Amy Chan (陳一云)
Light artist, theatre practitioner, artistic director of Drama COLLABoratory and pathologist, “an exciting practitioner from Hong Kong and an emergingcritical voice on light as a performance material” (Theatre and PerformanceDesign, UK). She is interested in expanding the notion of light in postdramatic theatre through the exploration of musicality, relationality and materiality of light in performance and installation. Her works delve into the in-betweens of light-music, performance-installation and arts-medicine. Lightscape (light and space) is the co-performer, protagonist and antagonist in her works.
Notable works include installation performances Sound Astronauts (2023), Inter-Face (2021),Things That Talk (2020), solo light installation Memento Mori: Sonata for Light (2017), site-specific light installation-performance Morbid Anatomy (2016) and interdisciplinary museum theatre performance and installation project The Hong Kong Plague of 1894 (2014). Her online lecture performance Remembrance of Amnesia (2020), reflecting on pandemic and memory in Hong Kong, was featured in the online performance series My Documents | Share your screen! curated by Argentinian theatre maker Lola Arias. The performance was streamed on the digital platforms of Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main, Kampnagel Hamburg and Münchner Kammerspiele of Germany, and Kaserne Basel of Switzerland. Amy's light installation-performance has been presented in various venues in Prague, Hamburg, Frankfurt, London, Winchester and Calgary.
Amy's artistic practice transcends media, disciplines, and communities. She frequently collaborates with artists from diverse backgrounds, with a particular focus on light-music collaborations. Her collaborations include renowned artists, composers, musicians, and companies such as Ellen Pau, Kingsley Ng, Simon Wan, Rachel Cheung, Ken Ueno, Scarlet Yu and Hong Kong Dance Company. Their collaborations span various productions, including co-presentation by M+ and Art Basel, M+ commission, New Vision Arts Festival, Tai Kwun Prison Yard Festival, West Kowloon Freespace Jazz Fest and Sound Forms. These collaborations encompass live video-light-sound performances, museum performances, and a range of musical genres from contemporary and classical to electronic and free improvisation. Additionally, Amy has been a long-term artistic collaborator and tutor at St James Creation, a workshop and gallery under St James' Settlement that supports artists of different abilities.
With over two decades of experience, Amy has designed lighting for numerous theatre works, galleries, and installations. Notably, her design for installation artwork A Tree to be Found in Para/Site (2003) received the Hong Kong Arts Biennial 2003 award and is part of the collection at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. As a performer, Amy collaborated with internationally renowned choreographers Xavier Le Roy and Scarlet Yu in their performative proposition Still in Hong Kong (2021), commissioned by Tai Kwun Contemporary. Amy's original autobiographical theatre performance, Two girls from Ngau Tau Kok, which she co-created, co-directed, performed in, and designed lighting for, has been performed multiple times over nine years. The play was adapted into a graphic novel and an English radio play broadcasted on BBC World Channel as part of the Worldplay series in 2003. Both the original Chinese script and the translated English script were published.
Amy holds a Master of Fine Arts (with distinction) from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, specializing in lighting design with a core research focus on light in postdramatic theatre. Her master thesis was examined by the late Prof Dr Hans-Thies Lehmann, a prestigious theatre scholar and author of Postdramatic Theatre. Amy's artistic research has been presented at various international conferences, including The Congress of the Society for Theatre Studies of Germany and Performance Studies International annual conferences. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Theatre and Performance Design, Performance Research, and Critical Stages. She has also contributed writings on light, scenography, and theatre to publications such as Dance Journal/HK, IATC (HK) ARTiSM, and Hong Kong Repertory Theatre Repazine. In 2019, she represented Hong Kong as a panel speaker at the Postdramatic Theatre Worldwide Symposium in Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany, discussing the resonance and perspectives of postdramatic theatre in Hong Kong and reflecting on her own light-theatre works, 20 years after the first publication of Prof Dr Lehmann's groundbreaking book. Furthermore, she has been invited as a speaker at the Prague Quadrennial 2023, where she presented her experimental lighting works alongside a panel of international lighting designers.
Light Installation (Solo and Group)
2024 – Artist and Photographer Conversation Series XIV: “Seen Unseen” — A Conversation Exhibition by Amy Chan & Simon Wan. (Duo light and photography installation) Commissioned by Lumenvisum, Hong Kong
2021 - Inter-Face, CCCD, Hong Kong (Face x Science x Art Dialogue and Installation Performance Series, in collaboration with forensic face artist Kathryn Smith)
2020 - Things That Talk, ACO Art Space, Hong Kong (solo light installation-performance)
2017 - Memento Mori: Sonata for Light, Lumenvisum, Hong Kong (solo installation)
2016 - Cabinet of Curiosities in Pseudo Collection - What Do Artists Collect, 1a Space, Hong Kong (group exhibition)
2014 - The Hong Kong Plague of 1894 - (Ab)Normal, The Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage (CACHe) , Hong Kong (curation and group exhibition)
Light-Performance (Selected)
2024 - Electromagnetic River (Light-Sound Performance), 2024 Wandering Music Fest (Taiwan). Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB).
2024 – PSi#29: Assembly of Things. (Light installation-performance) Hosted by The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in collaboration with LIFT (London International Theatre Festival), in partnership with the University of London’s Birkbeck, Royal Holloway, and School of Advanced Studies. London, UK.
2023 - Sound Astronauts, commissioned by Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. The Box, Freespace, West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong
2023 – Sound Kitchen 2023: XXXXX (Light-sound installation-performance, featuring Natalie Cheung). Divadlo Inspirace (Theatre of Inspiration), HAMU, the Academy for Performing Arts, Prague, Czech Republic.
2021 - RE-turn (light-sound installation-performance) in Sound Forms 2021 Present_Present Tai Kwun Edition, featuring Natalie Cheung @ Drama Collaboratory.
2020 - Remembrance of Amnesia (online lecture performance) in My Documents | Share your screen! The Open Call Edition, created and curated by Lola Arias, production by Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main with Lola Arias, co-produced by Kampnagel Hamburg, Kaserne Basel and Münchner Kammerspiele.
2019 - The Fable of Ungrateful Wolf (light x Cantonese Opera, as light installation/performing light artist/Cantonese opera singer), PSi25 Calgary, Canada
2017 - HYPER-PLASIA (light installation-lecture performance), Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany
2016 - Morbid Anatomy, Pathology Teaching Laboratory, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
2014 - The Hong Kong Plague of 1894, Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, Hong Kong
2001-2009 - Two Girls from Ngau Tau Kok, various venues, Hong Kong
Light Collaboration in Performance, Music, Installation and Video (Selected)
2024 - Performance Co-Lab: Rehearsing Symbiosis. Tai Kwun’s initiative in response to the first edition of the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo (HKPAX). Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Participating Artist.
2024 – Planting Tastes. Performance by Scarlet Yu. Art Central 2024.
2024 - Small Small World Panorama. Hong Kong Museum of Art. Exhibition design by Kingsley Ng. Make a difference Institute.
2023 - Hack the Moment, a short film by Etienne Leung, commissioned by M+, Hong Kong.
2023 - Womanhood (Dance theatre Choreographer: Xie Yin). Hong Kong Dance Company.
2023 - Small Small World Carnival. Hong Kong Visual Art Centre. Exhibition design by Kingsley Ng. Make a difference Institute.
2022 - Goldberg Illuminations (in collaboration with Rachel Cheung) in Prison Yard Festival: Music from Within, presented by Tai Kwun.
2022 - Sound Forms 2022 : Bounding in Void (new work in collaboration with Kin Lam, and lighting for other performances). Presented by Contemporary Musiking Hong Kong. Tai Kwun F Hall Studio.
2022 - CONTAIN (Hong Kong Premiere), multimedia performance co-presented by West Kowloon Freespace and Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. (light installation, set design and theatrical movement design in collaboration with Natalie Cheung @ Drama Collaboratory)
2022 - The Shape of Light: A Live Performance by Ellen Pau (Co-presented by M+ and Art Basel). M+, Hong Kong
2021 - HKACT! Act 10 Daedalus Drones (New Vision Arts Festival 2021). Installation-Performance by Ken Ueno. Outdoor Roof Garden and Miller Gallery of Asia Society Hong Kong.
2021 - West Kowloon Freespace Jazz Fest - Experimental Lab (Free improvisation and experimentations with sound and light). Freespace, West Kowloon.
2021 - Sound Forms 2021 Present_Present Tai Kwun Edition (Light installation for Festival and lighting design for all performances). Presented by Comtemporary Musiking Hong Kong. Tai Kwun F Hall Studio.
2021 - Water, the First Body (World Premiere) Composer and Performer: Ken Ueno, Osage Gallery, Hong Kong
2021 -《Still in Hong Kong》by Scarlet Yu 余美華 and Xavier Le Roy (as performer) in 「信任&迷惑」"trust & confusion" | 大館 Tai Kwun
2021 - Let Me Tell You Something｜multimedia experiential music performance (World Premiere), Creative Director & Performer: Angela Hui Wai Nok. Cattle Depot Artist Village On and On Theatre, Hong Kong
2021 - Infinito Nero, an ecstasy in one act by Salvatore Sciarrino (light installation x music x video), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. Osage Gallery, Hong Kong
2021 - EVERGREEN (percussion chamber concert), The Up:Strike Project. Kwai Tsing Theatre Black Box Theatre, Hong Kong
2020 - Strange and Sacred Noise by John Luther Adams (light installation x percussion), The Up:Strike Project. Y-Studio, Hong Kong [*Hong Kong Premiere]
2017-19 - Our Stories - Memories in Clay (ceramics joint exhibition and community art project, funded by Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme), St James' Creation, various venues, Hong Kong
2019 - Academy Multimedia Composition Concert (light-music project), School of Music, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Academy Recital Hall, Hong Kong. [*World Premiere of Lux by Yoyo Chan Pui-ting, Postmodern Surgery by Tony Chan Chi-Long, and The State at 0400 by Kathleen Fung Yee-Shing]
2019 - Beaming Shadows (light-music project), Exordium Collective. Fringe Upstairs, Hong Kong [*World Premiere of Flight Paths for Alto Saxophone with Slow Sweep Pure Wave Oscillators by American composer Alvin Lucier for saxophonist Charles Ng]
2018 - Project: CHROME (light-music project), the TimeCrafters. Parsons Music Piano Center and Fringe Dairy of The Fringe Club, Hong Kong
2018 - Sounding Architecture in Concert (light-music project), Loke Yew Hall, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong [*World Premiere of The Ghost Chase for Mezzo-soprano, Piccolo, Percussion and Gamelan Gong Kebyar by Hong Kong composer Chan Sze-rok]
2013 - Encountering: Xavier LeRoy (multimedia installation in collaboration with choreographer Scarlet Yu). Dance Studio, HKAPA, Hong Kong
2012 - The Scholar and the Executioner (drama). Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Drama Theatre, Hong Kong
2012 - Clayfunland by St James' Creation Ceramics Gallery (ceramic installation). Gallery by the Harbour, Hong Kong
2010 - New Vision Festival 2010 : Sand/Moon (music theatre), Kwai Tsing Theatre, Hong Kong
2008 - Le French May 2008 : Les Bonnes (physical theatre), Fringe Club, Hong Kong
2003 - Hong Kong Arts Biennial 2003 : A Tree to be Found (Installation / Performance), Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
2003 - A Tree to be Found (Installation / Performance), Para/Site, Hong Kong
2000 - 16th International Festival of Deaf Pantomime : The End? (physical theatre), Brno, Czech Republic
1998 - Talking Short, Talking Long (drama), various venues, Hong Kong and Macau
Feature Interviews and Reviews
醫生與你【醫學．人】陳碧云. Radio Television Hong Kong (TV feature interview, in Cantonese) (2023)
A pathologist’s illuminating journey through the world of light art (HASLink 2019 Sept) / 燈光 ‧ 行醫 ‧ 藝術路 (《協力》2019年九月號)
看陳一云個展:光的邀請 (Review on Memento Mori: Sonata for Light, in Chinese) (2018)
所有照片都顯示死者的回歸 (Review on Memento Mori: Sonata for Light, in Chinese) (2017)
The Master's Mind (探索與實踐 走上藝術碩士課程之路) (in English and Chinese. 2017)
《病理誌》：一次以光影為本的劇場閱讀經驗 (Review on Morbid Anatomy, in Chinese) (2016)
Hongkongers get peek at the things local artists collect, South China Morning Post (2016)
Awards and Scholarships
2014 - Martin Professional (HK) Limited Scholarship 2013/14
2003 - Light installation for Hong Kong Arts Biennial 2003 Award installation A Tree to be Found
1997 - Nominations for Outstanding Director, Best Performance and Outstanding Visual Effects, Hong Kong Urban Council Drama Festival
1991 - Outstanding Performer Award, Hong Kong Urban Council Drama Festival
Qualifications
2017 - Master of Fine Arts (with distinction), major in lighting design, School of Theatre and Entertainments Arts, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
2003 - Special Effect Assistant (Stream B) License, Entertainment Special Effect Ordinance (Cap. 560), HKSAR Government
2001 - Postgraduate Diploma in East/West Theatre Studies, School of Professional and Continuing Education, The University of Hong Kong
1997 - Certificate in Theatre Studies, School of Continuing and Professional Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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