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
Sushi Grass in Paradise (A story)
written by Holly Lee
with photographs by Lee Ka-sing
(13) The Windfall: Good Fortune Bad Fortune
Mr. Bento, "You're back. George and Wandy just left. Incredible news! They've won a lottery!" Mrs. Bento hardly has time to put her grocery down when Mr. Bento shoots her this unbelievable piece of information.
"Is that even possible? Getting cancer I can easily understand, but winning a lottery?" Mrs. Bento's eyes almost pop out as she speaks. Never in her life will she believe this would happen, no not to her, even her friends, or anyone around.
The largest Canadian jackpot ever, a staggering amount of $64M, was won by a Mississauga woman in 2016. Here was this Asian woman in her late thirties, smiling a hysterious smile and holding this gigantic sixty-four million fake cheque, imagining what a Lotto 6/49 could do for her. In the PlayOLG website it says: Your chance to win is just three dollars away! The odds? There are more ways of winning than just hitting the Jackpot. In fact, your odds of winning are approximately 1 in 6.6.
"If it were so true, how difficult could it be to be this person, just one in 6.6?" The point is, Mrs. Bento never knows how to buy lottery tickets. She's too embarrassed even to ask the retail booth person in the mall she frequents. What both Bentos are curious about is not what the fortune can do, but how long it would last. What if it is they, and not George and Wandy who've won the lottery? They have heard interesting stories about lottery winners, without proper management, could end up losing all or most of that vast sum in just a few years. But should one who becomes filthy rich overnight need to worry about going broke, so soon?
There are a number of sites in the Internet that give advice to manage lottery money. Look out for your friends, they will take advantage. Your relationship too, might be jeopardized - your spouse might not agree on how to use the money. Relatives might expect shares and you might need to fight off a host of long-lost family members, who would suddenly show up and claim you back. If you've won big money and publicly acknowledged (like the Mississauga woman with the fake cheque), you can bet your phone will never stop ringing. You will keep hearing from investors, charitable organizations and scammers. You’ll be a target for a litany of lawsuits and scams. Be wary also, of people who purposely slip and fall on your property. Simply put, you have to endure the greed and the need that most people have, confront the ones that you either love or you don't even know, all trying their best to squeeze your money, like squeezing dry a fat wet sponge.
Mrs. Bento shuns all the negative impact that would affect this impeccable godsend. The fact is she would rather focus on the positive upshot.
"But what would you do if you have all that money? How much are we talking about?" asked Mrs. Bento.
"George said it is twenty-three millions. What would you do if you have that beast of an amount?" returned Mr. Bento.
"Are you kidding me? Twenty-three millions! Hmm, let me gather my thoughts. After paying off all the mortgage, debts, and doing several trips around the world, I still cannot see the bottom of the plate! Perhaps invest in a few condos - penthouse apartments overlooking Lake Ontario? That sounds the best way to keep the money grow... or contribute some to charity...benefit a few relatives and friends?" In the back of her mind, Mrs. Bento has already started counting ways of spending the enormous sum.
"But George and Wandy have bigger plans! They want to do something totally unconventional, beneficial, at the same time enriches our cultural heritage. They want to build a photo museum!" Mr. Bento proclaims with a proud voice, as if it's also his idea and dream child.
"A photo museum? My God, what's so good about putting photos in a museum? Don't we have enough photos, too many really. If we only have the time to look." Already detested the idea of the big plan, Mrs. Bento feeds back in a matter-of-fact tone. After all there is no reference of a photo museum in Toronto she can relate to. "So what's the point in spending all this good fortune in building a photo museum, if everybody can just upload their pictures to the cloudy sky for free?"
"They have already decided. In fact George has invited me to join as an advisor to his pre-production team." Mr. Bento says calmly. Streams of gratification flow from his face as he gulps down the remaining glass of water.
"Sushi Grass in Paradise" is an on-going story. To read the full length version with previous chapters, please visit- https://oceanpounds.com/blogs/sushi-grass-in-paradise
CURRENT WORK
Lee Ka-sing
Selections from DUET series (work year 2019)
Photographs from DUET series are available in BIBLIOTHEKA Prints - 6.25x13 inches, with BIBLIOTHEKA blind-stamp, signed on verso.
Chair and fruits
Tree story
Drapery and window
Blue wall and the vertical waves
Past and present
A black poem
The memory of gold
Towering the sky
Walk out from a movie screening at Bloor Cinema
Water music
Behind the brick wall
Moment
VINTAGE WORK
Portrait Work (circa 1988-89)
Holly Lee
I love large format portrait photographs. There is no randomness about it and therefore possesses some predictability in nature. One can always count on to obtaining a fine picture. A precise frame with selected setting. It also reveals the relationship between the sitter and the image maker, the level of comfortableness and trust, with one putting forward the most genuine, and best-in-appearance self, the other, doubting every second the ability to capture that magic instance hundred percent.
After almost ten years beginning and engaging in commercial work, I started to miss the black and white portrait series I did years ago (Pictures of Friends, Artists and People I Know). I went back to work on more, but ended up just a few, of family and friends.
Iris Lee 李思菱, my daughter at the studio on No. 3 Castle Road
11x14 inches, vintage fibre-based gelatin silver photograph, contact from 8x10 negative
Lau Kin-Wai 劉健威 and Leung Mei-Sang 梁微生 at home
11x14 inches, vintage fibre-based gelatin silver photograph, contact from 8x10 negative
Lau Kin-Wai 劉健威
11x14 inches, vintage fibre-based gelatin silver photograph, contact from 8x10 negative
Tommy Li Kam-Fai 李錦煇 with brother, at the Illustration Workshop
11x14 inches, vintage fibre-based gelatin silver photograph, contact from 8x10 negative
Kwan Mong-Nam 關夢南 at home
Direct scan from 8x10 negative
Kwan Mong-Nam 關夢南 at home with wife
Direct scan from 8x10 negative
Three sisters (Kwan Mong-Nam's daughters)
Direct scan from 8x10 negative
OP EDITIONS
Kith Tsang
A Diary of the Distancing Place 010197, 1995 (#970311)
8"x10", gelatin silve photograph
(printed in 1997)
OP Edition, with "OP editions" blind-stamp
Edition 6/20, signed, titled, numbered on verso
Featured in the OP EDITIONS catalogue, issue 9702 in 1997
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DOUBLE DOUBLE
Issue 0426-2019
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.
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DOUBLE DOUBLE previous issues were archived at -
https://oceanpounds.com/blogs/doubledouble
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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