“Abjection is above all ambiguity. Because, while releasing a hold, it does not radically cut off the subject from what threatens it – on the contrary, abjection acknowledges it to be in perpetual danger. ” —- Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1980)

Taken from government news clips, these images of the lighthouse were filmed some time between the 50s and 60s. Having accompanied us through the 1997 handover, the lighthouse still stands, unchanging against the river of time. Silently overseeing the ever-shifting waves, it remains ever-welcoming to those who come home.

「抑斥現象（abjection）首要在於它的含糊不明。因為，當放開束縛時，它並不微底地將主體與威脅它的東西切離開——相反，抑斥承認這些威脅物為永無止境的危險。」——茱莉亞 •克莉絲蒂娃，《恐怖的力量：論抑斥現象》(1980）

截於政府新聞片的燈塔，猜想是五、六十年代拍下的。跨過九七，燈塔依舊。燈塔同是一個身體，任由時間流過逐漸沉澱成生命的記憶或遺忘。看著多變浮移的海，迎回歸來的人。

Ellen Pau, born in Hong Kong, began her art career while studying radiography at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, creating her first experimental super-8 film, The Glove. She co-founded Videotage in 1986 and received the Asia Cultural Council Fellowship in 1992, creating Song of the Goddess in the U.S. Her international career launched at the 1995 Gwangju Biennale, followed by exhibitions at “City on the Move”, Asia Pacific Triennial, Shanghai Biennale and Taipei Biennale. Since 1996, she has been a director at the Microwave International Media Art Festival. At the 2001 Venice Biennale, she presented Recycling Cinema. Recent exhibitions include Awakening: Art in Society in Asia 1960s–1990s (2019) at the National Gallery Singapore, What About Home Affairs (2019) at Para-site and Shape of Light at M+ Facade (2022). Her works are held in collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, M+, and Griffith University. The Asia Art Archive launched her archive in 2023.