Ophey T.K Chan (Sankofa)
08 09 Performance Installation
The Voice of Tower: Audience Participation in the Present Moment
The Bubble Sky: Beneath one Sky
LIVE PERFORMANCE
The Live Performance: A Hybrid Artwork
The live performance is a hybrid artwork that seamlessly integrates multimedia, visual art, installation, screen dance, documentary, photography, and participant engagement and activism. This unique creation emerged from an embodiment journey and dance research conducted in both Hong Kong and London. Through these experiences, the dramaturgy was built and continually rebuilt, evolving organically with each phase of the project.
Roots of the Concept
The concept behind this performance is deeply rooted in my corporeal experiences and the collective thoughts from Hong Kong. It represents a synthesis of personal exploration and shared cultural narratives, capturing the essence of human connection, resilience, and the struggle for freedom. The artistic process was marked by spontaneity and adaptability, allowing for genuine interactions and emotional expressions.
The Art of Togetherness
By intertwining various art forms and fostering active participation, this performance aims to bridge gaps between individuals, spaces, and times. It celebrates the beauty of togetherness and the power of collective action, while also addressing themes of censorship, forbidden voices, and the fight for human rights.
Collective Action
The performance culminates in the creation of the Voice of the Tower, where participants and performers lay down under the Bubble Sky, witnessing the moment together. This act of lying down under one sky symbolizes equality and shared humanity, forming an integral part of the artwork. It allows everyone involved to experience the poignant reality of their collective journey, bridging the gaps between bodies, space, and time, and reinforcing the art of togetherness.
Audience Engagement and Embodiment
By the end of the performance, the audience is not just witnessing art but becoming part of it, contributing to the collective voice and the embodied experience. This hybrid artwork serves as a powerful metaphor for resilience, empathy, and human value.
Installation Art
The Voice of Tower
The Installation Art was constructed from individual white blocks serving as canvases during the live performance on May 14, 2024, symbolizing collective action through individuals' choices.
Participants were invited, upon entering the space through the program note or the display, to join in the experimental score and become part of this unique artistic experience.
Collective Action
The collective score was spontaneous, challenging the participants' engagement during the live performance. All participants joined without prior notice, allowing for a genuine display of natural humanity and empathy. This process sought to explore who takes on roles within the space, reflecting real human reactions.
Participatory Engagement: Gazing, Handgiving
Participatory engagement through gazing and handgiving was an important theme throughout the practice, fostering ways of interactive involvement. The act of gazing served as a subtle and natural means of non-verbal dialogue with the space and bodies.
Installation Art
The Bubble Sky: A Multimedia Immersive Experience
Within the live performance installation, the Bubble Sky projected recorded footage alongside the collective action score, crafting a multimedia immersive experience that celebrates the beauty of togetherness.
Projection Beneath One Sky
Utilizing bubble wraps as screens for documentary footage, participants were encouraged to lay beneath "one sky" following the collective action of the Voice of the Tower. The recorded footage, a form of mediated choreography during the live performance, captured various responses and open-ended moments. It conveyed a message of embracing humanity, learning from the art of failure (Sharrocks, 2013), and finding hope in adversity (Solnit, 2004).
Shared humanity
This symbolic act of equality and shared humanity blurs the boundaries between the audience and dancers, bridging gaps between bodies, space, and time. It is a little historical moment of how each participant shapes this shared space.
