'AQUA REGALIA' HONG KONG from FAITH XLVII on Vimeo.
Set amidst the squall of Hong Kong, this project is the third iteration of FAITH XLVII’s ongoing series Aqua Regalia. The explorative video is one of the first videos FAITH XLVII co-directed alongside filmmaker Dane Dodds. The previous projects in the series came to fruition as exhibitions in London and New York City.
FAITH XLVII’s fascination with abandoned spaces has led her to discover buildings across the world that are saturated with layers of histories and memories; in this case an expansive and desolate five-story apartment block in central Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The material residue of the former residents were sifted through in search of personal relics and sentimental treasures which formed the building blocks of the installation.
Once-cherished objects, imbued with emotional value by the strangers that used to own them, are aligned with the monumental in this reconstruction process. Treating these discarded remnants in this way allows for a reinterpretation of the mundane as valuable, and everyday, personal narratives as sacred. Ultimately, creating these shrines beg to question one’s invested value in objects and the inherent symbolism in the items that surround our lives.
The short film documents this process as its starting point while FAITH XLVII’s own words weave the images of the building with the nuanced interactions outside in the city.
These two disparate realities are interlaced, making them seem like parallel spaces existing within each other – in a sense functioning as a psychological metonym. All of the feelings these ‘spaces’ have witnessed – all the treasured memories and forgotten moments – are collapsed in on each other. While mirroring the past, present and future, the most visceral and subtle elements of being human begin to appear .
CREDITS:
Artist: Faith XLVII
Director: Dane Dodds
Co-director: Faith XLVII
Score: Jannous Aukema
Assistant: Miranda Moss
Voice Over: Maria Wong
Thanks to: HKURBEX
In association with HKWALLS
