[ISEA2016] Artist Statement: Ellen Pau — Great Movement

Artist Statement

Satellite Event: No References: A Revisit of Hong Kong Video and Media Art from 1985

For “No References”, Pau contributed a remake of her 1993-1995 work entitled Great Movement. The single-channel video features a lone lighthouse standing stalwart at the edge of hazy seas – an iconic image that anchors the show. The work appropriates footage from government news clips from the 1950s and 1960s, constituting an elegant subversion of authority and simultaneous nostalgic meditation on time and memory. Pau’s artist statement reads:
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.” [source: artradarjournal.com/2016/07/06/no-references-9-hong-kong-video-and-new-media-artists-part-1/]

  • A professional radiologist by day, Ellen Pau (HK) is a self-taught video artist who has exhibited widely in Asia and beyond, including at major biennales such as the Kwangju Biennale and Venice Biennale. Pau made her first film in 1984 – a Super-8 work which was screened internationally – and in 1985 co-founded Hong Kong independent media art organisation Videotage. One of the region’s most respected veteran video and new media artists, Pau is the founding director of the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival and works as an independent cinematographer, curator, art critic and researcher. [source: artradarjournal.com/2016/07/06/no-references-9-hong-kong-video-and-new-media-artists-part-1/]