27 July–27 August, 2012

Ecce Homo Trilogy I

Tsang Kin-Wah solo exhibition

Hong Kong

Overview

Pearl Lam Galleries is pleased to present the second exhibition at its new Hong Kong gallery – a solo site-specific project, Ecce Homo Trilogy I, by Hong Kong artist Tsang Kin-Wah. Featuring a body of new artworks by the artist, Ecce Homo Trilogy I includes a large-scale text based installation, a series of video projections, and text paintings on aluminium plates. Centering on footage taken from the 1989 televised trial and subsequent public execution of Nicolae Ceausescu, the former Romanian leader of the communist regime, this in-situ project explores the subject of judgment and in particular, our moral complexity in response to formulating a judgment and the extent to which that compromises our dignity as a human being. Tsang Kin-Wah forces the visitor to engage in the work, involving them consciously as an observer, and encouraging them to consider how one human would go about making a judgment of another.

Tsang Kin-Wah said, “‘Ecce Homo’—Latin for ‘behold the man’ — is the phrase used by Pontius Pilate when presenting Jesus to the public before his crucifixion, which also became the title of a book written by Nietzsche. By referencing the last judgment of Jesus and Nietzsche’s philosophy, Ecce Homo Trilogy I, a series of multi-channel video installations, tries to question the impartialness of a judgment plus its existence, and reveal the powerlessness of the one being judged at a particular period of time and environment. At the same time, it attempts to depict the emotions of the one being judged, as well as the dense and tense atmosphere throughout the whole process. The documenting and broadcasting of the judgment and execution of so-called dictators through the media and sharing platforms allows people in different parts of the world to unintentionally become witnesses and participants of the judgment, just like those in the crowd who were told by Pilate to ‘Behold the Man’ (‘Ecce Homo’).”

Selected works