Methods of Art – Archive of Artists Interviews

I remember that I once asked my composition teacher, „how am I supposed to know the end of the
piece, when I am composing a piece of music? Why do I know ‚this is the end‘?“. Or some time I
asked him, „I have this idea. How can I move from this idea or develop this idea? Because I feel I got
stuck.“
So, in a way, that’s like music has to do with time. Time is always a journey. Music is time art. So, we
deal with time all the time, even on a local level. And I still remember my teacher told me how to
develop an idea or what happens when you get stuck with an idea. He would say one thing like
„maybe the idea you have is not the beginning. Maybe that’s the ending. Maybe you have to work
backwards. Maybe what you have is the connex already. You have to trace back.“ So, in a way, when
I do music … that’s a working method in writing a piece of music. Like, say a 5-minutes piece from
zero-second to the last minute. I mean, in a way … it’s a process, right? On the other hand, on a
high level, process is about life. I always tell people that doing music or creating art ‒ over the years
‒ is a long process. And I think the end of the process is the day I die.
I mean, I do art as the way I live my life. It gets old (laughs), it grows, it decays. It’s a natural process ‒
both my art and my life. They go hand in hand together.

Kung Chi-Shing / Process

Bio

* 1961, born and raised in Hong Kong, Kung Chi Shing is a composer, performer and music activist. Kung studied classical music and composition in the United States with Allen Trubitt and George Crumb. He is known particularly for his work in the music and performance group ‚The Box‘, which he founded with Peter Stuart in 1987, and since 2009 as founder and curator of the ‚Street Music Series‘ of free public concerts in Hong Kong. In 1994 he was awarded a research grant by the Asian Cultural Council. In his compositions and performances, Kung focuses on experimentation with different formats, including pop, classical and improvisational music, and theatre art. Since 1996 he has created, composed and staged six full-length music theatre pieces. He has collaborated frequently with choreographers, directors and theatre artists, and has performed his music in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Cuba, Tashkent, New York, London, Berlin and Venice.

www.kungmusic.hk

Transcript

PDF

Credits

The interview was conducted on November 28, 2014 at the artist’s studio in Hong Kong.

Interviewed by: Johannes M. Hedinger

Filmed and recorded by: Banny Ng

Edited by: Paul Barsch

Transcript by: Yvonne Mattern

Produced by: Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Connecting Spaces Documents #5