“Does vulnerability constitute a fundamental state of human existence, and of the world we live in?” asked curator Erin Li in the group exhibition “emo gym” at Tai Kwun Contemporary. Emphasizing responses toward delicate times, it staged the works of seven Hong Kong artists on a softly lit floor and a hidden staircase.
Created in collaboration with dancer Leung Tin Chak, Yim Sui Fong’s (2019) addresses digital anxiety. A projected (2021) televises a suckermouth catfish glued onto a fish tank. Relatably, the creature exposes its insides through a virtual screen. This barrier is fractured by an industrial drill in the video (2020), seemingly promising true corporeal contact. In the age of indifferent connectivity, these works lament the loss of organic, safe spaces.