Dimensional Civilisation Archaeology Project is an art project by artist TO Kai-on Benny. Using archaeology as a creative approach, Benny has produced a series of fictional ceramic artefacts and specifically developed an electronic game that transforms the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre (vA!) into a lost archaeological site, providing an immersive augmented reality gaming experience in which visitors would solve puzzles and explore the imaginary ruins, and thus re-visit the ideas of history, religion and popular culture.
I was involved in creating an animated journey that brings ancient fictional civilizations to life, showcasing their artifacts in a captivating exhibition format. My goal was to bring existing hand-made artifacts into new fictional worlds and combine them in an organic, natural way so that viewers could experience the cultural richness of these imaginary societies and interact with their artifacts as if visiting a museum.
Ancient people developed religions and myths based on intellectual and spiritual insights from nature. They translated their earnest wishes and fantasies into tangible forms by creating totems and sculptural figures. Benny believes he receives similar nourishment and enlightenment from modern pop culture. He selects his materials from sci-fi anime, tokusatsu and films, then crafts characters and props from these fictions into fictional historical artefacts. His works simulate archaeological discoveries of our present time by future generations a thousand years from now. These iconic works of pop culture serve as objects of admiration and fantasy in his childhood.
Thank you for watching!
