Artist Statement

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

In “No References”, two related works by Young quietly (literally) steal the show. Muted Situation #1: Muted Classical Quartet and Muted Situation #2: Lion Dance are two simple single-channel works whose dominant sound-producing constituents are suppressed. This was done “without a diminution in the energy normally exerted in the performance”. As Young writes:
The muting of sound layers does not translate into silence; nor does it equate to emptiness. Rather, the act of muting is an intensely focused re-imagination and re-construction of the auditory experience. It involves the conscious suppression of dominant voices as a way to uncover the unheard and the marginalised, or to reveal hitherto unconscious assumptions about hearing and sounding.
[source: artradarjournal.com/2016/07/06/no-references-9-hong-kong-video-and-new-media-artists-part-1/]

• Rising international star Samson Young (HK) studied music, philosophy and gender studies at the University of Sydney. He then earned a PhD in Music Composition in Princeton and became the inaugural winner of the BMW-Art Basel Art Journey Award in 2015. Young has participated in numerous prestigious international platforms including the Asia Triennial Manchester and the Moscow Biennale of Young Art, and his works have been shown at group exhibitions in Switzerland, Beijing, Taipei and beyond.[source: artradarjournal.com/2016/07/06/no-references-9-hong-kong-video-and-new-media-artists-part-1/]  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Young