Technology is changing our way of life. Computers, for instance, are replacing old-fashioned typewriters and pens as the most common instruments for writing. But can new media create art comparable to ancient calligraphy and other traditional art just as the pen and paper once did?

Staff, students and alumni from the School of Creative Media of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) are trying to answer that question. They are now presenting an

exhibition until 8 February at the Cattle Depot Artist Village in To Kwa Wan. The exhibition is part of the project “Writing Machine Collective” which aims at illustrating new media art via computer-programming-based machine. It includes lectures, workshops and an on-line virtual parallel exhibition and will last for six months. The project is supported by the Creative New Media Arts Projects 2005 under the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and is one of the four groups being funded.

Ms Linda Lai Chiu-han, curator of the exhibition and an assistant professor in the School of Creative Media said, “All the exhibits are interaction-based and playful. Some highlight real-time performance .We want to present accessible yet quality work to the public to illustrate the possibility for new media art,”

This is the second time CityU seeks to explore the theme. In 2004, they held an exhibition with the same topic. Ms Lai said, they sought to ensure the works selected to shed light on our banal everyday life and popular cultural elements as much as possible.