trust & confusion /
Tino Sehgal /
Oct 23 to Dec 5, 2021
Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 7pm
3/F, JC Contemporary and the Prison Yard, Tai Kwun
10 Hollywood Road
Central, Hong Kong
A new episode of trust & confusion presents two significant works by the critically acclaimed artist Tino Sehgal: These Associations, on the Prison Yard of Tai Kwun, and This Variation, on the 3/F Tai Kwun Contemporary gallery.
One of the most important artists in recent decades, the work of Tino Sehgal (b. 1976, UK; lives in Berlin) unfolds not by way of the object but by ephemeral constructed situations. Redefining the museum as a place for social relations, Sehgal radically eliminates the conventional art object, shifting the focus to live interconnections—compositions of voices, choreographies, and people, without involving or generating any physical materials.
Marked by his training in political economy and dance, Sehgal’s live works consist of language, conversations, games, movements, and choreographies, poignantly reflecting on the ways society today takes and is given shape. Like no other, Sehgal rearticulates art spaces as a ritualistic environment of social interactions. Visitors often take part in the very construction of the works, which in turn prompt the visitors’ responses, opinions, and sentiments, and carry them to a new place. Thus, the conventional subject-object relation is challenged and redirected into a fleeting production of implication, engagement, connection, and belonging. Meaning and value are thereby produced through the exchange of language and movement, rather than through the traditional operation of visual object and beholder.
Sehgal’s work raises pertinent questions about the mass production and consumption of materials that have taken hold of our contemporary life. With a deep consideration of locality and minimal carbon footprint, a full cast of over 170 people was chosen in Hong Kong through a long process of exchange, training, and collaboration—offering immeasurable community impact and turning the institution towards engagement beyond its usual remit.
Originally commissioned for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, These Associations involves participants of various ages and backgrounds, from all walks of life. Here, adapted for the context of Hong Kong, 30 interpreters at any given time transform Tai Kwun’s historic Prison Yard into a changing and fluctuating live environment. In the 3/F Tai Kwun Contemporary gallery space is This Variation—first presented at d(OCUMENTA) 13—where Sehgal’s most exuberant and musical work opens up dance to be experienced through listening and sensing.
This episode of trust & confusion is curated by Xue Tan with Louiza Ho and Erin Li.
Limited capacity for This Variation in the 3/F gallery space; online reservation is recommended before visiting on weekends and public holidays.
About Tai Kwun Contemporary
Tai Kwun Contemporary is the contemporary art programming arm of Tai Kwun, dedicated to showcasing contemporary art exhibitions and programmes as platforms for a continually expanding cultural discourse in Hong Kong. Operated by the contemporary art team, Tai Kwun Contemporary is an integral part of Tai Kwun at the Central Police Station compound, Hong Kong.
