“The Stack of Presence” Kyle Chung
PDF version of the text in English / PDF version of the text in French
“The Stack of Presence”
Kyle Chung
There is the presence of me as I write this text, right here at home at the dining table, on which the second last flower of my orchid plant has just fallen. It’s about time. My mum gave it to me for Chinese New Year.
There is the presence of Alan in the online artist residency, for which Alan and I had our first conversation five days before I potted the orchid. He’s based in Geneva, and I’m based in Hong Kong. Any distance implies a connection. In this case, it was a Zoom connection.
There is the presence of A Symphony of Lights, one of the top 10 Hong Kong attractions recommended by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. I had not seen the show in its entirety until Alan and I talked about it in the residency. I thought the laser show was rather trivial.
There is the presence of the webcam, through which Alan experienced A Symphony of Lights live on a daily basis. The perspective of the webcam had streamlined Alan’s perception towards the laser light show. Perhaps this vision through data can better observe the changes the city is going through.
There is the presence of light. The materiality of light in Alan’s work “Relics of Lights, Clouds and Raindrops (Hong Kong)” is reinterpreted and represented in forms different from its source. From visible light radiation, pixelated webcam footage, computer generated 3D models, to volumetric 3D prints. In these new dimensions, what is the signal? And what is the noise?
There is the presence of the exhibition: a show due to Hong Kong’s persistent COVID related travel restrictions I won’t have a chance to see, within which Alan has made a work with reference to a laser show he hasn’t seen for the same reason.
There is the presence of you, reading this text right here in the exhibition space. I can only imagine the materiality of this piece of paper hung on the wall based on the virtual paper I’m looking at right now on Microsoft Word. Across space and time, I am present with you, as intimately as Alan was with me, through the exhibition, the work, and the light.
Kyle Chung
12 June 2022
