Bird’s-Eye View of Hong Kong II (2011 - 2014)

Xu Jianguo (also known as Da Diaozi),

August 2011, Little Neck Hills, New York

Every inch of the Fragrant Harbour, I have explored. From the high mountain peaks, I gazed into the distance as mountain ranges and the dense skyline united seamlessly into one under the enchanting sun. The majestic skyscrapers in Central stood tall and glistened with exquisite beauty, sheens of lustrous jade and pearl shooting between heaven and earth. I was enraptured, mesmerized. The sun dipped slowly into the west, a light drizzle of rain caressed my face, lightly brushing my skin like mist or the graze of a delicate hand. The skyscrapers and the mountains joined in dance, harmonizing with the movements of the rolling landscape, their forms mysterious, their images enigmatic, like a delicate young woman leisurely strolling between heaven and earth. Such exceptional beauty! Can you see that nature has transformed the sun and the moon into the musician’s hands, the buildings and mountains, the instrument? And music plays night and day in the thick forest of tall buildings, the mountain peaks, and the vast, boundless ocean. The silence of the great plain is accompanied by this unrestrained undulation, great beauty emerging from its form, nature permeating all things. And thus this work was created.