CUT & SEA

Cut & Sea documents an exhibition by architect and artist Tobias Klein on the grounds of Oi!—the Oil Street Art Space in Hong Kong. Created for the Back to Basics series during the Hong Kong Biennale in Architecture, the series explores the interrelationship between art and the nature of its existence in everyday life. The title of Klein’s work refers to the ocean waves that used to reach Oi!—back when it operated as the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club—and to two 2.5-metre discs which Klein designed to be cut into a construction wall and into the lawn of the art centre. Both discs can be slid open on rails to reveal the construction site of a skyscraper, or the layers of soil compacted beneath Oi! The two lines (horizontal and vertical) become activators, allowing a reflection onto the relationship between oneself and one’s expectation of human relationships. Cut & Sea transforms the visitor into an actor, unlocking new optical, physical and spatial relationships. This volume includes project designs, theoretical texts concerning the project’s development and interviews with the architect and contractor who carried out the work.