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Publication: “I could not recall how I got here”

I could not recall how I got here is the triple-channel video that forms part of The Retrieval, Restoration and Predicament. Set as triptych altarpiece, it renders oblivion of memorial and counter-memorial.

One of the three videos is derived from an archival document of HSBC archives about a British intelligence agent reported that an American sailor discovered the two bronze lions and the statues in Japan. Lee turns the document into a documentary montage and synchronises with other two videos (or narratives): one is Chinese guard of the memorial and the other is seemingly spouse of the Japanese architect whom designed the memorial. The three protagonists create hazy interactions, they are neither dialogues nor monologues.

In this work, artist conducts vigorous archival and historical research, and turns rationalities – scientific notions of tine, date, facts, and people involved – of archival materials into oblivion and ambiguity.

Memory, forgotten, and histories are thus intertwined in the constant transitions of human existence.

 

Publisher: Hong Kong: MOSSES
Box Size: 168 × 237 × 52 mm
Pages: 7 books, 520 pages in total
Binding: folded and bound using only paper & Saddle-stitching
Printing: Offset printing
Publication Year: 2020
Language: Traditional Chinese, English
Edition: First Edition
ISBN: 978-988-74790-1-7
Order: https://mossesbooks.hk/products/i-could-not-recall-how-i-got-here