ske006 – Ding Lab

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Sketch Carpenter team

木工組 Carpenter team

June 25, 2025

While sketching my second drawing in the Carpenter Team, the whole place was almost empty. Even though hardly anyone was around, seeing all the tools and cables neatly sorted into their boxes gave me a real sense of order — it made me feel sharper and more focused as I drew.

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喺木工部畫第二幅素描嗰陣，成個場幾乎空晒。雖然冇乜人喺度，但係見到啲工具同電線分門別類、整整齊齊咁收喺箱裡面，反而令我好有感覺，畫起上嚟特別醒神。

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DING LAB: The Birth of the City Cyborg

A City resembles an organism. It is always in a state of flux, moulded by interplays of preservation and abolition, nostalgia and transformation, as well as identification and alienation.

The tram is the city’s vessel. Herald as one of the earliest forms of public transportation in Hong Kong, trams have been circulating the city's lifeblood— it’s people—since the dawn of the 20th century. They cultivate and nourish stories that have arisen from every corner of the streets, fuelling the city’s relentless development. For over a century, this organic network developed into an urban ecosystem, bearing witness to the city's kaleidoscopic transformation.

Foreseen Agency, an artist duo comprising Pat Wong Wing-shan (Flyingpig) and Kachi Chan, employs a field research-driven anthropological approach to craft speculative institutional narratives that challenge social norms in relation to nostalgia and urban development. In October 2024, the duo created the fictional R&D Department “Ding Lab” – at the Tram Depot to connect with the community of workers at the Hong Kong Tramways. By visiting and learning about various departments in the Tram Depot, they explore the philosophies behind each industrial process of tram construction and its associated structural community, driving a reimagination of tram’s future. In turn, the duo developed their prototype, Tram0, a cyborg integrating biotechnology with biomechanical structures and systems.

This art project manifests a tram journey exploring Tram0. It examines the dynamics of heritage transformation and sustainability while navigating the tension between historical roots and future aspirations. This journey invites viewers to reflect on the delicate balance between critical engagement with the past and forward visions.

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DING LAB：城市賽博格的誕生

城市，猶如一個擁有自主意識的個體。保存與消弭、記憶與更迭、認同與差異碰撞交匯，勾勒出一座城市獨一無二的風景。

電車是城市的載體，作為香港歷史上最悠久的公共交通工具之一，電車自上世紀初開始勾勒城市的生命線，輸送她的「血液」——人們滋養每個街角萌生的故事與記憶。一個多世紀以來，這個活躍的網絡漸漸建構出一套完整的生態系統，見證這個都市永無休止的變遷。

「Foreseen Agency」由藝術家組合黃詠珊（飛天豬）和陳家智創立，他們憑藉實地考察與人類學研究方法，建構出富思辨價值的結構敘事，挑戰有關保育與發展的社會規範。2024年10月，兩位藝術家於電車廠創造虛構研發部門「Ding Lab」，以此與香港電車的師傅和車長群體緊密連結。透過走訪電車廠不同部門，藝術家深入探討電車工業的製作流程，了解其背後哲學及社群結構，藉此重新想像電車的未來，並結合生物技術與生物力學結構系統，開發未來仿生電車原型《Tram0》。

本藝術計劃借《Tram0》的探索之旅，探討文物保育與可持續發展的交錯互動，並探索過去與未來願景之間的張力。是次旅程邀請觀者深思——一座城市如何在安置自身的過去與未來之間取得微妙平衡？

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