DOUBLE DOUBLE
Writings/ Photographs/ Poetry/ Archives
A Holly Lee and Lee Ka-sing online magazine. Published on Fridays. 李家昇黃楚喬網上雜誌，逢星期五出版
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CURRENT WORK (1)
Objects of Mythical Power
Five poems (with image) by Holly Lee
[Objects of Mythical Power], I
I am as vocal as my cat
we sing a duet
when I threw him a ball
he outplayed me
(A commissioned painting of Suki by Tony Taylor)
[Objects of Mythical Power], II
Wielding round shield and sword
this indigo warrior
clinging to his triangular helmet
advancing like a Dalek
No less mythical
when Herschel discovered cyanotype
who could have imagined
the dead, could leave a living image
(H+K Collection. Cyanotype by John Fiorucci)
[Objects of Mythical Power], III
Hello
Hello
are you there
fallen twig
from a hibiscus plant
No earth to grasp
flow freely as grass
you are morphing
into bone dried stem
waving like a peacock fan
Do you remember
your previous body
has healing power
your big red flowers
make good tea for afternoon hours
(Roots of a hibiscus plant in a wine bottle)
[Objects of Mythical Power], IV
The Wolf from Nagai
He combs my hair
He stands to greet
He howls and guards
at full moon's bliss
I hear him
I see him
in slow motion
turning suspiciously
to ward off evil spirits
And if that isn't enough
he'll climb into my dream
his pack of four
no earth to land
he'll keep his balance
on one big branch
The wolf from Nagai
cries, some nights
he has four heads
eight eyes
Cerberus the dog has three
Bast the cat goddess
lives nine lives, at least
(Detail of a scarf, a work by Kazumasa Nagai)
[Objects of Mythical Power], V
There's a curable kind of
blindness
when one gets old
Magni helps you
get real close
teeny tiny letters
could read them all
There's another kind of
vision
one's not born with
Bino helps you
see far ashore
Jesus' portrait on tesserae
on Hagia Sophia's wall
There's a distant kind of
friendship
one may have lost
objects always remind you
when brain roams off
Mickey and Minnie
or, Magni and Bino
come when call
(Mickey and Minnie. A gift from Hideo Suzuki)
CURRENT WORK (2)
Six photographs from TIME MACHINE series by Lee Ka-sing,
with haiku by Gary Michael Dault
20171103-07350 (constellation)
Constellation
Like a football
helmet in space
writhing with perforation
20171007-07043 (soul)
Sweet Home Sweet
the soul
a sugary bubble
in vulvic space
20171014-07239 (radar)
Radar
the all-seeing weave
plaited by the fingers
of floodgate war
20170928-06933 (hope)
Careful careful
hope is hoisted
into view
a monstrous invitation
20171110-07441 (question)
Question
questions have eyes
that stare
from skeins of asking
20170829-06340 (a novel)
Novel
in my novel
are many mansions
still unfinished
Lee Ka-sing's TIME MACHINE photo series and Gary Michael Dault's responding haiku, the collaboration is frequently updated at this Page -
https://oceanpounds.com/blogs/time-machine
PAPER TALK
Posing
Written by Holly Lee
(top)
阿芳，你擺好甫士未呀？係喇，隻手低啲。唔得，遮住細佬個頭㖭。嚟啦，影多一張，趁住重有啲側光。
(middle)
Okay now, you look gorgeous, hold it! Yes, the light is just right. Oops it's windy. Maybe you try to look the other way. That's great, try to relax your hands. Don't worry, the crocodile is not in the picture.
(bottom)
You are a very nice boy Timmy. Let's make good friend with the crocodile. Show us some teeth...okay Pelicans are your friends too. Let's take another picture before they pick up your hat.
(top) A Female Painter, 1962. Hong Kong. Photo by Ngan Chun-tung. (middle) Resort photographer at Work. 1941. St. Petersburg, Florida. Photo by Walker Evans. (bottom) Unidentified photographer. 1940. Private Collection, Paris
顏震東，是香港攝影界前軰。拍攝在六二年的這張照片，無意地保留了若干東方味道。雖然東方的女性之前已傾倒於西方文化，但傳統衣服的身影仍在。我們猜想照片的地點可能是在某離島，下午接近黃昏時分。在歐洲和美國，早在十九世紀攝影術已經流入小數女性手上。所以Walker Evans 在1941年拍攝到在渡假村作業的女攝影師並非稀奇。這又令我們想知道，在巴黎某藏家手中這幀照片，當年在這個渡假勝地拍攝男童的那個人，㑹不會就是剛才那位女攝影師呢？
Orientalism and Westernisation. There was a time when the elites of the East learnt eagerly from the West. Now the people of the East devours everything from the West, lifestyles, technological advances. The West shifts a reverse gear, it is aware of the steep cliff in front of them. Like they first discovered the three forms of water, the people of the West get into Taichi, Haiku and Om.
BOOKSCAPE
Bookshelf at the Candy Factory Loft, 2003, Lee Ka-sing
8x10 inch, a direct negative image on Azo fiber base paper
VINTAGE
Holly, photographed in the early 90s by Lee Ka-sing
4"x5", Ilfochrome photograph
This was a test shot taken directly on Ilfochrome photographic paper with a 4x5 camera. Since the early nineties, our studio maintained a small facility of Ilfochrome processing, for experimental purpose and personal projects. We made colour photograms and filmless direct photography. Some of these experiments eventually led to commissioned assignments.
THING + OBJECT
Scarf, with art work by Kazumasa Nagai
The scarf was hanging in front of the window at our old Study, which was on the Third Floor of the building. I took a good sum of photographs to document the Study before we moved to the ground floor, a new living quarter in the space of the previous gallery. The series "Time Present and Time Past" (送別一個將要重新組合的空間寫一首長詩) is now archived at - https://leekasing-tptp.blogspot.com
H+K COLLECTION
Ngan Chun-tung 顏震東, 水塘溪澗, 城門水塘, 1978 (Shing Mun Reservoir )
Vintage photograph, 16"x20", titled, dated and signed on verso by the artist
END NOTE
We caught Anthropocene at the AGO before it closes down on January 6. The crowd was great, though not an ideal afternoon to contemplate on the exhibition. We had a coffee at the cafeteria after the show. It was a cold day, but warm and bustling inside the museum shop. I am always interested in art cards. From the spinner rack I spotted double double, a blank card with illustration by Wendy Tancock, card no. 104 in the Canadian Heroes series.
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DOUBLE DOUBLE
Issue 0111-2019
A Holly Lee and Lee Ka-sing online magazine. Published on Fridays.
Published by Ocean and Pounds and archived at oceanpounds.com
All rights Reserved.
Selective items in this publication are available at the OCEAN POUNDS online shop. For items featured in CURRENT WORK, VINTAGE, ARTIFACT, PUBLICATION, OBJECT, BOOKSCAPE and COLLECTION, please send a request to: mail@oceanpounds.com.
If you are a researcher or writer and want to use the material, please write us in advance. Some of the materials might have different level of copyrights involved.
Not to miss a single issue, please subscribe RELEASE NOTIFICATION. Visit - http://doubledouble.org
leekasing.com is a portal website for current and earlier works. Apart from exhibitions, Holly and Ka-sing use extensively web platforms to display photography and writing projects. Contact us for a detail list of links.
Holly and Ka-sing currently live in Toronto with their daughter Iris, and their cat Sukimoto.
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