Available in French on ACA (Asian Contemporary Art) Project’s website here

Written in August 2023, by Amandine Vabre Chau

Curated by Celia Ho and Para Site’s new director Billy Tang, ‘signals…瞬息’ is a six months long exhibition unfolding in three parts. First ‘storms and patterns‘, then ‘folds and splits‘, ending with ‘here and there‘.  
Opened in March, this time-based exhibition embraces its moving curatorial method through an ambitious configuration of its space and a careful selection of artists. With some participants staying for all three parts and others coming and going, Para Site presents a dynamic blend of various formats and approaches bouncing off each other in a meticulously arranged show. As the second part came to an end on the 30th of July, they began the third and final chapter on the 12th of August. ‘signals’ will be on view until September 29th.  Although belated, this review hopefully introduces Para Site’s engaging projects to a new audience.  

Installation view of ‘signals…folds and splits’, Para Site, Hong Kong, 2023. Photo: South Ho.
「瞬息⋯⋯展與接」展覽現場，香港Para Site藝術空間，2023年。攝影：何兆南。

The first iteration of ‘signals’ focused on the organising of space. Its structuring but most specifically its scarcity, echoing the concerns of subdivided housing. ‘Folds and Splits’, which I had the pleasure of seeing, delved into transitional, intermediate and ambivalent temporalities. Refusing a linear conception of space and time, the show explored passageways, crossroads and the in-betweenness of various states. Using multiple movable wood-boards designed by Joel Austin, Celia Ho and Billy Tang divided the gallery according to their curatorial needs. Inspired by Hong Kong’s iconic bricks found in public housing estates, the blocks upholding these panels allowed an easily transportable and movable structure to form. Depending on one’s requirements, an either closed-off, opened, or tunnelling area could shape itself. Paralleling the show’s each and every unique phase, this method resulted in sealed or connecting paths, a reflection of the ongoing exploration of the show. Using little material to produce, this also addressed the rising need to maintain a sustainable approach to exhibition designs which was addressed by the gallery on the 29th of July with a talk on eco-friendly processes in the art world.

Imagining time as a series of folds and splits, Para Site introduces us to an exploration of contradictions, repetitions, renewals and transformations linked to space and time in different artworks.  
When entering the gallery, we are greeted by Linda Chiu-Han Lai’s multimedia sculpture ‘Tree of Life’, composed of an accumulation of many items including bamboo, electronic gadgets, paper foldings, fabrics and more. This piece collides personal, experimental and political narratives together: it is a combination of anti-consumerist, biographical and forgotten elements of everyday life. Linda Chiu-Han Lai’s piece grows progressively as the exhibition continues, new components being added in each phase with new “fruits” appearing for us to discover. ‘Tree of Life’ embodies this exhibition’s aim to showcase malleable artworks that fluctuate in time, in space and meaning, developing as the show does, alongside it and parallel to it. 

Next to it was Jaffa Lam’s newly commissioned work ‘The past from the ruins’. Particularly interested in this piece, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Celia Ho explain the artist’s intention behind the seemingly ordinary football. Evoking the feeling of isolation and loneliness derived from migration and displacement, this object is moved around the space throughout the duration of the show. Akin to a migrant seeking refuge, this piece is to be placed next to another existing work. Pursuing shelter, it marks its every stop through a polaroid photo positioned where it stayed, making us able to trace its every step through its eyes. Weighting 15kg, its heaviness mirrors the sense of being stuck in time, frozen, making movement arduous and difficult. Yet, Jaffa Lam’s choice of design recalls the adolescent joys found in an elementary sport, an accessible entertainment found in all walks of life. Its conception is what especially called out to me: it only exists in-relation-to. It requires another already existing piece to be placed nearby. It strives for survival in others. Akin to a child holding on to an olive branch, this artwork demands more than itself. Jaffa Lam’s contribution demonstrates that care was put into the conception of ‘signals…瞬息’ as it invites the audience in, encourages us to follow the links between different pieces. It asks us to be at the center of this crossroad of propositions and observe carefully. The chosen artists are calling to, calling towards and calling back to us; to each other, and to larger ideas inscribed in this exhibition’s curatorial conception.

Mika Tajima - Negative Entropy (Bioweaving Mill, Brain Stent Production, Magenta, Double) - 2018 - Cotton, polyester, rayon, wool acoustic baffling felt, and white oak - 139.6 x 110.3 x 5.7 cm (framed)

© Mika Tajima, Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Charles Benton

“Signals” turns out to be the perfect descriptive as Mika Tajima’s work is full of internal signs, indications and callings. ‘Negative Entropy’ is an abstract Jacquard woven portrait. The artist records sound patterns in specific locations and environments, then transcribes them into lyrical abstract images revealing the invisible, a landscape made of sound. Her work is simultaneously a recording, a translation, a call-back-to and an interpretation. This piece takes from the fact that the binary code (0s and 1s) we use to encode data, is believed to borrow from the Jacquard loom machine, which utilises a series of punched cards to automate the process of pattern weaving. Similar to a bridge between two worlds, this painting allows us to point to the connections and relationships amidst seemingly disparate domains through their common material: coding. Mika Tajima’s work delves deep into human agency, the contact point between control, automation, technological progress, data and human emotions.  

‘signals…瞬息: folds and splits’ has a pertinent selection of artists, both stablished and emergent, with varied yet meaningful approaches. They all relate to the exhibition’s inquiry into temporality, connection, space, structure and transformation. Each phase of this project shows us another facet of its questioning through newly added artists, the reconfiguration of its space and modified artworks. We are presented with a thoroughly thought-out proposition inviting us to look carefully, and with care, to the correlation between each artwork, between space and time, and the individual and the collective. Or more so, to observe the signals emanating from, to and through each piece and its bouncing back and forth with themselves and us, the audience.