We are living in such delicate times that simply going about on the street could bring tears to our eyes. Perhaps this came right after a video call with loved ones on the other side of the globe you had not seen for two years. Or perhaps your favorite bookstore or gym is closing down in the coming week. Maybe your brother suddenly told you he was emigrating soon. Or maybe you caught glimpses of some breaking news headline while on the subway.
emo gym – short for “emotion gymnasium” – calls on seven Hong Kong artists to confront, dissect, and possibly embrace the vulnerability of our times. Together, their sincere, poetic artworks invent an intimate yet experimental space, prompting visitors to uncover sentiments by discovering deep connections with the artworks as well as with each another.
Various forms of vulnerability are explored in the exhibition – vulnerability related to interpersonal relationships, digitization of human experiences, and social institutions. emo gym raises the following important questions: does vulnerability constitute a fundamental state of human existence, and of the world we live in? Risky as it may be, would exposing and sharing nuanced senses of vulnerability catalyse a new world where we better co-exist with other emotional beings?
