Phantasms

Research Background Phantasms for Future Ecologies comprises digital projection artworks installed throughout public spaces in Tai Kok Tsui, Hong Kong, as part of the Hong Kong Arts Centre's RE: Tai Kok Tsui urban renewal initiative. This collaboration between RMIT University School of Art and HKAC, supported by the Australian Government's Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program, responds to the neighbourhood's ecological and social transformation. Through poetic projections of the locally familiar barn swallow, the work examines how urban renewal impacts ecological systems while exploring public art's capacity to connect community, place, and heritage. The project establishes a research framework for understanding how creative practice can imagine sustainable urban futures through site-responsive digital interventions. Research Contribution This research advances methodologies for using digital projection as a conduit for community connection and ecological consciousness in rapidly changing urban environments. By deploying the barn swallow as a symbolic intermediary between human and non-human inhabitants of Tai Kok Tsui, Dwyer creates ephemeral encounters that transform public infrastructure into sites of ecological reflection. The work contributes to discourse on how immaterial digital practices can activate physical space without permanent alteration, offering models for art interventions that respect heritage contexts while addressing contemporary environmental concerns. The project develops innovative approaches to public art that prioritize accessibility, temporal experience, and cross-cultural exchange between Australian and Hong Kong creative communities. Research Significance Phantasms for Future Ecologies demonstrates how artistic research can facilitate international dialogue on sustainable urbanism while promoting Australian creative excellence in the Asia-Pacific region. The work's significance lies in its proposition that poetic, species-centred imagery can generate new imaginaries for urban ecological futures, making visible the often-overlooked relationships between built environments and migratory life. By deepening institutional connections between RMIT and HKAC, the project creates new pathways for collaborative research addressing shared challenges of urban density, ecological loss, and community cohesion, establishing frameworks for how public art can meaningfully contribute to conversations about environmental sustainability and cultural diplomacy.研究背景 《未来生态幻景》（Phantasms for Future Ecologies）是香港艺术中心（Hong Kong Arts Centre）「RE: 大角咀（Tai Kok Tsui）城市更新计划」中，于香港大角咀公共空间布设的数字投影艺术作品。本项目由皇家墨尔本理工大学（RMIT University）艺术学院与香港艺术中心（Hong Kong Arts Centre, HKAC）合作开展，获澳大利亚政府文化外交资助计划支持，旨在回应该社区的生态与社会转型。作品以当地广为人知的家燕（Barn Swallow）为诗意投影主体，探讨城市更新对生态系统的影响，同时探索公共艺术在连接社区、场所与遗产方面的潜能。本项目构建了一套研究框架，用以理解创意实践如何通过场地响应型数字干预，构想可持续的城市未来。 研究贡献 本研究推进了在快速变迁的城市环境中，将数字投影作为连接社区与生态意识的媒介的方法论。创作者德怀尔（Dwyer）以家燕作为大角咀人类与非人类居民之间的象征性中介，打造出转瞬即逝的互动体验，将公共基础设施转化为生态反思的场域。该研究丰富了关于非物质性数字实践如何在不进行永久性改造的前提下激活物理空间的讨论，为尊重遗产语境同时回应当代环境关切的艺术干预提供了可借鉴的范式。本项目开发了面向公共艺术的创新路径，其核心考量包括可及性、时间性体验，以及澳港创意社群间的跨文化交流。 研究意义 《未来生态幻景》展现了艺术研究如何推动可持续城市主义的国际对话，同时在亚太地区彰显澳大利亚创意领域的卓越实力。该作品的核心价值在于提出：以诗意的、以物种为中心的意象，可以为城市生态未来构建全新的想象图景，使人们得以审视常被忽略的建成环境与迁徙生物之间的关联。通过深化皇家墨尔本理工大学（RMIT）与香港艺术中心（HKAC）的机构合作，本项目为应对城市密度提升、生态流失与社区凝聚力不足等共同挑战的协同研究开辟了新路径，并建立了公共艺术如何为环境可持续性与文化外交议题的讨论提供实质性贡献的框架。