Wong Chuk Hang Landmark South | Hong Kong Arts Development Council SHOWCASE Presents The Lurking Void

Description

The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) announces its latest exhibition, The Lurking Void, at its distinctive multi-functional space, the SHOWCASE. Harnessing the full scale of the venue, the exhibition envelops audiences in colossal, site-specific installations, brought to life through unsettling sound and motion. Office equipment – printers, desks, cables, and scanners – transform into creature-like entities and landscapes, portraying a white-collar world where AI does not replace humans but alters the nature of work, leaving people neither erased nor in control, but instead deeply entangled. The Lurking Void runs from 21 March to 19 April 2026 at the SHOWCASE in Wong Chuk Hang.

The Lurking Void is a psychological portrait of contemporary office labour shaped by the growing presence of artificial intelligence. Rather than framing AI as a force that simply replaces human workers, the project reflects on how work, identity and value are being reconfigured as humans and machines increasingly operate together. In this environment, the boundary between human and machine grows blurry and fluid, no longer a clean divide but an evolving field of negotiation. Through its installations, the exhibition responds to this complex symbiotic relationship, inviting visitors to consider what it means to be human in the “Post-Human Era”. Created by award-winning Hong Kong artist Phoebe Hui, whose multidisciplinary practice spans robotics, kinetic sculpture, generative art, sound, comics and drawing, the works render this collective condition in immersive form.

Ms Pheon Tsang Suk-yee, Chief Executive of the HKADC, said, “The Hong Kong Arts Development Council has been committed to nurturing the diverse development of local arts practitioners and arts groups. Artist Phoebe Hui effectively utilised the strengths of the HKADC’s SHOWCASE to create large-scale installations. Her innovative cross-media creation is the concerted efforts of various parties. We are delighted to see the continued growth of local outstanding artists. HKADC will continue to actively promote the prosperous development of Hong Kong arts and consolidate the Hong Kong’s position as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.”

At the heart of the exhibition stands Vertebrate, a large-scale kinetic sculpture that demonstrates the full spatial possibilities of the SHOWCASE. Reappropriated from stacked and reassembled office chairs suspended in the air, the work extends horizontally across the space, resembling a mechanical creature with an elongated body. Objects designed to support human productivity are transformed into a structural backbone – as the spine progresses, visible cables, wires, and mechanical elements gradually overtake the recognisable chair components, suggesting a transition from human support to machine logic. At the far end, a cluster of T8 fluorescent light tubes forms a stark, luminous head, pulsing in slow, measured rhythms that evoke maintenance rather than progress. Devoid of agency, the sculpture renders motion as pure function.

As audiences move deeper into the space, Floating Office and Endless Shift form a suspended system of labour caught between motion and stasis. Office desks hover slightly above the ground, detached from their original function, while a modified office chair base rotates endlessly in place. It evokes a condition in which work persists in a continuous cycle, tasks circulate, time stretches, and the boundary between activity and inertia dissolves. In this environment, productivity becomes a self-sustaining loop, quietly drifting within a lurking void.

Phoebe Hui, artist of The Lurking Void, said, “AI is often discussed through dramatic narratives of automation and post-human efficiency. This work takes a quieter approach. It considers how AI alters the atmosphere of labour. It reshapes not only productivity, but also how individuals understand themselves within systems of data, metrics, and optimisation. A job is not merely a task; it is a way we locate ourselves within society. As AI becomes embedded in the workplace, that sense of self begins to shift. The exhibition invites viewers to consider how belief, imagination and labour intertwine within technological systems, and what kinds of subjects we are becoming as a result.”

Extended Experience Zone: Slow Processing

The exhibition features an extended experience zone, a reconfigured pre-digital workplace titled Slow Processing. Slow Processing serves as a counterpoint to the age of instant, temporarily disconnecting from speed and productivity, offering visitors a chance to experience firsthand the obsolete office machines that were once symbolized "cutting-edge" and "upgrades" in their time, and to rediscover the slower rhythms of a bygone office life.

Public Guided Tours

Public guided tours are available every Saturday at 3:30 pm. Led by docents, the tours will unpack the exhibition's core themes, allowing the public to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the artworks on display. The tours will be conducted in Cantonese. Free of charge. No registration is required.

Artist Guided Tour and Sharing

Artist Phoebe Hui has invited a special guest to engage in a live dialogue during a special guided tour. The two speakers will explore the artworks and their underlying concepts from different perspectives, detailing the stories and processes behind the creative journeys.

Date  11 April 2026 (Saturday)

Time  3:00 pm

Venue SHOWCASE (UG/F, Landmark South, 39 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang)

Language Cantonese

Registration Link

Mechanics Workshop

Using simple mechanics as a medium, this workshop invites participants to get hands-on and create their own simple gadgets. It offers a relaxed and engaging process to explore the underlying themes of mechanics and artificial intelligence.

Date 18 April 2026 (Saturday)

Time 3:00 pm

Venue 5/F, Landmark South, 39 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang

Language Cantonese

Registration Link