A fishpond in the sky

Since the end of January, M+ - which has thrown its lot in with the concept of "visual culture" rather than more conventional ideas of art - has been displaying Touch for Luck. The museum's first digital commission for its facade, the interactive work is part game, part commentary on social media.

According to M+ Curator of Moving Image Ulanda Blair, the 7,150-square-meter facade was always intended as an exhibition space - one ideal for digital art.

"We want the facade to offer different types of viewing experiences - sometimes it's a space for intellectual reflection and meditative contemplation; at other times, it's more playful," explains Blair. The facade's augmented playback system allows for the real-time environment of Touch for Luck. "We always envisaged audiences interacting with the facade and seeing themselves represented. Touch for Luck is a digital meetup for a massive international community."

Designed by Amsterdam-based Studio Moniker for the external, public canvas embedded with thousands of LED lights, Touch for Luck syncs through live feeds, displaying a fishpond game representing our en masse transition into the digital realm and the collaborative nature of social platforms. The game compels users to swish tails, pop bubbles and accumulate "Swimming Miles", rewarding progress with unlocked skills that connect users.

Touch for Luck isn't Moniker's first "participatory online" artwork (Do Not Touch based creations on mouse movements, while My Inner Wolf made uploaded photos part of a film), but it is among its first app-based works.

"To make this all work, we used the open-source multiplayer framework Colyseus," explains Moniker co-founder Roel Wouters. "This uses WebSockets to set up a continuous connection that allows two-way, interactive communication between a player and the server. It also keeps track of game state and the progress of each player."

Moniker took on the commission for the most visual reason, as the studio's other co-founder, Luna Maurer, elaborates: "The M+ Facade is the most beautiful location for a work we've had so far. (Such a large artwork) embedded in the skyline is impressive. The idea that visitors can influence an image projected at scale is very exciting."

A broad range of digital pieces can be found in M+'s current collection, including Nalini Malani's Vision in Motion, a series of the artist's pioneering video art and immersive paintings that demonstrates her embrace of digital formats. Local artist Kongkee's Flower in the Mirror is an immersive animation drawing exploring the visual fabric of Hong Kong.

Blair points out another advantage of going digital: The facade is not affected by COVID-19. "Hosting Touch for Luck online means we can still have hundreds of participants every night, who come together in a virtual realm. We hope the players feel like they have ownership of the facade, shaping its display with their mobile phone controllers."

The timing is perfect, with Hong Kong people restricted by anti-pandemic measures for the foreseeable future. The facade is visible from 1.5 kilometers away and serves as the city's newest point of connection - albeit with a warning. Blair hopes users have fun, but also that they contemplate the complexity of internet culture, its power dynamics and ability to erode our freedoms through "the pervasive practices of data collection and surveillance, and the commercialization and commodification of users' self-image on social media".

"Ultimately, big tech encourages and benefits from our screen addictions, which I think is the key message of Touch for Luck."

If you go

Touch for Luck

Date and time: Now until Feb 27, 7-10 pm daily; Feb 28 to March 28, 7-9 pm daily

Venue: M+ Facade, West Kowloon Cultural District

To play, visit touchforluck.com on your mobile device