Fête Featured Artist: Benjamin Von Wong
Interviewed by Jennifer Lau
Written by Benjamin Von Wong
Translated by Jane Li
Photograph Courtesy of the Artist and Suzy Johnston & Associates
Benjamin Von Wong’s work lies at the intersection of fantasy and photography and combines everyday objects with shocking statistics. It has attracted the attention of corporations, like Starbucks, Dell, and Nike, and has generated over 100 million views for causes like ocean plastics, electronic waste, and fashion pollution.
I began my artistic journey with the purchase of a camera in November 2007. Less than five years later, I quit my day job as an engineer and became a full-time artist. I did not have my eyes set on being full-time artist at the time. I simply felt that I no longer wanted to be an engineer. Because I chose an alternative path, I am able to bring a unique perspective on global issues through art.
As time passed, I have added layer upon layer to my work. In the beginning, it was only photography. Then video documentaries were added to my corpus. Later, I would write blogs. Now, the art is experiential where people are able to interact with it. My projects become more complex and complicated through these layers.
2007年11月，Benjamin Von Wong（黃志銘）因為購買了一部相機，而開始了他的攝影旅程。不到五年後，他辭去了工程師的工作。事實上，他只是覺得不再想當一名工程師，結果他成為了一名全職藝術家。對於黃志銘選擇了去追求另一個人生方向，我們大眾實在要感到慶幸，因為透過他的藝術，我們可以用一個有趣的眼光來看全球環保問題。黃志銘是提高環境意識的倡導者。 隨著時間的流逝，黃志銘在他的作品中添加一層又一層的深意。剛開始時，只是攝影拍照，然後，又增添了影片紀錄，之後，他還會寫博客。現在，他的藝術是體驗性的，使人能夠與之互動。通過這些層次，他的項目變得更加綜合和複雜。
“...the project touched people deeply, which is why I would consider it as one of my biggest accomplishments. I am a huge advocate for raising awareness for the environment and promoting green change.”
Surreal and Hyperrealistic Lens
超級寫實主義的鏡頭及黃志銘的照片集
The results are images that might look highly edited in Photoshop that could belong in a comic book. This affinity is possibly due to my upbringing which included Chinese martial art movies, although there isn’t a particular Chinese artist that inspires me. My entire corpus is very diverse but every project has its process and meaning.
One project that has the greatest reach and that resonated with the most people is the Mermaid series. A contribution to the conservation world, it has 37 million views on Facebook. Built through collecting 168,000 straws off the streets of Vietnam, converting it into an art installation came with its own challenges. However, the project touched people deeply, which is why I would consider it as one of my biggest accomplishments. I am a huge advocate for raising awareness for the environment and promoting green change.
這些圖像看起來就像是用 Photoshop 高度修改過的，也好像是漫畫書裡的一頁。黃志銘的作品所持有的這種感覺，要歸功於他的成長經歷，其中包括中國武術電影。而當你了解每個項目背後的過程和意義時，他的每個照片集都是非常獨特的。 要説他最具影響力，產生共鳴的人最多的項目，黃志銘認為是美人魚系列。作為對保護世界的貢獻，這個系列在臉書上擁有3,700萬觀看次數。以從越南街道上收集的168,000根吸管為材料，將其轉變為藝術裝置，是很大的挑戰，然而也是值得的。這個項目非常感動人，他認為這是自己最大的成就之一。
Future Solutions
未來解決方案
Beyond hoping to solely raise awareness, I plan for the impact of my art. Art is truly a catalyst for change. If I wasn’t an artist, I would be an entrepreneur because I am interested in scalable solutions that can affect the largest number of people. In the future, I want to create something greater than myself – something related to technology. Currently, I am happily pursuing solutions in a cultural way through photographic and experiential artistic endeavours.
除了提高大眾意識，黃志銘還計劃創造更大的藝術影響力。他深信藝術是推動社會進步的催化劑。如果不是藝術家，黃志銘覺得他會成為一名企業家，因為他對能夠影響最多人的工作感興趣。未來，他打算從科技的角度繼續創造，超越自己。眼下，他通過攝影和體驗藝術，從文化的角度，快樂地追尋著自己想要的答案。