The Works：Bookcrossing in Hong Kong, Wu Shuang@Whitestone & in the studio: pianist Rachel Cheung

In 2001, an online book club in the USA called bookcrossing.com began to encourage “the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others” with the aim to “make the whole world a library”. Since then, the idea of “crossing” or exchanging books has expanded worldwide. It’s come to Hong Kong too, but given the current Covid-19 pandemic, some adaptation is necessary.

Wu Shuang is a young Abstract Expressionist artist from Chongqing, China. On show at Whitestone, “The Light of Nature” is a series of works she created between 2019 and 2021, during the lockdown. With a taste for strong contrasting colours and surreal imagery, Wu began to use fluorescent colours when she found the colours typically produced by screen-printing somewhat flat and monotonous. She continues to work with luminous pigment to create works that reflect human emotions.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which includes one aria and 30 variations, was published in 1741. The composition is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, believed to have been the first performer to play the piece. Many keyboard players have since interpreted it, among them the great Glenn Gould. Local pianist Rachel Cheung and light artist Amy Chan were planning to collaborate on a concert called “Goldberg Illuminations” in Tai Kwun in January. That concert has had to be cancelled or postponed, but they are here to tell us about their interpretation of this monumental piece.