video

the METACURSE helmet

in

the METACURSE helmet.

Nowadays Hong Kong can be perceived only through the prism of our nostalgic (or futuristic) fantasies about the city. This is the reduced reality of the METACURSE: the boundless prison we have built for ourselves out of ever flimsier digital copies of reality.


METACURSE is also the name for the helmet we designed to evoke this predicament. Projecting a hypnotising feedback loop, it confuses and complicates reality for both wearer and bystander.


Finally, we produced an experimental short film titled METACURSE, exploring the personal outward, then inward journey brought on by wearing the helmet.

At present, we are wearing the helmet, the digital gear of virtual reality. We hope that even this virtuality is virtual, in other words that we will no longer have to deal with it, but it is now in the process of annexing all possibilities for the moment, including the possibilities of art […]

– The Conspiracy of Art, Jean Baudrillard

METACURSE HELMET

  • materials: lasercut black acrylic sheet, iPhone X, Miroir M220 projector

  • year: 2023

  • designer & manufacturer: TypicalPlan

The METACURSE and its counterpart OFFCUT were produced for “Project Oi Kwan”. This project invited various artists to create work inspired by Oi Kwan Barbers, a traditional alley barber shop on Hong Kong island. The project was co-produced by Gallery In-between and Cheung Chau Wave and curated by Christina Brandt Jensen. Helmet, paintings and film were first shown during the In-progress event on Cheung Chau on 29–30/04/2023 and after that at After Sunset Festival in the iconic Fringe Club in Central Hong Kong (15–19/11/2023). See here for more info on this and other TypicalPlan exhibitions, workshops, lectures etc.

the METACURSE short film

in

the METACURSE short film.

Nowadays Hong Kong can be perceived only through the prism of our nostalgic (or futuristic) fantasies about the city. This is the reduced reality of the METACURSE: the boundless prison we have built for ourselves out of ever flimsier digital copies of reality.


METACURSE is also the name for the helmet we designed to evoke this predicament. Projecting a hypnotising feedback loop, it confuses and complicates reality for both wearer and bystander.


Finally, we produced an experimental short film titled METACURSE, exploring the personal outward, then inward journey brought on by wearing the helmet.

Awards

  • Official Selection for the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival 2024

  • Best Experimental Film at the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival 2024

  • Recipient of the Tarkovski Grant in 2024

Screenings

  • Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival 2024, 10/07/2024 at Emperor Cinemas, Entertainment Building, Central, Hong Kong

  • Moving Cinema, 08/06/2024 at Chez Trente, Central, Hong Kong

  • Night of Obsession at After Sunset Festival, 17/11/2023 at Fringe Club, Central, Hong Kong (Official Premiere with performance by TypicalPlan)

  • In-progress, 29/04/2023 at Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong (Preview Screening with performance by TypicalPlan)

METACURSE SHORT FILM

  • year: 2023

  • length: 10’40”

  • language: English (subtitles in English and Traditional Chinese)

  • director & producer: TypicalPlan/Hans Leo Maes

  • concept & scenario: TypicalPlan/Hans Leo Maes

  • cast: Hans Leo Maes, Mark Lau

  • cinematography & camera: Bradley Aaron

  • sound design: Seb StJean

  • translation (subtitles): Hei-man Cheung

The METACURSE and its counterpart OFFCUT were produced for “Project Oi Kwan”. This project invited various artists to create work inspired by Oi Kwan Barbers, a traditional alley barber shop on Hong Kong island. The project was co-produced by Gallery In-between and Cheung Chau Wave and curated by Christina Brandt Jensen. Helmet, paintings and film were first shown during the In-progress event on Cheung Chau on 29–30/04/2023 and after that at After Sunset Festival in the iconic Fringe Club in Central Hong Kong (15–19/11/2023). Both screenings were accompanied by a performance by TypicalPlan. See here for more info on this and other TypicalPlan exhibitions, workshops, lectures etc.

OFFCUT

in

“OFFCUT” is the flip-side of the METACURSE-project, inspired by the leftover pieces of black acrylic — like the cut hairs left on the barbershop floor.

As the artist has become just another commodity producer, maybe real art lies hidden in the subconscious byproducts of the artistic process, the rejects and leftovers.

(An alternative art history: one composed of only the garbage found in artists’ dustbins)

The precise laser-cut shapes form the basis for freehand paintings. This adds the human touch so valued by the market, while the relative ineptitude of the artist simultaneously represents a critique and rejection of the creeping professionalisation of the art world.

“OFFCUT”是 METACURSE 項目的反創作，靈感來自黑色亞克力的剩餘碎片——就像理髮店地板上的髮碎。

當藝術家淪為商品生產商，也許真正的藝術只存活於過程中遺留下來的副產品、廢料及殘骸。

（另類藝術史：僅由藝術家垃圾箱中的垃圾組成）

精確的激光切割形狀乃手繪的靈感。 粗劣的畫工既增加了市場所崇尚的人情味，亦代表着對藝術界逐漸變態的批判和控訴。

  • materials: canvas (2x 600x900mm, 1x 300x200mm), acrylic paint, varnish (matte and high gloss)

  • year: 2023

  • painter: TypicalPlan

OFFCUT and its counterpart METACURSE (both the helmet and short film) were produced for “Project Oi Kwan”. This project invited various artists to create work inspired by Oi Kwan Barbers, a traditional alley barber shop on Hong Kong island. The project was co-produced by Gallery In-between and Cheung Chau Wave and curated by Christina Brandt Jensen. A first preview of the works was presented during the In-progress event on Cheung Chau on 29-30/04/2023. The final exhibition took place during After Sunset Festival in the iconic Fringe Club in Central Hong Kong (15–19/11/2023). See here for more info on exhibitions, workshops and other TypicalPlan endeavours.

by using this website you agree to                
our terms of service / talk to us here