The unsettling urban experiences of the 2023 authorized demonstrations and protest in Hong Kong serves as the catalyst for 度and 渡. Having witnessed and experienced the disruptions and violence caused by the protest, Andy began to reflect on what this chaos meant for him. Part of the process involved finding a new lifestyle - one that was not stuck in nor dictated by the chaos. Across both films, Andy Lee brings to the fore the notion of balance. 

In a previous project, Andy worked with a group of elderly participants who too had encountered political unrest in Hong Kong. For Andy, their bodies were palimpsests of lived experiences and histories. This was also a parallel to the buildings and city-scape of Hong Kong, where the bricks bear witness to the various political changes. Taking inspiration from this, Andy then created a work with both the elder-ensemble and wooden bricks. How the bricks manipulate their movements and how they seek comfort using those bricks was central to that work. 

The current films can then be seen as an intimate conversation between Andy and his own experiences post-protests as symbolized by the wooden bricks. The lines of age that can be seen on the brick that hold a record of time, serve to conjure images from a protest such as when bricks are hurled. At the same time, the wood (instead of concrete) offers some solace to the human, especially amidst the backdrop of the sea - almost alluding to hope, nation-building and potentially a new beginning 度. On the other hand, the tightly composed shots in a defunct brick-making factory in 渡throw into relief questions of displacement, refugees’ status and solidarity. While the movement quality itself remains similar across both films, it is the varied environments that amplifies the relationship between man and the space he inhabits. Collectively, both films allow space for contemplation and reflection on what balance means and how it can be calibrated.