Hastings’s debut album The Plain begins as murmurs - half-dreamt, half-waking. It then swells into wind, fields, and tides, restless and unruly. In a sealed New York room, the artistobserves the rhythms and stillness of life, and theshifting currents of sorrow and silence between people.
For Hastings’s debut show, zug press created a zine thatvisualizes his poetic lyrics. Hints of orange and blue suggest an uncanny force, ready to pierce the page - within it, one can see both a dead dream and an oasis.
《草莽》最初的語言近似囈語，是半夢半醒間自然流溢出聲的低吟。而後，風沙、草野、海潮、汁液與沈默的身影們將其填滿，互相牽扯著、發散著生長成一副狂躁的模樣。在紐約窗臺緊閉的房間裏，藝術家註視著自身生命的起伏與凝滯，註視著不同個體之間流動的悲喜與寂靜。某些時刻，《草莽》是撫平與重建的嘗試。而另一些時刻，溫情、跳躍與痛苦一同消亡。
《草莽》的視覺是克製的，在大篇幅的留白上稍作點綴。詞的寫作與冊頁的設計，共同製造出一個陳設文字/漢字的美學空間。橘調與藍調的嵌入，以輕巧的姿態暗示著一種詭譎的、隨時可能刺穿頁面的力量。藏匿其中的，是死夢，亦是綠洲。
9.5 x 23 cm, 34 pages
Lyrics: Hastings Su @hastings_su009
Composition: Hastings Su
Translations: Rui @ruiiiiiiiiwang
Visual Direction: zug press @zug.press
Design: Zuya Yang @miukiia
Photography: Zhu Gaocanyue @zhugao_working
Makeup & Photography Assistant: Tara Nyingjè @taranje_
Styling: Kimi @k__chen_
zug press is an artist collective focused on independent publishing founded by Zhu Gaocanyue and Zuya Yang and based in Brooklyn, NY and Hong Kong. More info: zugpress.com