#ellen pau

“At a time when a global crisis continues to expose troubling truths, Hong Kong – Tales of the City mirrors many of those universal concerns. “To me these are not just tales of Hong Kong; these are tales of everyone,” Ip says in a video posted on the gallery’s Instagram account. For viewers stuck at home, desperate for distraction, the virtual exhibition provided a perfect diversion, responding to the need to confront what is happening in the world around us and our desire to escape it.”

Ellen Pau, Portrait (2018). Courtesy the artist and Para Site.

Recycling Cinema (循環影院). dir. Ellen Pau (鮑藹倫). 1998.

Ellen Pau studied Radiography at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, but chose to become a largely self-taught video artist. Since the success of her initial works, she has dedicated herself to developing new media art in Hong Kong and also works as a curator and a researcher. 

Recycling Cinema was exhibited at the 49th Venice Biennial. The film depicts cars moving on a highway near the sea in Hong Kong. The movement of the camera contrasts with the movement of the cars, and the conflict between the direction of the two movements causes challenges viewers’ perception of the film. Pau writes in her artist’s statement, “In this piece I am interested in questioning the way we see things, in order to make us more aware of our own existence.”