A Chapter of Ease

A Chapter of Ease opened at Oi! in 2020. The global pandemic had placed society under separation, widening the physical distance between people while anxiety, fatigue, loss and numbness entered daily life.
The project began with the traditional idea of “On Lok,” translated here as “Ease.” “On” evokes calmness, stability, safety and a place to settle. “Lok” carries associations with joy and music. Long embedded in Chinese language and values, the phrase returned at that moment as a shared desire that needed to be reconsidered.
With public gathering restricted, Oi! sustained connection through a different form of encounter. Visitors reflected and created individually, then left memories, emotions and imaginings within the exhibition. These responses accumulated over time, allowing people who never met to recognise one another’s feelings and sense companionship through art.

AaaM transformed an approximately 30-square-metre gallery at Oi! into a white, softly draped Room of Ease, creating distance from the pace, information and noise outside.
Its intimate scale, soft materiality and adjustable lighting allowed visitors to stay at their own pace. The calm spatial setting offered time to pause, remember and organise thoughts, while creating room for emotions that had been set aside under the pressure of daily life.
During the pandemic, this solitary experience carried particular weight. The room acted as a container for reflection, giving each visitor a moment of respite before deciding what they wished to create and share.

Seven chapters approached ease through gastronomy, social relationships, environment, aesthetics, language, psychology and philosophy. Each chapter introduced a specially designed art experience, guiding visitors through tastes, objects, words, relationships and memories associated with calmness, joy or support.
Participants recorded their responses on a Card of Ease. Part of the card could be detached as a paper frame, encouraging them to continue noticing moments of ease after leaving the exhibition. The experience extended into daily life and drew attention to moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The seven chapters did not propose a single definition of ease. Some visitors found it through companionship, while others valued solitude, freedom, rest or acceptance. Each contribution preserved an individual point of view and added another dimension to the meaning of “On Lok.”

Nearly 7,000 visitors contributed words, drawings, memories and imaginings. Over time, these individual responses formed the Archive of Ease, recording both intimate inner lives and the emotions shared across the city during the pandemic.
The archive created a form of publicness that did not depend on people gathering at the same time. Visitors encountered the creations of others and recognised feelings that were either familiar or entirely different from their own. A sentence, image or memory became a point of connection between strangers.
Private reflection gained a public echo. Through the archive, visitors could recognise that loneliness, uncertainty and the search for calm were widely shared. Each contribution became a trace within the public art space, allowing separated individuals to experience recognition, companionship and mutual support.

The Ease on Hand workshops extended emotional enquiry into material and bodily experience. Workshop collaborators Pinky Wong, Mig Lau and Joe Ma drew on jewellery, concrete and material practices to guide participants through weight, texture, layering and careful handwork as possible expressions of ease.
The Ease on Air interview series invited Prof. Stephen Matthews, Prof. Robert Bauer, Adonian Chan, Julius Hui, Pinky Wong, Mig Lau and Joe Ma to share perspectives from linguistics, visual and type design, jewellery, concrete art and their wider creative practices. Approaching ease through visual experience, touch, solidity and language, the conversations extended the project online and into a wider community.
AaaM brought together the art concept, spatial and exhibition design, art experiences, branding, visual communication, website, workshops and interview programme. The project developed as an ongoing act of community curation: beginning with solitude, moving through making and sharing, and returning to the collective emotional life of the city. While the pandemic separated people physically, the space preserved the possibility of connection through the traces they chose to leave behind.