Pave Your Path: Nearly Viral

Artists Ronan Mackenzie, Aled Simons, Hou Lam Tsui and Samson Wong will create videos and a performance that reflect their time of growing up with the Internet.

Event Title: Pave Your Path: Nearly Viral 
Who: Ronan Mackenzie (UK), Aled Simons (UK), Tsui Hou Lam (HK), Samson Wong (HK)
Theme: Aware
Genre: Video Installation and performance
Location: AIRSIDE 3/F Gate33
Age group: 8+
Registration required: Yes

Nearly Viral transports the audience back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, a time when Internet culture was just beginning to take shape. Four Gen Y to Z artists: Ronan Mackenzie from Blackburn, England, Aled Simons from Cardiff, Wales, and Hou Lam Tsui and Samson Wong from Hong Kong aim to reflect their experiences as digital natives and explore the excitement and joy of our initial encounters with the virtual world, evoking nostalgia for a past that, though distant, feels recent.

By juxtaposing these diverse memories, the works will reveal how virtual phenomena have influenced individuals' perceptions of the physical world. By reinterpreting YouTube videos of teenagers obsessed with energy drinks, Simons critically examines online discourse through his unique visual language. Wong revisits the Year 2000 (“Y2K”) Problem of the late 1990s, exploring the fear and chaos associated with global shutdown of technologies. Mackenzie constructs a personal archive using the aesthetics of Frutiger Aero to investigate the space where online culture and personal memories intersect. Tsui draws from retro commercials and anime of East Asia, accessed from the internet, as well as personal footage to craft her own narrative about virtual relationships.

In addition to the exhibition, the artists will either physically or virtually activate their works in a performance to reiterate the interconnectedness of the digital and physical realms.

*Registration is not required. Walk-ups on the day are welcome!