你懂嗎陳子慧你懂嗎

The exhibition, titled "Do You Know - David Chan - Do You Know?", brings forth Master Chan's longstanding artistic practice and creative philosophy — multifaceted perspectives and empathetic thinking and creation. The exhibition's three angles of contemplation and observation transform every viewing into a starting point for re-questioning.

1. David Chan – In the first person, reflexively asking oneself: "David Chan," do you truly know yourself?
2. The Audience – In the third person, posing the question: "You," do you know David Chan?
3. David Chan and the Audience – Do "each other" truly know? What does "know" mean? And what exactly is being "known"?

In their research, Fitzsimons and Anderson point out that "knowing" is not an intuitive perception; it requires exhaustive effort, sustained endeavor, and interaction to build relationships, thereby cultivating an accurate grasp of others' inner worlds and empathy (2014, 590). As for the accuracy of understanding, it can be achieved through shared knowledge structures — if viewers and creators can establish a common context or experiential foundation, they can more precisely perceive the emotions and ideas conveyed by the work (2014, 591).

This exhibition takes this concept as its starting point, laying out a visual context for audiences to "read and comprehend" through Master Chan's creative series from different periods and media. From Master Chan's early visual language rooted in calligraphy, to its later transformation into the boundless creativity of narrative structures in movie storyboards, and then to the "Ice Painting" series created during the pandemic as reflections on nature and life, each stage of Master Chan's creation represents his unique emotional expression and perception of contemporary society. In the exhibition, each series becomes interwoven footnotes to one another. Among them, the blanks and rhythmic brushstrokes in Master Chan's early contemporary calligraphy works find echoes in the framing compositions of the movie storyboards; while the instantaneous freezes and melting imagery in the "Ice Paintings" can be seen as an extension and reinterpretation of the concept "the instantaneous is eternal." Master Chan's works also embody the Daoist philosophy of "the great image has no form." Laozi's supreme realm of the "Dao" emphasizes that grand things often transcend superficial frameworks, encompassing all things in formlessness. Master Chan's "Ice Painting" series is a manifestation of this wisdom; through his recreation of calligraphy, he demonstrates how art breaks free from traditional constraints, endowing it with broader cultural significance and universally shared human emotions. Through the contrasts and connections among these works, audiences can construct a non-linear yet progressively layered path of understanding in the exhibition — this is a profound practice of the "shared knowledge structure" presented by the exhibition.

Master Chan's solo exhibition this time adopts multiple perspectives and non-linear narratives precisely to respond to the inherent polysemy and interdisciplinary qualities of his works. The diverse paths for viewing and understanding empower audiences to actively participate, shuttling back and forth between series, piecing them together, carried by three main axes that mutually reflect and ceaselessly provoke questioning and reflection. This turns "knowing" into a dynamic exchange shuttling between Master Chan, the artworks, and the audience — a method that truly allows one to "understand" the core of Master Chan's artworks: Master Chan's ongoing inquiry into the relationships among life, time, and nature, and his most sincere and pure expressions.

The first axis, "David Chan – Contemplating Oneself in the First Person: Does David Chan Himself Understand?", focuses entirely on the artist: When Master Chan channels his unique spirit and style through calligraphy, transforming it into the frozen frames of movie storyboard narratives or capturing the universe-like, unpredictable transformations of melting ice on Xuan paper, can both he and the audience read his boundless imagination? In Master Chan's world, his artworks are the beautiful fruits of rich emotions and imagination fused together; they are also Master Chan's way of connecting with heaven and earth through various artistic forms, turning the natural world into, as what Xu Fuguan describes, a vibrant, emotionally resonant life force in his works (1966, 93). The exhibition displays pioneering hand-drawn movie storyboards and sketches from that era, allowing audiences to gradually understand Master Chan's process of self-reflection and his unique purity — a series of traces of self-discovery and rebirth, proving that understanding is not an inner certainty, but a persistent drive and perception that endures ceaselessly.

In this exhibition, Master Chan also hopes to hand over the discourse to "The Audience – Contemplating in the Third Person: Do You Understand David Chan?" — empowering the "you" standing before the works. When you discover the profound flying white in the calligraphy, the wild yet tender brushstrokes that mirror the fluid, transformative textures born from the color permeation techniques in the ice paintings, or notice how a blank frame in the storyboard syncs with the calligraphy's negative space, you begin to assemble your own interpretive network within Master Chan's exhibition. As Fitzsimons and Anderson also note, we can better share knowledge nodes, and Master Chan's works make audiences empathize with these nodes. Therefore, Master Chan's solo exhibition this time presents many interactive works, inviting everyone to enter his world, to feel his one-of-a-kind cosmological view and the visual dialogues between it and the audience. This turns "I know you" from mere emotional intuition into a tangible perception of the visual experiences and profound cultural reflections conveyed by the works, achieved through entering this exhibition, engaging with Master Chan's pieces, installations, and introductions, thereby establishing a shared context and experiential foundation with him in the here and now.

Finally, "David Chan and the Audience: Do We Truly 'Know'? What Constitutes 'Knowing'? What Are We 'Understanding'?" brings both ends together without rushing to suture them. During the exhibition period, Master Chan's university lectures, interactive ice painting workshops with the public, and guided tours involving direct contact between the artist, curator, and audiences will also be held simultaneously, fostering more artistic and cultural exchanges and interactions between the public and Master Chan. At this moment, "knowing" is no longer merely a cognitive achievement but a "co-assembly" completed jointly by bodies, materials, the artist, and the audience. "Knowing" is not a static answer but something both parties are willing to sustain through the exhibition and its extended activities — perceiving, sharing knowledge structures — and Master Chan's persistent openness to questioning through artistic creation. Precisely because it is unending, this interdisciplinary and soul-deep conversation can extend infinitely, further highlighting the artist's profound gaze upon humanity, nature, and the future.

Master Chan's footprints have spanned the globe in recent years; this time, he brings half a century of creations back to Hong Kong — from the forward-looking ink experiments of the 1970s to the ice painting universe of the 21st century, as if folding time differences into the same space. Let us leave the question mark of "Do You Know?" at the entrance, and together step into Master Chan's solo exhibition. Amid the calligraphy's blank whispers, the storyboard's frozen frames, and the ice's flowing captures, we join Master Chan in living "knowing" as an ever-fermenting present continuous: When the last drop of colored ice permeates the Xuan paper, when the final storyboard frame is illuminated by the public's gaze, the true exhibition only just opens in each person's heart — and the exhibition "Do You Know - David Chan - Do You Know?" is an important experimental field that allows this infinite dialogue to continue through participation and interaction.

References:
Fitzsimons, G. M., & Anderson, J. E. (2013). Interpersonal cognition: Seeking, understanding, and maintaining relationships. In D. Carlston (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social cognition (pp. 590–591). Oxford University Press.
Xu, F. G. (1966). Zhongguo Yishu Jingshen [The Spirit of Chinese Art]. Tunghai University.