Drained II, 1989, Video 8 (NTSC) edited with Betamax (NTSC), 5 minutes, 49 seconds. Courtesy of the artist. Collection of Videotage Media Art Collection VMAC, Hong Kong.
A pioneering member of Hong Kong’s video art scene, Ellen Pau explores the values embedded in technology. She aims to raise awareness of our own physical present and inspire contemplation of the spaces we occupy. Pau’s early experiments with screen-based media, in the late 1980s, reflect her ties to the avant-garde theater community in her home city. She produced Drained II (1989) in collaboration with members of Zuni Icosahedron, an influential performance group. Shot on consumer equipment, the video stages an interplay between electronic wipes and depictions of a performer who repeatedly appears and disappears behind a black curtain. The visual tension between the performers’ physical action and the video effects applied by Pau creates a staccato rhythm akin to the sensory experience of the city.
While grounded in the space of Hong Kong, Recycling Cinema (2000) explores the perceptual disruptions made possible by the medium of video. Depicting cars speeding along a seaside highway in Hong Kong, the work attempts to defy or roll back an experience of progressive time. With the highway stretching horizontally across the screen, the camera restlessly switches focus between cars that are moving in opposite directions. The effect seems to arrest forward motion. There is no dialogue in the video, only the sounds of the waves and cars passing by. A two-line caption concludes the looping video: "Love is Real, Real is Love," lyrics from John Lennon's 1970 song “Love.”
