Riddles of light (part two) (2015) is a video work that depicts the reflection of a single light source, as it interacts with the surface of a cup of tea. We can hear the ambient sound of the environment, suggesting the light is a single bulb from overhead in a domestic or studio environment. Filmed from above, we see the artist's hand pour tea from a pot into a small ceramic cup. As the liquid settles, the light fills the vessel and forms patterns reminiscent of the phases of the moon. Occasionally full, at times crescent-shaped in differing orientations. As the artist reaches for the cup and drinks increasing volumes of the tea, we watch the vibrational interference as the liquid settles each time to reveal a new ‘moon’. A halo effect can be seen like an eclipse until finally, the vessel is empty, and the moon disappears. This is a haunting experience; the ritualised, yet prosaic nature of drinking tea is newly imbibed with poetic significance. Tang Kwok-hin often considers tradition in relation to his identity and speaks openly about his personal, lived experiences and the feelings they engender in him. He has noted that the meaning and culture of holiday traditions in the Chinese context are important to him and the Mid-Autumn Festival, which celebrates the full moon on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month is of particular significance. The scene of the full moon and lanterns illuminating the people and objects from different generations is capable of arousing sentimental feelings, and this work is an attempt to capture the ambience of this moment, to universalise the experience so personal to the artist. In its juxtaposition of the natural and the man-made, the traditional and the modern, nature and the museum, humanity and its institutions, he laments that the increasing way all phenomena subscribe to market conditions imposes upon such festival’s new sets of values. The work therefore asks if traditions can be preserved amid relentless modernisation in the most subtle, affective and poetic of ways.