Introduction
Teddy Lo (born 1974 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong-based artist known for his work with the medium and technology of light, especially LED light. His work explores neo-transcendental ideas in the physical-scientific world.
Early life and education
Teddy Lo was born and raised in Hong Kong with a background on his father's side in technological manufacturing and his mother being an artist out of a family of farmers and hunters in the deep mountains of Taiwan. While growing up, Lo thus divided his time between big metropolitan cities and rural areas. He belongs to the third generation of a family involved with the invention, production and business of light (from the incandescent light bulb to LEDs). Besides making art, Lo currently works as the Director of Innovation at the lighting manufacturer Light Engine Limited in developing leading edge industrial LED product designs for his family group.
Lo gained his master's degree in Lighting from Queensland University of Technology in 2012. He later enrolled at the ArtCenter College of Design in California to complete a BFA degree in Art Direction. After graduation, he moved to NYC where he developed his interest in conceptual and artistic depths of both advertising and contemporary arts and continued his artistic journey. He had his first art exhibition at the Arturo Dimodica Gallery, NYC, and since then began working on lighting design projects.
Artistic career
At the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, he explored the use of light-emitting diodes in art. After graduating in 2001 he relocated to New York City and began his career in the advertising industry while at the same time making art with LEDs as his medium. In 2007, he moved back to Hong Kong where he founded the LED experience design company LEDARTIST and evolved his career in light art and design. He was named in Lighting magazine's "Who's Who of Lighting 2004" for his contribution to the lighting industry.
Lo has held exhibitions in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 2003 he held his first solo art exhibition, Morphology, in New York City. Since then he has held solo exhibitions in various locations, including Russell Simmons' Art for Life in NYC, Luminale in Frankfurt, the 2006 National Day Singapore Expo at The Esplanade and Microwave's "A-Glow-Glow" outdoor Media Art Exhibition at Hong Kong Museum of Art, Miami Art Basel, and Burniningman Festival in Nevada. In addition to commissioned work for the tallest building in China, The Shanghai Tower, he created digital media infrastructure designs for the new World Trade Center in NYC. [REF] His work is also featured in “Legacy and Creations – Ink Art vs Ink Art and Art vs Art” at Hong Kong Museum of Art I Light Marina Bay in Singapore and “Transmutation” in New York. In 2018 he was the winnder of A' Design Award, Italy.
In addition to continuing his artistic pursuits, Lo is the founder and chief vision officer of LEDARTIST, a LED experience design company in Hong Kong and New York. In 2009 he founded Input Output Gallery, a new media art gallery in Central, Hong Kong.
Exhibitions
| Year | Period | Description | Location | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 12/12 - 13/12 | Dark Matter | Artistes à la une, Palais de Tokyo, Paris | |
| 2015-16 | 11/13 – 01/03 | Seven Keys | Supernova X'mas Luminastic, K11 Art Mall, Hong Kong | |
| 2015 | 11/27 – 11/29 | Positive Void | Clockenflap 2015, Hong Kong | |
| 2014 | 08/27 – 09/03 | Spectrum Manners | SCMP Charity Art Auction, Sotheby's Art Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| 2014 | 08/27 – 09/03 | Bacillus | 1st HK-SZ Design Biennale, OCT Art and Design Gallery, Shenzhen | |
| 2014 | N.A. | Positive Void | "LOVE", Midtown, Hong Kong | |
| 2013 | 02/08 – 03/17 | Alarm of Hue | Interact, K11 Art Mall, Hong Kong | |
| 2013 | 01/31 – 03/31 | Bacillus | Imminent Domain, Asia Society, Hong Kong | |
| 2012 | 08/27 – 09/03 | Gon Kirin | Burning Man 2012, Black Rock Desert, USA | |
| 2012 | 08/27 – 09/03 | Gon Kirin | Maker Faire, New York, USA | |
| 2012 | 05/19 – 05/20 | Gon Kirin | Maker's Faire, San Mateo | |
| 2012 | 03/08 – 03/15 | Alarm of Hue, Shades Dynamicism, Waking Life, POV | Transmutation, New York | |
| 2012 | 03/09 – 04/01 | Mega POV | i Light Marina Bay 2012, Singapore | |
| 2011 | 05/27 – 08/28 | Text Me | Legacy and Creations — Ink Art vs Ink Art and Art vs Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong | |
| 2011 | 05/26 – 05/29 | Spectrum Manners, Shades Dynamicism, Waking Life & Alarm of Hue | ART HK 11, Hong Kong | |
| 2011 | 02/05 – 05/11 | Text Me | Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong: Creative Ecologies, Hong Kong | |
| 2010 | 10/15 – 11/12 | Text Me & Theremin | Legacy and Creation – Art vs Art Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Shanghai | |
| 2010 | 09/17 – 09/19 | POV Series – “Positive Void” | Beijing: The Creators Project, 798 Space,Beijing | |
| 2010 | 08/30 – 09/06 | Gon Kirin | 2010 Burning Man Event, Black Rock Desert, Nevada | |
| 2010 | 06/14 – ongoing | Phaeodaria | Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong | |
| 2010 | 05/15 – 10/31 | POV Series – “Do you see me?” | Hong Kong: Creative Ecologies – Business, Living, Creativity Programme at Shanghai Expo, Shanghai | |
| 2010 | 05/27 – 05/30 | POV Series – “Positive Void” & Theremin | ARTHK 2010, Hong Kong | |
| 2010 | 04/11 – 04/16 | POV Series – “Positive Void” | Luminale 2010, Frankfurt | |
| 2009/10 | 12/04 – 02/27 | The Stage | 2009 HK & SZ Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture | |
| 2009 | 12/01 – 12/05 | POV Series – “Do you see me?” | Art Basel 2009, Miami | |
| 2009/10 | 11/14 – 02/07 | POV Series – “Positive Void” | “Fantastic Illusions – Chinese & Belgian Artists”, Arts Centre Buda Kortrijk, Belgium | |
| 2009 | 09/13 – 10/11 | POV Series – “Positive Void” | “Shanghai eArts Festival 2009,Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Shanghai | |
| 2009 | 06/26 – 09/20 | PROTOTYPE | I/O, Media Art Gallery, Hong Kong | |
| 2009 | 02/01 – 08/01 | Constant Series | Ztampz Shop, Hong Kong | |
| 2008 | 04/11 - 04/20 | Phaeodaria | Microwave A-Glow-Glow at Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong | |
| 2007 | 03/20 – ongoing | Stella | Via Technologies headquarter office building in Beijing, China | |
| 2006 | 10/16 - 10/24 | International visual arts residency | An Tuireann Arts Centre, Isle of Skye, Scotland | |
| 2006 | 09/20 - ongoing | M.I.S.T. | Innocentre, Hong Kong | |
| 2006 | 07/12 - 09/10 | Cing: Core 65 | The Esplanade, for Singapore National Day | |
| 2006 | 04/23 - 04/27 | Morphology 3.1 | U.F.O. Building, Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 2006 | 04/24 - 04/27 | M.I.S.T. | Traxon Technologies Showroom, Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 2006 | 04/04 - 04/07 | M.I.S.T. | InterTraffic 2006 Expo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| 2005 | November 10 – November 30 | Morphology 2.1 | DDM Warehouse, Shanghai, China | |
| 2005 | July 30 | Featured artist | Russell Simmons' Art For Life in Hamptons, NY | |
| 2005 | July 15 – November 30 | Infinity Car "Study in Red" Campaign | Trinity Square | |
| 2004 | 11/01 - ongoing | Q | Chung King Building, Hong Kong | |
| 2004 | 10/29 - 11/28 | Ledusoid @ Gonflables! | Tri postal, Lille, France | |
| 2004 | 09/01 - ongoing | LightRide | Cotco showroom in Science Park, Hong Kong | |
| 2004 | 08/07 | Artery | M5 Seamless Fashion Show, Chicago | |
| 2004 | 07/01 | Starfish | PSI at Volume, Brooklyn | |
| 2004 | 02/29 - 03/01 | Traffika | The ArtExpo 2004 in Jarvis Center, NY | |
| 2004 | 01/15 - 12/05 | Q | Photonics Center lobby in Science Park, Hong Kong | |
| 2003 | 11/22 | Traffika | Boundless 2003, Queens, NYC | |
| 2003 | 09/20 - 10/19 | (Debut) Morphology Solo Exhibit | Studio DiModica, Soho, NYC |
Artwork
MEGA POV
This is an installation that utilizes the technique of persistence of vision to animate objects with motion and lights. This digital installation presents motion with digital programming and flickers of light through Light Emitting Diodes. The artwork is a study of how digital information can be delivered to our human visual system through this reverse technique even within a limited projection area. This art piece is meant to remind you of the essence of life and that nothing is trivial in this world. Mega POV is exhibited as one of the installations in the Singaporean sustainable light art festival, I Light Marina Bay in 2012.
Gon Kirin
Gon KiRin is an art project created by Teddy Lo in collaboration with Ryan Doyle. This art car was designed using metal and LED fixtures to create a dragon onto a deconstructed 1963 Dodge dump truck with a 318 engine. It is an 8-ton beast, measuring approximately 69 feet long and 22.5 feet tall. The dragon is lit with 2,460 fFeet of linear RGB LED lighting fixtures and multiple Traxon wall-washer units.
Gon KiRin has two levels of climbing space with seating for more than 20 people in the Dragon's mouth and on a party couch on its back where riders can move its tail back and forth. A 1,500-pound DJ booth mounted on a Marine Zodiac attack boat sits on the second story. The dragon features a hydraulic neck and a massive flamethrower in its mouth.
Gon KiRin was built in five months by a dedicated 15-person team. It debuted at the 2010 Burning Man as a Mutant Vehicle. It was also featured at the Maker Faire and the New York Halloween Parade in 2011. GKR returned to Burning Man again in 2012.
Creative contributions
- Media art consultant for Hong Kong Art Development Council
- Board of director of Microwave Media Art Group
- Board of director of Hong Kong Ambassador of Design
- Main organizer of This Happened Hong Kong