Pop-up cities by Kit Lau

From a public estate, Kowloon Walled City, egg waffle snacks, ice cream parlour van, to a fire dragon dance, Kit Lau has managed to bring to life many of the cultural icons of Hong Kong. In particular, following the great popularity of his recent pop-up book series Hong Kong Pop Up, Lau went on to launch Pop Up China and Pop Up Taiwan. Previously, Lau has worked as a magazine illustrator and an artistic and creative director for an animation company. He resigned from his job nine years ago and joined the unfamiliar, fantastical world of pop-up book art, learning about the craft from scratch. Back then, pop-up art is almost unheard of in Asia, but Lau has successfully created original and thought-provoking work that appeal to many art collectors.

“My works appeal mostly to art collectors, but there are also those who harbour great affection for the cities they live in. There was once when a mother came to buy my books for her children, using those books to narrate her own story, recounting where she used to live and so on. I am incredibly touched by this, and from then on I decided to focus on this craft.” In 2007, Lau left the animation company where he worked, planning to complete his pop-up book project in a year’s time. Other than researching online and from library resources, he even sent emails to other leading pop-up book artists from all over the world, asking them to recommend him on some innovative pop-up books. “While it is not necessary to be tutored in everything, I like to seek more advice from others, before I go on to find out the answers. In this way, other people are more likely to help you out.” Lau was grateful for the encouragement from Michael Yang, a leading pop-up book collector based in Taiwan. He said: “Yang said that he is often approached by the others to offer some tips on how to create pop-up books. He finds these requests quite annoying. Instead of requesting for help, I ask him for good recommendations on books to read. He has therefore recommended lots of excellent works to me for reference.”

In this creative process of pop-up book-making, Lau came across many opportunities to collaborate with artists from all over the world. For instance, he has corresponded with Matthew Reinhart, pop-up book artist for Game of Thrones and Marion Bataille, the French designer for ABC 3D. According to Lau, these esteemed artists are very friendly and enthusiastic in sharing their creative experiences and inspirations. Lau recalled how, in his first attempt of pop-up book-making, he was unable to make the model pop up properly, and eventually resorted to analysing the structures of pop-up book models made by other people. “Some young artists are very obstinate when it comes to their creations, aiming to succeed right away, and refuse to accept failures. Why can they not be content with a more gradual approach?”

In 2009, Lau took part in the 2nd “Young Writers’ Debut Competition”, in which his manuscript was sponsored for production. Inspired by the century-long changes of the living environment in Hong Kong, copies of his first pop-up book were sold out very quickly in the Hong Kong Book Fair, such that the publisher arranged for two more print runs to cope with the unexpected demand.

Noting Lau’s potential, other publishers have invited him to co-produce other titles, including Mobile Delights by the Cartful and Funtastic Festivities, whereas in the subsequent volumes Pop Up China and Pop up Taiwan, attractions featured such as an armillary sphere, the Great Wall, Bird’s Nest and Taipei 101, etc., proved delightful to readers. When asked about his decision to incorporate topics outside Hong Kong culture, Lau remarked that he merely wants to explore more about Chinese culture and history through his art, and to make more out of the freedom to create. In fact, his experiment has taken off rather well, selling some 4,000 to 5,000 copies of Pop Up Taiwan, and for which a sequel is planned. Lau reiterated that young artists should not be too stressed about paving way for the international market. “To work on something you are truly passionate about, you should focus on doing it well. It is just like selling egg waffle snacks in the street: you will soon have foreign tourists coming to buy some, as long as you are doing it well. There is no need to venture abroad to get inspired.”

“When I make my first piece of pop-up artwork, the market for pop-up art is almost non-existent. After all, not many people have the patience to make these books, nor are they keen to publish the works, since the production is costly and few profits are expected.” Lau felt that the popularity of pop-up paper art in the local community is mainly driven by the trends. By comparison, in other countries, 3D books for children have appeared since 1930s. In other words, the appetite for pop-up books in Asia arises mainly from art collectors. “So far, I have published eight titles. I don’t think the market has changed very much since I published my debut. Nonetheless, there are more art collectors interested in my work now because they are avid collectors of pop-up books abroad.” Besides, Lau did not stop at pop-up design. He has launched a personal brand, SK Ronex, in which he launched storytelling illustrations. Set in a post-war, polluted landscape, these illustrations feature complementary products such as transformer military cars and a collectible figurine series called “Acid Rain”.

In recent years, Lau is keen to build up his own creative portfolio as well as sales and marketing team. “Lately, I discover that we have a bottleneck in promoting our brand. As a brand expands, more efforts are needed to promote the products, especially if I want to actively promote my work in the local region. As more time is spent on promotion, there is less time for me to work on my new creations.” According to Lau, the creative process is central to his ambition. As a result, he decides to delegate other necessary, technical duties such as production and fine-tuning. He believes that the work of a creative artist can achieve greater branding effect if the artist is willing to collaborate with outstanding partners.

In the past, Lau has been approached by some Macao-based arts institutions for collaborative opportunities to promote Macao’s culture. His personal view on the creative environment across Hong Kong and Macao is that many artists in Hong Kong find it hard to secure funding support and studio space, given the extremely bureaucratic process to vet funding applications. He described it thus: “Only those who are well-versed in penning these proposals are able to secure funding support.” Lau encouraged young people in Macao not to evaluate arts and culture from a purely cost-effective perspective, to embrace the freedom of youth and to pursue their dreams.