Puzzling Home 家的形狀 | Ghost and John, Michael and Jane
Queer Art Projects and performiongborders responded to this commission through a conversation held in May 2023, to see this response alongside the performance to camera, see HERE.
Two travellers arrive at a black and white sandy beach. Carried with them are all shapes of all sizes, holding visions of their former lives. These memories are mismatched and misaligned, yet all together form a picture we fantasise as “home”.
Accompanied by a poem built up by collaging Cantopop lyrics, this performance-to-camera work looks at the figurative of live performances’ ephemerality and the disappearance of home. We witnessed how meanings break and disintegrate in the face of feelings. With shared lived experiences in activism and migration, we form a puzzle designed to be disassembled.
*For the best first viewing experience, you are recommended to watch using a large screen with earphones on.
會註定流失吧 金線刺繡的歌詞
Lost are the lyrics embroidered with golden threads
自離別剎那 今生停頓了嗎
On pause are our lives since we’ve departed
真愛是任何形狀
True love should come in all shapes
難以用斧頭一劈 叫畫面飛散
But I can’t bring myself to set my heart in stone
景象驟變得殘忍
The present is becoming unbearable
連夜我沒法安睡
Depriving me of sleep for countless nights
何解 尚有數之不盡 遺下的心債
Still, there are countless heart debts left behind
敏感的我 假裝冷靜
With my sensitivities suppressed
穿梭機附運舊時夢想 升空中跌死
The spaceship that carries dreams of the olden days, crashed before reaching the sky
沉醉謊話 霧霾𥚃選擇
Indulged in lies, picking with my eye blinded
越混濁時 越徬徨失重
Immersed in dirt, limbs drifting apart
落魄的淚如雨下
Tear washes my soul away
誰亦也是這樣 沿路看風雨漫漫
Aren’t we all like this, wandering in the mizzle
在曠野內得到幾次躊躇 遇過幾次瑣碎散聚
Trembling and gathering on the vast grounds
移山填海 求兩腳落地
Paving bricks just to stay afloat
這個世界𥚃我太渺小 生命在融掉
Lives melt away in the deep space
無辦法接受現實 自製假想能延續故事
Souls stay and fantasise about the stories beyond the rave
語言全徒勞了
All words are in vain
解釋太無謂嗎
Lips, held shut
降淚時 又如何避免
Crying rivers of tears
暗地也有傷口 無法善後
Wounds beneath the sleeves are left unattended
假使間給你再做 問你又會否寄望更高
Would you dare to dream the same dream
天就算灰 始終想守到月牙
I held myself until the moon waxes
穿過海灣來到老遠
I crossed the water and came this far
不要記得流過的汗
Don’t forget how soaked you were
而這票尾 還應否捨棄
How could you toss this ticket afar
為了找人生 不同形狀 未知的 放手去擁抱一趟
To find the possible shapes of life I’ve decided to embrace the unknown
記憶隨夢中飛走 眼淚乾透 散落心底的窗口
Memories are fading with tears turn into mist on the window
你離開了卻散落四周
But I still see piece of you everywhere
為你編花成籃 花光了時間
Basket embroidered with flowers bloomed through the seasons
冬去夏來 沒春秋的證據
Leaving no traces of our lives
明白痛心過就當遺失車票
Put this ticket behind
任歲月再壞 不致心慌
Let heartbreaks be sufferable
Production credits:
Concept: Ghost and John, Michael and Jane
Film Editing: Michael Mui Ting Fai
Sound Mixing: Ghost Chan
Poem Collage and Translation: Jane Lam, John Chan
Cinematography: Ivan Wong and his film crew
Body Paint: Lau Hiu Tung
Performance: Ghost and John
Song referenced:
Song – Singer – Lyricist
最好的 – 王苑之 – 黃偉文 / 念念不忘 – 麥浚龍 – 黃偉文 / 銀河修理員 – Dear Jane – 黃偉文 / 木紋 – 何韻詩 – 黃偉文 / 在尋找什麼 – 李拾壹 – 李拾壹 / 都市Lonely Night – Delta T, Uka Yeung – Delta T, Uka Yeung / 坐看雲起時 – Jer 柳應廷 – 小克 / 難道喜歡處女座 – 林家謙 – 黃偉文 / 預言書 – 關智斌 – 林若寧 / 末日火車 – The Hertz – Him Hui @ The Hertz / Diamond Mine – Serrini – Serrini / 矛盾一生 – JW – 陳詠謙 / 重生 – 陳健安 – Oscar / 女人之苦 – 許志安 – 林夕 / 生還者 – 余文樂 – 陳少琪 / 思覺失調 – 劉浩龍 – Keith Ling / 靈魂相認 – 張敬軒 – 小克 / 深化危機 – Dear Jane – 林寶 / 留下來的人 – C AllStar – 曰云 / 俏郎君 – 張敬軒 – 黃偉文 / 預言書 – 關智斌 – 林若寧 / 瑕疵 – 麥浚龍 莫文蔚 – 黃偉文 / 你叫我譯一首德國歌詞 – My Little Airport – 林阿p / 不要說謊 – 謝霆鋒 – 林夕 / 思覺失調 – 劉浩龍 – Keith Ling / 風的形狀 – 岑寧兒 – 陳詠謙 / 都市Lonely Night – Delta T, Uka Young – – Delta T, Uka Young / 左右手 – 張國榮 – 林夕 / 信心花舍 – 陳奕迅 – 林夕 / 佛系人生 – 許廷鏗 – 林夕 / 東京百貨 – 鄭融 – 陳少琪 / 銀河修理員 – Dear Jane – 黃偉文
Commissioned by performingborders and Queer Art Projects
Supported by Arts Council England and Necessity Fund
Ghost and John are a Hong Kong multidisciplinary art duo best known for their innovative integration of performance and contemporary technologies; and collaborative approach to making socio-politically pertinent artworks. Drawing from their experiences of working in biology and computer science, they have developed a dynamic artistic practice that examines the intricacies of the body and nature, technological advances and folklore that accompany history. Their works have been presented internationally at Bloomsbury Festival and CCA Goldsmiths in London, ImPulsTanz in Vienna and Tai Kwun and Goethe-Institut in Hong Kong. They are co-founders of Hidden Keileon CIC – A multidisciplinary artist-led non-profit enterprise aiming at building inter-racial solidarity, creating the yet-to-exist and hard-to-imagine. ghostandjohn.art
Jane is a photographer and a filmmaker. After moving to London from Hong Kong in 2021, she completed an MA in film and philosophy (distinction) at King’s College London. Her visual dissertation, ‘What My Video Remembers: Constructing a Floating Hong Kong Subjectivity with Home Movies’ has received Honourable Mention from the Department of Film Studies. She is also the awardee for the 2022/23 Architecture Photography Fund, and is working towards her first photography exhibition in July 2023. lamjane.com
Michael MUI is an independent filmmaker from Hong Kong who worked as a visual director in the city’s largest television broadcasting company. With a background in stage performance and extensive experience in directing, editing, and screenwriting, Michael has become an all-rounded filmmaker with a unique voice who specialises in using creative visual representations to encapsulate mood and feelings. His films and documentaries have been recognised in film festivals and competitions such as Sundance Hong Kong, Gatsby Creative Awards, and Red Bird Film Festival. michaelmuifilm.com
Queer Art Projects (QAP) is an artist led creative production company that curates and produces art projects like exhibitions, performances, screenings, talks and workshops, commissioning new work from queer artists on cutting edge contemporary issues and brings existing work together in contexts that underline their relevance and resonance. QAP is founded and managed by the duo Tuna Erdem & Seda Ergul, London based queer artists, originally from Turkey, who have been partners for more than a decade. QAP’s projects have been predominantly funded by the Arts Council England (ACE) in partnership with various organisations like Every Woman Biennial, Goldsmiths University, Bonington Gallery etc. QAP has a digital platform that has recently been turned into an online commercial gallery for queer art. qap.digital
