The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) is pleased to present Metamorphosis or Confrontation, Tobias Klein’s most extensive solo exhibition to date on the theme of Digital Craftsmanship. Klein was trained as an architect at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Before relocating to Hong Kong in 2014, he taught for more than ten years at the world-renowned Architectural Association School of Architecture and the Royal College of Art. Klein holds a PhD from RMIT Melbourne and currently teaches in the School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong. By exploring applications of 3D printing in architecture, art, design and interactive media installations, Klein has created a fusion of contemporary CAD/CAM technologies built from natural materials, found objects and cultural historical references. In his work, Klein develops the emerging discipline of Digital Craftsmanship as an operational synthesis between digital and physical tools and techniques.

The UMAG exhibition traces Klein’s work over the past decade and is structured in four distinct areas: Bones, Masks, Mutations and Forces. Each theme unravels the relationships and evolution of the artist’s body of work, while at the same time demanding that visitors take a position of negotiation, evolution or confrontation.

The first room, Bones, serves as a general introduction. Full of references and models that were both inspiration and source material for the artist, the space has been transformed into a cabinet of curiosities (Wunderkammer). The second room, Masks, is dedicated to a single work. Inspired by the intricate detail and cultural allusions of Cantonese Opera masks, this interactive installation transforms the visitor into a participatory player within a landscape of discoveries and unexpected moments. Mutations, the third exhibition space, places three different works in a stimulating constellation—The Invisible Human, Melted Proportions and Witnesses—while thematising a shift in time and space. In the final room, Forces, Klein establishes a dialogue between traditional forms of Chinese wood carving, experimental glass blowing and the ornamentation of digital transformations.

Seen as a whole, the individual rooms establish myriad readings. On the one hand, they allow for an understanding of the mastery of both digital and analogue materials while expressing the ability to apply interpretative and communicative techniques between old and new. This entire exhibition may be regarded as an extended Wunderkammer—a total work of art—which impressively presents the rich tapestry of Digital Craftsmanship.

香港大學美術博物館很榮幸呈獻《蛻變或對抗》展覽，本展覽是簡鳴謙迄今舉辦過最全面的數碼工藝主題個展。簡鳴謙是一名建築師，畢業於英國倫敦大學巴特雷建築環境學院。在二零一四年定居香港前，他曾在舉世聞名的倫敦建築聯盟學院和皇家藝術學院授課長達十多年。簡鳴謙在皇家墨爾本理工大學取得哲學博士學位，目前任教於香港城市大學創意媒體學院。

簡鳴謙通過探索三維打印技術在建築、藝術、設計和互動媒體裝置等領域的應用，創造出一套建基於自然物料、現成物和文化歷史典故，糅合了當代電腦輔助設計及製造系統的技術。他的作品將新興的數碼工藝專業，發展成一種介乎數碼與物質工具和材料的運作綜合。

《蛻變或對抗》展覽以骨頭、面具、變異和力量四個獨特的領域，探索 簡鳴謙過往十年的創作。每個展區的主題既揭示一眾作品之間的關係和演化，同時邀請觀眾投入其中，作出協商、演變或對抗。第一展區「骨頭」是本展覽的序篇，展場幻化成一所珍奇屋（Wunderkammer），佈滿那賦予藝術家創作靈感和啟發的參考資料和模型。第二展區「面具」精選展示一件互動式藝術裝置，其創作靈感源自粵劇面具上複雜精緻的圖案和文化隱喻。這件裝置讓觀眾置身於一個充滿探索發現和意外驚喜的場景，搖身一變成為積極踴躍的玩家。第三展區「變異」，以時間和空間的轉移為主題，在星羅棋佈、充滿啟發性的空間內展出三組不同的作品——〈隱形人〉、〈熔融比例〉與〈見證人〉。在最後的「力量」展區，簡鳴謙建立起一種中國木雕的傳統造型、實驗玻璃吹製和數碼轉型的裝飾之間的對話。

整體而言，各個展區帶出多方面涵義。它們既使人了解到藝術家能夠同時駕馭數碼和類似物材料，也展現出他可在新舊之間運用一己的演繹和溝通技巧。本展覽反映數碼工藝多元豐富的內涵，可被視為一所擴建的珍奇屋——整體藝術作品。