Nadia Cheung

creative portfolio & blog

  • Is swimming in a pond worth It?

    There is something romantic about the idea of going to an English pond for a swim. Maybe it’s the idea of being surrounded by natural greenery, especially during the summer heatwave. But does the idea of it match up with the reality?

    Swimming in a pond has always been something I wanted to do since I heard about it from a friend, and in London, Hampstead Heath is the place to go. Hampstead Heath is an enormous park in North London and is home to three main swimming ponds. There’s the Lady Ponds, the Men’s Ponds and the Mixed Ponds. Divided by gender, you have to book a ticket in advance before you go join a swim session. Tickets cost £4.25 per session (or £2.45 concessions) and allows 1 hour of swimming. If you’re feeling fancy, the Parliament Hills Lido is nearby but will cost a little more. But this isn’t a post about their local lido.

    Initially I didn’t know that you needed to book a tickets in advance to go, so I was turned away from the Kenwood Ladies Pond because it was all booked up. The Ladies Pond was down a secluded path and quite hard to find. It’s actually situated very close to the south-east entrance of Hampstead Heath.

    So my second option had to be the Mixed Bathing Pond instead. It was a 15-minute walk over the hill from the Ladies Pond, and on the way I could see the Men’s Pond which was the biggest one.

    Because of the way the swimming sessions were organised, the people managing the ponds were strict with time and wouldn’t allow anyone in until everyone from the previous group left. Once you could get in, there were changing rooms that looked like any swimming facility.

    There was a total of 25 – 30 people at the pond. Some were seriously seasoned swimmers with the rubber cap and goggles, but most were locals with their friends looking for something fun to do together. This meant we had to queue behind some people reluctant to dive into the pond directly, myself included. When it was my turn to get in, it definitely felt like swimming in a pond. It really felt like wild swimming: the water was a murky dark green and the bottom was muddy with a lot of algae. The shallow part of the water had this pungent smell of mud and other wild natural things mixed together. This has to be something for anyone to consider before swimming in a pond – the unglamorous reality of nature.

    As I swam deeper into the pond, the water felt more dense and I suddenly understand what the sign “competent swimmers only” meant when I was waiting behind the gate. As I swam further, I was getting out of breath and needed to head back or latch onto something for a break. Floating in there alone was getting exhausting because how dense the water felt against my arms and legs. Looking around me, most of the floating bouys in the pond were taken by other people or too far to reach, so I swam back. I wanted to enjoy floating in the pond like the lifeguards on their paddle-boards.

    I must have only been in that water for 10 or 15 minutes. Because there was only two outdoor showers, I rinsed myself off quickly and ran back to the changing rooms, worried that there would be a long queue of people to wait for if I had decided to sunbathe like the majority of people were doing there.

    Overall, I didn’t love the experience but I had a lot of fun. I’d say it was a 5/10 experience because I’m someone who would prefer fresh sea water over a pond, but it was definitely worth a try and I probably won’t do it again unless I was roasting on a hot summer’s day. Getting in the pond felt like a workout and woke me up after being in the sun all morning. If you really like nature and you’re a competent swimmer, then Hampstead Heath’s swimming ponds is for you.

  • Reintroducing the Children from Bahnhof Zoo (2021)

    Based on the true account of a young Christiane Felscherinow, Amazon Prime’s new German TV series follows the forgotten generation of West Berlin children who spent their days in hotspots of drug addiction and underage prostitution. This isn’t the first time this story has been shared with viewers, and if you haven’t heard this story before, this series is a cleaner gateway to unravelling the story of Christiane F.

    The original film, Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (Uli Edel) was released in 1981 and featured a performance cameo and soundtrack by David Bowie. Without Bowie’s name in this, perhaps global press attention could have reduced the film to merely a low-budget West German film about troubled teenagers. With scenes of real life prostitutes, drug addicts and a cast of mostly young first-time actors who were still at school, one thing is certain: a film like this couldn’t have been made in 2022.

    The first release of Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981), featuring a soundtrack by David Bowie.

    Although dates are not exactly clear, We Children from Bahnhof Zoo is supposed to be set in the same time as the original film and book: the late 1970s. This was a time where West Berlin was walled off and isolated by the Iron Curtain.

    Each episode is about 50 minutes long and follows a group of teenage friends: Christiane, Stella, Benno, Axel, Babsi and Michi. Their lives revolve around Berlin’s ‘Zoologischer Garten’ Station and the party scene at SOUND discotheque – a real club which, at the time, was described as the most modern in Europe. SOUND was known for heavy drug use and several attempts to rebrand and clean its image couldn’t deter its drug addict crowd. As the club is such a central part of We Children of Bahnhof Zoo and, you might already have a sense of where this is going…

    Without revealing too much, similarities in the new We Children of Bahnhof Zoo can be drawn from TV shows like the British drama series Skins and HBO’s popular show Euphoria, where they also follow the lives of young teenagers getting into all kinds of debauchery. Family dysfunction, peer pressure, partying and drug addiction play a central role in these television programmes, while their cinematic counterparts that include drug abuse in adolescence such as Thirteen (2003) and the original Christiane F. (1981) have achieved cult status.

    Despite the cast being much older, We Children of Bahnhof Zoo doesn’t glamorise drug abuse and the activities the characters involve themselves in. The series doesn’t devote itself to portraying the late 1970s either with music genres and dance styles oscillating from 1970 to 2020. If this is something you look for in an adaptation, the original film might be a better watch for you.

    We Children of Bahnhof Zoo can be streamed now on Amazon Prime. Available to watch with English and European subtitles/audio languages.

  • How to declutter your past and make space for the New Year

    It’s time to make room for 2022 and leave things that don’t serve you behind. Yeah, every year it can feel the same, but this isn’t a post about how you can achieve your New Year’s resolutions or be a better person. I’m talking about sustainable solutions to declutter your life and make space for the future. If you have sentimental tendencies like me, you’ve likely accumulated a lot of items over the years, and now your space is invaded by your own personal museum of the past. It’s difficult to welcome a New Year when almost everything you have is a reminder of back then, so here’s a breakdown of a few things you can do to take control of your future and make space!

    1. Channel Marie Kondo and ask yourself, “Does this bring me joy?”

    Plants, books, pictures, posters. Is there a way you can compress some of these items in a memory box or scrapbook? Often we don’t need to get rid of things that are a happy reminder, we just need a nice way to display them well. This past year I got started on a scrapbook for all of my polaroid photos and postcards from the past and made it a task to document my life so far in images. But I’ve been especially discriminating and only chose the items which were positive and made me feel good. Letters from an ex? No thanks.

    2. Make it a New Year’s resolution to clear out anything living in storage

    Often the best places to check for things you already want to leave behind is literally the what’s equivalent to a basement or storage closet. You thought you’d do some tidying at one point and the best idea at the time was to put unsightly items there, only to forget about them until you need to store something else at another point. Suddenly a mountain of random items is in one single space and the feeling is overwhelming. It’s hard to find anything and you fear rummaging will lead to an avalanche of your own belongings. Take action for your future and make time to clear out anything that’s been living in storage for years and you feel that you likely won’t be using it anytime soon.

    3. Remind yourself how often you use it. Can someone else take better care of it?

    As we get older, we naturally accumulate items without meaning to. Whether it’s a keepsake from your relatives or a gift from a friend, sometimes the best thing to do is find a better home for it. I recently gave away a few items which didn’t have a place with me on Freecycle and the feeling has been wonderful. Giving away something to someone else who will appreciate it better is a kind thing to do and benefits the space in your home.

    4. Does it have some value? Put it up for sale

    One of the benefits of clearing out anything is the extra cash you can make. Depending on the time of things you’re clearing out, it’s best to do some research before abruptly trashing some things away. It can take some time, but it’s a great way to adopt a new hobby, test your business acumen and keep the January Blues away. Online businesses like eBay no longer have a monopoly on selling unwanted items either, so keep an eye for specialist business who will buy what you’re willing to give away!. If you’re selling clothes, check out Vinted, Depop, or ASOS Marketplace. Books can vary in value depending on the age and copy, but you might be able to fetch a good deal in an independent or vintage shop looking for iconic classics. The same can be said for vinyl records, videogames, DVDs, and even designer brands.

    5. Repurpose it

    Similar to the scrapbooking idea, sometimes there are things you just don’t want to throw away. If that’s the case, you can be creative and consider ways you can make something old, new again. Collages are perfect for newspaper clippings and cut-outs. I recently invested in a new portfolio case to house all of my drawings and paintings over the years so that I’m able to enjoy looking back on all of them in one place.

  • Kusama: Infinity – a glimpse into a creative genius

    You’re probably familiar with her trademark polka dots – but there is so much more to Yayoi Kusama’s body of work. For the very first time, Kusama: Infinity (2018) dives into the highs and lows of the artist in her own words.

    Directed by Heather Lenz, this documentary commemorates the life and work of a prolific artist and pioneer of installation work and performance art. Kusama has been open about her problems with her own mental health and has lived in a mental health institution in Japan since 1977 by her own volition. She’s famously been quoted in the Art Review, “If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago”, proving a significant devotion to tirelessly producing art.

    Trailer for Kusama: Infinity (2018), Directed by Heather Lenz

    Born into a conservative Japanese family in 1929, Kusama had a difficult upbringing with very little family support of her ambitions to make art. Her interests in the avant garde and experimental art garnering attention in the West led her to try and make it in the New York art scene.

    In Kusama: Infinity, experiences of sexuality, racism, and politics (of war and gender) can be traced back to statements gathered about her experiences in her childhood and adolescence. It makes sense that her body of work is semi-autobiographical, often alluding and expressing a visual representation to hallucinations she experienced as a child.

    Now in her 90s, Yayoi Kusama is more prolific than ever. Due to her popularity, her installations now impose a 2 minute limit on visitors to make sure everyone gets a chance to experience her art. Kusama’s rocky journey is a source of inspiration for creatives pursuing the many forms of creativity and encourages you to find your own peace in a difficult world.

    Watch Kusama: Infinity on the many platforms available for online streaming or DVD purchase here.

    In the UK? Check out Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room at the Tate Modern. The exhibition itself has been in high-demand since the beginning of 2021, with tickets selling out almost instantly. Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms features two unique installations, along with some photographs and footage documenting her experimental practices while in New York between 1957 – 1973.