They, Hidden in Density

A series of photographs taken in Hong Kong ranging from large panoramas to personal close-ups were projected in the caves in corresponding scale — the framing of the shot was connected to the size of the projection. The distant photographs were large projections; closer shots were smaller. In the installation, four screens were placed in a way that creates physical depth and mimics the ‘zoom effect’, a cinematic technique to move from wide shot to close-up.

In a dense city of millions, the individual is often lost or ignored. The artwork takes the language of a cinematic zoom and applies it to the psychology of living an ordinary life in isolation. The structure of the cave is used to imitate the effect of a close-up; as we move deeper into increasingly smaller caverns and the space itself becomes darker, more constricted and remote, we also move closer to seeing the individual. The cave textures hinder our ability to see the details in the photographs; much like the density of urban living hides the details around us.