Still... what is left
2018
Two-channel video installation and performance
Sound Design: Supina Bytol and Beatrice Lewis
Videography: Scott Heinrich
Still... what is left explores the abstraction of rituals and their residue as a result of migration. Neither here nor there, gestures merged from the past and re-imagined as the artist re-performs gestures from the past. Cycles of repetitive gestures conjure the emotions of performing a ritual, particularly for those who no longer practice them.
I cannot remember
the stories, gestures, movements
Every detail is re-appropriated.
Bow your head,
palms together
Ashes on bowls of rice
I cannot remember
Arms open,
eyes closed
Small steps forward
Crotch over a paper bridge
In a white funeral hall
The bell rings
Flashes of light—
Resonance of the past.
It breaks away
It pauses,
retraces its steps
sees a double image
I cannot remember
What is left
still, I see
is what it oughts to be.
Still... what is left, 2018, Installation view at Hyphenated, The Substation
The video was adapted into a three-channel installation with live performances and presented at Underbelly Arts Festival 2017 as part of Resonance by Anonymous Migrant.
Performances throughout Underbelly Arts Festival, October 2017, photos credit Tim da Rin
Resonance, 2017
Visual concept, video and installation: Nikki Lam
Performance: Nikki Lam
Sound design: Sudeep Lingamneni
Cinematography: Scott Heinrich
Dramaturg: Felix Ching Ching Ho
The project is supported by Footscray Community Arts Centre and Underbelly Arts.