Klara and the Orange Cat
- Kitty Kong
- Jan 9
- 3 min read
Kitty Kong
Alex Heung
Date
5 December 2024 – 8 February 2025
Location
“Fish are falling from the sky today, just like rain”, an advertisement pops up on Klara’s screen.
“What’s the point, I’m not leaving until ten anyway,” she snaps on the mouse and tickles the keyboard with her polished fingers.
It’s a fine day and the patterns of the Sun are illuminating the pale walls with their unusual intensity: A deep orange triangle hovers above the desk, a curved line crosses the bookshelf, and brilliant bars spread across the blue carpet. But Klara, in her seat, is in shadow like an ancient statue, as are many other parts of the office. Bright and sunny, her dying cactus rejoices under nourishment – until the shadows start moving, as she pulls the blinds down.
On the street corner below, the Sun has drawn a diagonal line across its face, creating a triangle that is almost white and another that is very dark. An orange cat emerges. Its sunkissed hair shimmers as it disappears into a crowd of black suits.
An army of fish descends from the sky. A lot of fish. Mostly sardines, with a few mackerel mixed in…
A text, an image, and a memory, collaged with fragments of life. From the characters in a narrative to the sceneries along the road, pigeons tapping on a window, a desk at home, a corner of a masterpiece, and a plump cat from home—interpretation, replication, deconstruction, reconstruction, and transformation occur between memories, images, and text. Throughout this process, things may change, grow, or diminish. “Klara and the Orange Cat” exists as an entanglement between text and everyday life.
《克拉拉與橘貓貓》展覽筆記 / Exhibition Notes of "Klara and the Orange Cat"
受石黑一雄所著的《克拉拉與太陽》啟發，我開始了這個展覽的構思。在中環的辦公室裡，我幻想自己是一個不需要太陽能的機械人（在書中稱為 Artificial Friend，簡稱AF）。午餐時間，我寫下了展覽計畫書，並開始繪畫自畫像、窗外風景以及在草地上發呆的小鳥。
有一天，我對著螢光幕，眼神呆滯，和同事無聊地討論究竟陽光照射在橘貓身上時，顏色會是橙色、白色還是黃色。雖然他們對這個問題感到匪夷所思，但因為我們是同事，且大家都不想工作，他們也願意和我討論一番。那天的對話有點像貓咪伸懶腰的感覺，還挺不錯的。
The exhibition is based on Kazuo Ishiguro's book entitled "Klara and the Sun". I have always imagined myself as a robot (or an "Artificial Friend", “AF” as described in the book) who operates without solar power in the office in Central. As I wrote this exhibition proposal during lunch, I began drawing self-portraits, window views and birds dazed on grasslands.
Out of boredom, I once initiated a discussion with my colleagues regarding whether the color of sunlight falling on an orange cat's body would be orange, white, or yellow. Despite their finding my question absurd, since we're colleagues and nobody wanted to work, we kept the discussion going. Our conversation was like cats stretching, which felt nice.
