and the public are now placing on marine pollution. 

Driven by concern and love for the ocean environmental artist Liina Klauss joins hands with Plastic-Free-Seas foundation and sponsor Breguet. “Beyond Plastic: Breguet, the Marine Explorer” showcases an array of artworks with deep connection to marine. The spotlight falls on the large-scale installation created by German artist Liina Klauss consisting of well over 10.000 pieces of marine litter collected on Hong Kongs shores. The installation is shown at the former Marine Police Headquaters at Heritage1881 and is open for public viewing on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st of March 2019. 

About Race for Water, a Foundation to Preserve Water 

The Race for Water Foundation is an organization dedicated to water preservation and the ocean in particular. This indispensable resource is under massive threat from plastic pollution and must be protected. The Foundation aims to identify, promote and implement solutions that will give end-of-life plastic a value and create new sources of income for the people most affected by pollution. Using this innovative approach inspired by the principles of a circular economy and social entrepreneurship, Race for Water Foundation seeks to prevent plastic litter from reaching waterways and leaking all the way down to the ocean. 

About Liina Klauss 

Liina Klauss is a German artist living in Hong Kong specialized in environmental art. Her installations and paintings are inspired by nature using man-made and natural waste as art material. Through her works she hopes to raise awareness for the threatening impact we humans have on nature.

About Plastic Free Seas 
Plastic Free Sea’s mission is to provide education free of charge to students on plastic marine pollution, focusing on the causes, effects and solutions. PFS is a leader in marine-focused education in Hong Kong, and to date, the charity has had a presence in more than 125 schools and has reached over 48,000 students and teachers with school talks, beach cleanups, a swimming classroom boat programme and youth conferences.

About Breguet 

Breguet, established since 1775, embodies watchmaking excellence and forms part of the European cultural heritage, brimming with history. From the start, Breguet has woven close ties with science and astronomy. Breguet takes pride in offering exceptional models, such as the Marine É quation Marchante 5887, a Grande Complication model that marks the start of a new era for the contemporary Marine collection.

My gratitude goes out to the main sponsor Breguet: Thank you for sharing my passion for the ocean and investing into rasing awareness for ocean pollution! Another big thanks to What-If events for believing in me and to Plastic Free Seas and all volunteers for helping me to realise this large-scale project! 

Photo credit: Teschka
More photos can be viewed here

The Universal Sea: Pure or Plastic?!

The Universal Sea – Pure or Plastic?! is a collaboration model between art, science, technology and business. Together with the public The Universal Sea aims to build a strong network of innovators and change-makers getting as many as 1 million people involved finding creative solutions that fight the plastic epidemic.

The Universal Sea is EU co-funded and links scientific findings with artistic creations offering a new perspective on the pressing issue of marine pollution. The exhibition includes the artworks of the Top 5 finalists of the worldwide open-call as well as the Top 100 artistic proposals. Moreover there will be co-creation workshops, talks, panel discussions and hands-on workshops with the artists.



April 22- June 10 Oronsko, Poland hosted by Center of Polish Sculpture Address: Centre for Polish Sculpture, Topolowa 1, 26-505 Orońsko, Poland

Opening hours: Tue-Fri 10.00 – 17.00, Sat-Sun 10.00 – 18.00

June 5-6, 2018 Helsinki, Finland hosted by Design Factory/ Aalto University

June 9-10, 2018 – Pristina, Kosovo hosted by Doku:TECH

June 21-22, 2018 – Amsterdam, the Netherlands hosted by We Make The City Festival

September 13-14, 2018 – Barcelona, Spain hosted by CCCB (tbc)

September 20-21, 2018 – Venice, Italy, UNESCO Palazzo Zorzi

October 6-7, 2018 – Berlin, Germany hosted by Entrepreneurship Summit

October 1-30, 2018 – Budapest, Hungary, THE UNIVERSAL SEA FESTIVAL hosted by Hybridart Management

I will be present at Barcelona, Venice, Berlin and Budapest as a speaker and workshop facilitator. It would be amazing to see you in one of these cities!

please ♥️

Today is the LAST DAY to ♥️ my artwork at 

http://universal-sea.org/top-100-artworks  

to enter the finalists in The Universal Sea: Pure or Plastic? exhibition opening in Budapest this fall. Simply click the rainbow coloured link above and "like" Broken Dream No.1

'2020 lost soles' for microgalleries Jakarta

When we put on shoes we put a sole between our feet and the soil we walk on.

When we put on shoes we put a layer of cushioned culture between us and nature. 

When is the last time you walked barefoot? 

All the 2020 shoes you see here were abandoned in Jakarta last month. Yearly an estimated 16 million flip-slops are thrown away, abandoned or lost in Jakarta alone. Over 8 billion flip-flops (we're only talking flip-flops!) are manufactured worldwide each year. This trash-land-art installation called '2020 lost soles' and is but the tiniest mirror of our throw-away society. A huge THANK YOU goes to Greeneration Indonesia and to waste4change and to EcoBali Recycling for helping to collect the 2020 shoes from the streets and from private households in Jakarta!

microgalleries reclaims disused and forgotten spaces and reactivates them as tiny galleries that are free and accessible to the local community. Bringing together international and local artists, it features work that challenges ingrained ideas, blurs the line between street art and fine art, and aims to help change the way we see the world, our environment and our community – even for a micro moment.

more pics on instagram !

Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project

Please be invited to 

Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project

at Hong Kong Science Museum

27th Nov.2015 to 17th Feb.2016

I'm honoured to contribute a Trash-Land-Art installation to the exhibition Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project at the Hong Kong Science Museum. The installation is supported by the ever inspiring HK Youth Arts Foundation and will be displayed from 27.Nov.2015 to 17.Feb.2016. Our installation is called Stains / 污點  and consists of 17 circles of marine litter, each in a different colour. 

The concept for Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project brings together science and art and originates from the Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich. Their exhibition gathers complex facts of plastics and its environmental consequences in an easily understandable way. Art as an intermediator to make scientific facts more juicy and interesting - what an inpiring way to learn! So lots of great reasons for you to visit the HK Science Museum again. 

Hope to see you there!

眼前所見的作品是利用南大嶼山籮箕灣海灘上的廢棄物製作而成。40名來自香港航海學校及圓玄學院妙法寺內明陳呂重德紀念中學的學生在一個白天的時間，已經收集了共28袋的80公升海灘廢棄物，而它們主要來自中國內地及香港本地。環保藝術家liina klauss自2011年開始創作「垃圾山水」系列作品，所有作品只會按照廢棄物的原有顏色、形狀及大小分類，而「污點」是其中一組作品。藝術家希望藉着環境藝術裝置，讓大眾提升減廢的意識。這系列作品不但改變人們對藝術的印象，亦讓人反思人類的消費模式，從而傳達環境保護的信息，並實踐liina所想：「是廢亦是寶，你的看法可改變一切」。

more info on HK Science Musuem here
more info on Plastic Garbage Project here
more pictures of 污點 / Stains here

* on the above photos you see art-awareness-activists from Hong Kong Sea School and The Yuen Yuen Institute MFBM Nei Ming Chan Lui Chung Tak Memorial College helping to create 'Stains'. I would like to thank them for their hard work and passion to change the world with their own two hands!

a new project for microgalleries

I'm proud to be part of MicroGalleries 2015: From 8 – 24 May, in Nowra, Australia with over 40 stunning artists from the Shoalhaven, wider Australia and from around the world!

The title of the work you see above is called 'involuntary pairs'. These photos are my contribution to MicroGalleries in Nowra, Australia this year. I've been collecting these pairs since 2013.  

Every object has been lost at sea and found on a beach in Asia. The matching in pairs follows the principle of sameness meaning the human perception recognizes them as same. Yet their inherent qualities couldn't be more different: while one originates from nature the other one is a product of human imagination and manufacturing. What starts as an innocent visual comparison has fatal consequences for wildlife, humans and nature as a whole. Latest research from 2014 estimates that more than five trillion pieces of plastic weighing 269,000 tons have accumulated in the world oceans. Plastic brakes down to the nano size particles, is eaten by plankton, small fish, bigger fish and humans at the end of the food chain. What you see here is a small excerpt of a huge ecological catastrophe. 

MicroGalleries is going to work with Nowra to prove how a community can re-frame how they view their environment and their cultural offering to the local community and the world, as well as demonstrate that everyone can appreciate and enjoy art if they are provided the opportunity to do so – Nowra is gonna prove our theory.

Pop-up space, symposiums, performance installations, sounds drops, new interdisciplinary work, walls upon walls of pastings and a couple of cheeky pot hole gardens and Nowra will never be the same again! Schedule is here: microgalleries.org/events/nowra-australia-baby/

Sign up for one of seven free tours led by performance artists, join us in the pop-up arts space or just grab a map and meander through town. It’s all free and when you’re done there’s plenty of awesome local coffee, shops and a gazillion Op-Shops to sink your teeth into!

More info here: microgalleries.org/events/nowra-australia-baby/

under the sea

Please be invited to the opening of the exhibition 'Under the Sea' on Friday 17th April at Yong’an Art Center in New Taipei City. My photo documentation 'before-art-after' and the time-lapse-video of the same work will be shown. The organizers also have a list of ocean related activities during the exhibition period from 11.04.-07.06.2015. Please refer to the details on the flyer. 

 If you're not in New Taipei City at the time, you can also watch the time-lapse video here:
 https://vimeo.com/112694598

More info at www.yalac.ntpc.gov.tw

catch-of-the-day at PIF2014

"catch of the day" or "floating polke-dots" is part of pangkor island festival 2014 (PIF2014) bringing art, awareness and action to this small on the west coast of malaysia. the installation is made entirely from waste found on beaches of the island. the artist liina klauss is raising awareness for the problem of marine pollution. "most of the waste comes from residents themselves" liina says, "and this is not a problem that only exists on pangkor: this is a global problem and it has taken on horrifying proportions."

with the help of pangkor residents as well as volunteers from all over asia, liina has been cleaning-up beaches on the island to find materials needed for floating her installation. "we bought nothing to make the art piece" one of the volunteers says,"all is taken from the beach or borrowed by the neighbours!" the process of making art from nothing brings people into direct contact with pollution like marine debris. by collecting found materials, cleaning them, sorting them by colour and transforming them into an installation see, touch and experience a problem physically. as liina says: "what you touch, touches you", meaning that by physically helping to clean-up change is happening not only on the outside, but also on the inside. this said, the art-making process is an integral part of the installation and as important as the result itself. by integrating the local community the residents come in direct contact with the effects of their behaviour and the impact it has on nature, on wildlife and on the community. 

during an artist talk held during her one week stay on pangkor island, liina shared facts about marine pollution and her environmental activism, giving residents a chance to grasp the consequences and global dimensions of marine pollution. liina's art encourages people to deal with problems in a creative and collaborative way. "seeing and recognizing the problem is the first step towards taking action!" liina says. 
(text taken from the press release for PIF2014)

more photos and stories on www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.573255786131128.1073741835.454668841323157&type=3

last weekend for lost'n'found at stanley!

lost'n'found opens its colours for the last time this weekend, 3rd & 4th of may at the waterfront promenade in stanley. i will be there saturday and sunday from 11am - 5pm to sign your personal piece of lost'n'found. it would be lovely to see you there...

 published in the column 《優哉游Joy》 by "Joyce Yau" in the feature page of Sing Tao Daily 星島日報 on Apr. 19th 2014

here is a little read from sing tao daily 星島日報, published last week (translation might be a bit awkward, but hopefully better than google translate): 

Stanley is a great place to visit during your holidays: Families with their kids and dogs stroll around and the atmosphere is warm and relaxed.

Stanley Promenade has always been a good place to display art. Currently Ocean Art Walk is showcased along the promenade, an extremely attractive exhibition.

The six installations are outstanding in terms of their visual and conceptual message.  When I approached the exhibition space, the first installation that caught my eye was the “garbage booth”. At first glance it looks like some beautifully decorated hawker stall. Paying closer attention to details, I discovered that these pretty decorations are plastic slippers, old toys and flattened plastic bottles, each labeled with a price tag saying "awareness” or “responsibility”. German artist Liina Klauss passionately shares her concept to raise awareness about pollution of our oceans, about non-degradable plastic waste, about reflecting upon our modern-day lifestyle and habits and their impact on mother nature.

Living on Lantau Island, Liina loves nature and has never averted her eyes from the massive loads of rubbish washed ashore.  She "curates" the beach and turns waste into art. For this current installation she first cleaned all the rubbish she collected, then organized it into a colour sequence, and finally put it into a traditional hawker stall. The audience is first captured by the colourful appearance and only later realizes the sad message behind her work. By singing your promise to love the ocean you may take a piece of the installation home, complete with the signature of the artist.

Other artists use old plastic bottles, CDs and plastic objects to make art installations.  Visitors capture all these in their lens, appreciating and reflecting upon the artists different methods of transferring an environmental messages. I hope that everyone will take home some food for thought about our oceans and our daily life connection to it.

On that opening day I also enjoyed young dancers under the guide of HK Youth Arts Foundation, expressing endangered ocean life through dance and choreography. So with the Easter Holiday ahead, please take the time to enjoy the art installations and performances at Stanley and don’t forget to make an effort to save our beautiful ocean!

lost'n'found / 垃圾排檔

lost'n'found / 垃圾排檔 at stanley plaza, hongkong, 2014

lost'n'found / 垃圾排檔 (detail) at stanley plaza, hongkong, 2014 

interactivity between visitors and waste. at lost'n'found / 垃圾排檔 hongkong, 2014 

ocean art walk opens today!

ocean art walk opens today!

please drop by in stanley anytime between 11:00-16:00

if you still need more convincing here is an interview on radio3 rthk that was on air last tuesday (listen from 48:oo mins.)

http://programme.rthk.hk/channel/radio/player_popup.php?pid=5979&eid&d=2014-04-08&player=mp3&type=archive&channel=radio3

dates: 12 april – 4 may
the artist will be present on the opening weekend and on 3./4.may
venue: stanley plaza
free dance performances: 13, 19 and 20 april (12pm, 2pm and 4pm)
free guided tours: 13, 19, 20, 26, 27 April, 3, 4 may (11am, 1pm), pre-registration required at yan@hkyaf.com
enquiries: 2877 2779

an installation for ocean art walk 2014

this year ocean art walk is in its second year here in hong kong and will be held at stanley promenade from 12th april to 4th may. the event initiated by ocean recovery alliance and hk youth art foundation raises awareness for our oceans through visual arts and performance arts. the art walk features sculptures and installations, a photography collection and a series of dance performances.

this is what i'll be contributing: an installation called 'lost'n'found' or '垃圾排檔', literally meaning 'waste hawker stall'. the stall is filled entirely with waste washed ashore and collected on hong kong beaches. from afar this stall will look attractive. coming closer you will notice that the objects 'for sale' are actually broken toys, twigs, old shoes, leaves, plastic bottles etc. the entire stall and its contents is made from found objects and reclaimed materials.

take a closer look: each of the found objects is labeled with a price tag, which does not state a number in dollars but a mental state, e.g. 'awareness' 'responsibility' or 'wonder'. to ‘buy’ these objects, visitors will be asked to offer their own definitions of these concepts. 

i'll be present at the stall on the first and last weekend (12./13.april, 3./4.may, 11:oo-16:oo). please come along during these days to acquire your very own piece of 'lost'n'found', complete with the signature of the artist.
looking forward to seeing you there:)

all events are free, with guided tours offered on saturdays and sundays at 11am and 1pm.
dance performances will take place on 12 april at 2.30pm and on 13, 19 and 20 april at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm.
registration is required for tours: 2877 2779 / yan@hkyaf.com

for more info please visit hkyaf.com/projects/VA/2014/OceanArtWalk2014/eng/
and hkyaf.com/projects/VA/2014/OAW2014danceNtour/eng/

an interview

This is the full length interview I gave for stylebyasia.com beginning of the month with photos taken by teschka.com:

You have a degree in fashion design, what made you leave the industry and become an artist?

Ever since I'm a child I like making things. It is intoxicating to see things become reality that have only existed in your imagination before. But does it still make sense to make things in a society that has more than enough? When still working in the fashion industry, I was visiting one of the production factories in Guan Dong for quality control. In one of the rooms young adults were assembling handbags. The air was filled with the fumes of glue, there was no proper air ventilation, the lighting was poor, all of the facts we know so well from the media. But what shocked me were not these inadequate working conditions. What shocked me were seeing these young adults being self-confident and independent, with fashionable clothes, latest hair styles and smart phones. This instant revealed to me that it is ourselves who are creating our very own cravings. These young people were literally making the very handbags they were saving money for. It became clear to me then that I didn't want to fuel that cycle of mindless consumerism anymore. I had the choice to step out of that cycle and I took it. 

What made you study fashion-design in the first place then?

My mother is a textile designer and I was surrounded by materials and the humming of a sewing machine ever since I can remember. All of my family are either artists or craftsmen. As a child the paintings on the walls were my great grandfather's, the storybooks were illustrated by my grandmother, the chairs designed by my uncle and the clothes I was wearing were made by my mom. So I guess applying at an art academy was the only thing to do. If I had asked to study law or anything slightly more conservative they probably would have thrown a fit. Basically I was not making up my mind but just following the family tradition. Studying a design major was limiting for me though. My creations always turned out either like paintings or like sculptures.

Why did you choose waste as a material to work with?

I like finding things. Things man-made as well as natural. It is more about this idea of finding, about being open and receptive to my environment, to the things that surround me. Waste is just a part of this idea. Everything that I find talks to me, it is almost like the objects are finding me and not the other way around. 

Wording it differently: What story does the waste in your art tell?

It is a direct reflection of our materialistic society. Every single piece tells a story of how we live, what we crave for, what our habits are, what we value and what we waste. 'Show me your waste and I tell you who you are' is a sentence that came to my mind once when working on an installation. I'm not really changing anything. I'm not colouring or altering the found objects in any way. The only thing I do is to rearrange the waste in a system of colour gradation, size and material coordination. And by doing so I change our perception of the very same objects into something visually beautiful. But of course it's still the same rubbish. With the big difference that now the viewer is pulled into the story and has to reflect on it.

How do you think living in HK has affected your art?

I think Hong Kong hasn't actually influenced my art that much. Generalizing things Hong Kong is a city that's shiny and new, fast-paced and money-driven. On the contrary I'm interested in old things, used things, in things that tell a story, that tell time. I can see so much beauty and value in the mundane. My works are time-consuming to make and made from 'worthless' materials like waste or leaves that wither within a short period of time. It's quite funny, because these values couldn't be less Hong Kong. But that doesn't mean I don't like it here! In a way I'm grateful that Hong Kong doesn't give me a lot of input. That way I need to focus on myself and look inside for inspiration.

 Are there any artists with whom you identify?

There are a lot of artists who I feel kinship with. Tim Knowles, Jacob Dahlgren, Susumu Koshimizu are all artists I admire for their critical, sensitive yet humorous approach to reality. They are creating great works on the outside as well as on the inside. Along with their strong concepts these artists succeed in making works that are just as stunning visually.  Then there are street artists like Swoon. I love the ephemerality and vulnerability of her work. Another great street artist is Banksy of course. It's the direct and spontaneous way street art responds to people's everyday life and the freedom that comes from trespassing boundaries of perception that I relate to.  

What is your goal as an artist?

That's a difficult question! I want to touch others through my work. It can be puzzling, pleasing, disturbing or all of it at the same time. I accept anything but indifference. I want to get deeper than the surface. Personally my goal is to become more true, more honest with myself. To become more myself if that makes sense. And to express that authenticity in my work. I'm constantly trying to find a visual language for my inner reality, turning my inner world outward. It is a very personal journey. No one knows the next step except myself. No one can tell me what to do next. It feels like a slippery path sometimes, because you never know if you will be understood. You never know if it is enough.

What project are you currently working on? 

At the moment I'm working on an installation called '垃圾排檔 / lost'n'found'  for Ocean Art Walk 2014. I came up with a hawker stall filled entirely with waste washed ashore on Hong Kong beaches. From afar this stall will look like a rainbow. Coming closer people will notice that the objects 'for sale' are actually all waste: bottle caps, broken toys, twigs, old shoes, leaves, plastic bottles etc. Each of the found objects will be labeled with a price tag, which does not state a number in dollars but a mental state, e.g. 'awareness' or 'responsibility'. Visitors will be able to 'buy' single pieces in exchange for their personal interpretation of the word. Ocean Art Walk will open on 12th of April in Stanley. I'll post more details on my blog closer to the date. 

All photos by teschka.com

... the light and the dark sides

a little clip about the light and the dark sides of life... about who is casting the shadows and who is holding the light... about who is making the artwork and who is perceiving the picture. please click on this link: http://vimeo.com/86506482

enjoy:)

waste water / 垃圾水

waste water / 垃圾水 (2013). reclaimed bottle caps in drainage. an installation for micro galleries .

two installations for microgalleries in wanchai from 13.-15.12.2013

IT'S HAPPENING! here is a small preview ... come and see the whole installation tonight!

i'm so excited to be part of microgalleries this year! 

there's a whole lot of local and international street art to discover at this event in wanchai and i can't wait myself to see all the works! i'm setting up two site-specific installations (see map) called 'forever and ever and ever' and 'waste water / 垃圾水'. but i won't talk a lot about it here. come and see with your own eyes! for more details and map download click on the link here: https://www.facebook.com/events/182655215270963/?directed_target_id=0

and while you get all excited about it, pick up a bottle cap or two on the way to add to 'waste water / 垃圾水' on hillside terrasse! looking forward to seeing you:)

'i love japan' - art auction at ilivetomorrow gallery

i'm so late to post these pictures, but better late than never! 

for the art auction at ilivetomorrow gallery (http://www.ilivetomorrow.com/) i altered my original drawing of the 'i love japan' book: a combination of fine lines and paper collage. i've always had a faible for yellowed newspaper ... it is so ephemeral, a mirrow of the fast times we live in. it is a cheap mass product and there's a contradiction in using it as 'expensive' and 'original' art. apart from that, it has a whole aesthetic of its own especially the chinese ones. even though i've lived in hong kong for five years now, i can't get enough of of chinese characters and calligraphy! since they're all pictures actually, it's like writing in pictures - so exciting for an illustrator! but that's a different matter i might have time to write about another time.... for more info about 'i love japan' visit  japan-i-love.blogspot.com

 (double click to enlarge)