Artist Statement

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'Reflection' and 'Distance': I state my interest in these notions in my video installation "This is you; this is not you". It was screened at the 1998 Hong Kong Fringe Festival.

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In my video This is You; This is Not You, it included two conceptual videos about the representation of parts of our body. I would like to explore how they stimulate new reflections of our inner mind.

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The first video shows two hands moving in a dark space. One hand circles, lonely; from time to time a second hand enters and the two embrace. The second video presents two feet, making stirring motions over and inside a basin of water. Both videos are screened to the accompaniment of specific sounds.

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I seek to provoke the audience when they watch the images of these intimate parts of our body. This is a way to reflect the concepts of the human body and to project the concepts into the screened images. As a result, the images do not just belong to the performer or merely represent specific parts of our body. They actually transcend the simple representation of parts of the body and become a projection of our own perceptions.

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Yet different people will have different perceptions at different times. The audience is thus stimulated to reflect on the significance of these hands and feet, to reconsider, re-evaluate. The dialogue that arises between the images and our inner mind evokes various thoughts and concepts in our mind. Through this process, we come to reflect on our own concepts and perceptions. At the same time, I focus on the interaction of the distance and rhythm of the moving hands and feet. This is thus a depiction of the relationship between two opposite poles. Hands and feet come in pairs. Still, because they possess mirrored features, they represent opposite poles - different, reversed yet closely related to each other. They thus become a metaphor for two opposing forces that exist together, however, point to two poles. Balance can only be found if the two opposites exist and act together. Whether near or far, distance and rhythm play significant roles in the interplay of these two opposite forces.

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I intended to highlight the fact that images can help us rethink and re-evaluate our thoughts and values. I believe that an object cannot be defined simply by its features. The deeper meanings lie behind its appearance, and that we must use our more subtle sensibilities to explore and interpret them based on new perceptions.

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Wai Kit Lam

Hong Kong

1.1998

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