Numbers, letters, colors, images – these commonly used graphic design elements are the building blocks of the Aesthetics of Uncertainty – OOC Risograph & Design Exhibition. Two young designers Lok Hong and Jinn Ng create using the Risograph printing technique. Risograph is a kind of monochromatic multilayer digital printing technique similar to screen printing, characterized by large dot size, bright colors and the printing effects of layer misalignment. It is often a graphic designer’s habit, or even basic requirement, to strive for precision and make the final printed product as close to as expected. Riso printing, however, goes against this idea, to the point that it almost promotes uncertainty.

Our daily lives have a regular pattern, but within the regularity lies infinite uncertainty, with infinite possibilities existing at each moment in time. At this moment, I am already on one of those possible paths that have led us to meet here. Themed on time, Lok's work D for Distance uses compressed images of photos taken point-by-point on roads he often walks. He encounters different things on the way at different times, thus changing the timeframe and the images; every day he walks the same road but meets different people. R for Random has the color card with the text 'CNY853' scattered randomly on the poster. Lok's concept for this came from setting off fireworks during Chinese New Year – each firework explosion creates a different scattered shape, which is beauty created in a random way as opposed to regularity. In our daily lives, random beauty is the easiest joy.

Not just limited to what we see, uncertainty is also found through natural phenomena and the other senses. Uncertainty exists everywhere and in everything. Jinn's work ponders these issues on a deeper level. ∅ for Gemini examines the subtle differences in the likeness of twins. His design uses the merging and separation of two circles to express how two sides of one body break free from each other, exhibiting the differences within similarities. Jinn's work Coda uses English chords to express rhythm. To him, music in its digital form is the ideal standard, and therefore musicians follow that standard when performing live. However, live performances often are conditioned by differences in setting and equipment, producing uncertain differences in each audience’s experience. Even the power and emotion of the performer are variables that add unpredictable charm. Infinite kinds of changes exist in the visual image produced, within which lie various beauties that each have their own merits and cannot be compared.

Besides forming a Risograph creation team called OCC, Lok and Jinn also try creating experimental products. Lok cooperated with Kamwa@Mo42Lab to make O for OOClock, an everyday aesthetics product that people can mold themselves. It can be pressed into different shapes when dry, thus creating more possibilities out of the uncertainty inherent to all objects. As OCC says, natural uncertainty represents a kind of idea, bravery, and yearning of today's generation towards life. It is also a creator's continuous process of self-doubt and experimentation to create more uniqueness and individuality in our lives dominated by the mass production and stereotypes.

Curator

Cora, Si Wun Cheng