In collaboration with the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies (LCS) and the International Research Centre for Cultural Studies (IRCCS) at the Education University of Hong Kong, Videotage is pleased to present Spaces of Exception, the first exhibition in Hong Kong featuring the sound installation of New York-based artist Freya Powell as part of the interdisciplinary project on death in migration titled Thanatic Ethics: The Circulation of Bodies in Migratory Spaces.

錄映太奇很榮幸與香港教育大學文學及文化學系（LCS）、文化研究國際中心（IRCCS）合作，呈獻紐約藝術家Freya Powell在香港的首個聲音裝置展覽《Spaces of Exception》。是次展覽為跨領域計劃「Thanatic Ethics: The Circulation of Bodies in Migratory Spaces」中探討移民與死亡的項目之一。

Spaces of Exception is a multi-channel, immersive sound installation that uses the voice as a medium to speak to the ambiguous loss experienced as a result of ‘Prevention Through Deterrence’, a US immigration policy along the US-Mexico border. Through speech and song, the piece will play sonically with ideas of echo and mirage, aurally exploring the experience of ambiguous loss and ideas of public grievability concerning the lives lost in the hostile terrain of the desert. The performers will take on the role of an ancient Greek chorus, becoming a collective voice of mourning, expressing an elegy for the unidentified dead. Their voices will merge and divide, testing pitch, intonation, breath, pacing, and silence from operatic singing to theatrical utterances, narrating the realities of this contemporary tragedy.

The audience will enter a low-lit space to experience a 6-channel immersive soundscape. Each singer’s voice, recorded separately, will emanate from a single speaker. The speakers stand at the height of the performer whose voice they carry. The audience will play an active role in the work, with the ability to control how they experience the composition by moving through the space. They could stand in front of a single speaker for an intimate experience with a single voice or position themselves between speakers to hear voices in a combination. At the center of the space, all the voices will be heard as a chorus.

Exhibition Period: 7-28/1/2024
Opening Hours: 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Venue: Videotage, Unit 13, Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Rd, To Kwa Wan, Hong Kong

Opening and Talk
Date: 7/1/2024 (Sun)
Time: 4:30 pm
Talk: “Notes on Voice” by Freya Powell
Conducted in English
Limited Seats. Registration required: https://forms.gle/7y9u64pVKZA2wp8G6

Artist Sharing
Date: 10/1/2024 (Wed)
Time: 7:00 pm
Artist: Freya Powell
Guest co-host: Yeung Yang (Art writer, independent curator, founder of soundpocket)

Freya Powell uses time-based and linguistic platforms to explore language and its relationship to memory, myth, and history. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows at Art in General, Brooklyn, NY (2017), Herron School of Art, Indianapolis, IN (2017), Arts Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain (2014.) She has participated in group shows at institutions including MoMA PS1 (NY), EFA Project Space (NY), Queens Museum (NY), Socrates Sculpture Park (NY), and the Bronx Museum, (NY), among others. Most recently she was awarded a development residency at MoMA PS1 (2019), New Work Grants from the Queens Council on the Arts (2019 & 2021), and a NYSCA grant (2022.) Powell holds an MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College and a BA from Bard College and is Associate Professor of Photography at Parsons, The New School.

《Spaces of Exception》是一件多頻道沉浸式聲音裝置作品，以人聲媒介回應因美國於美墨邊境實行之「威懾預防」政策所造成的「懸念性失落」。作品透過言語及歌唱以聲音呼應迴盪及幻象等主題，並探究邊境沙漠中喪生者親友的「懸念性失落」和大眾集體傷痕之議題。表演者化身成古希臘歌詠隊，通過集體輓歌哀悼佚失身份的死者。他們的聲音聚合、分散，嘗試歌劇詠唱、戲劇絮語中種種音調、呼吸、節奏及寂靜，敘述此現世悲劇現實。

觀眾將在昏暗的空間中體驗沉浸式的六聲道聲音景象。六位歌唱者的聲音在六個揚聲器中各自顯現，其間觀眾可於聲音空間中自由移動，體驗無限可能性：身置單一揚聲器前親密細聽，在兩個揚聲器之間中傾聽眾聲齊頌，或於空間中央感受全方位的歌詠。

展期：7-28/1/2024
時間：12:00 pm – 7:00 pm
地點：九龍土瓜灣馬頭角道63號牛棚藝術村13室錄映太奇

開幕及講座
日期：7/1/2024 (日)
時間：4:30 pm
講座：《聲音札記》Freya Powell
以英語進行
座位有限，須登記：https://forms.gle/7y9u64pVKZA2wp8G6

藝術家分享會
日期：10/1/2024 (三)
時間：7:00 pm
藝術家：Freya Powell
參與嘉賓：楊陽 (藝術寫作者、獨立策展人、 聲音掏腰包創辨人）

Freya Powell 以時基及語言學媒介探索言語與記憶、神話、歷史的關係。Powell的作品曾以個展展出於紐約布魯克林Art in General (2017) 、印第安納波利斯Herron School of Art (2017) 、巴塞隆拿Arts Santa Monica (2014) 等；群展曾於MoMA PS1、EFA Project Space、Queens Museum、Socrates Sculpture Park、Bronx Museum等紐約多個藝術空間中舉辦。近年，Powell曾獲選於MoMA PS1發展駐留計劃 (2019) ，並獲得皇后區藝術局新作資助獎金 (2019，2021) 以及紐約州藝術局資助獎金 (2022) 。Powell擁有亨特學院混合媒體藝術創作碩士、巴德學院文學士學位，目前擔任帕森設計學院攝影學院教授。