SAP 濕

Sap 濕 is an audio-visual installation designed in the digital and replicated in the physical. The work contemplates the intimate ties between love songs, cultural memory, and identity formation.

Sap 濕 draws upon recollections of Chan’s childhood after migrating to Australia with her family in 1996. It also pays homage to the legendary Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng. A feeling of temporal displacement pervades Sap 濕, haunted by a desire to belong to a past and future that never existed.

In this work Chan contemplates the myth of karaoke subtitles, intended as a guide to lead audiences through the lyrics and story of a song. But what feelings do the seductive scrolling neon text elicit when you are unable to read the lyrics of your mother-tongue? As the glowing text unfurls, so do feelings of shame, alienation and yearning. Chan amplifies this tension by reimagining the lyrics “在哪裡” (which translates to “where” or literally “at what place?”) in Teresa Teng’s song 甜蜜蜜 (Sweet On You.) Chan takes the original karaoke text and digitally manipulates the script until it is no longer legible. The text dissolves into a pseudo topographic map to navigate the diasporic psyche.

Sap 濕 was commissioned and produced by Campbelltown Arts Centre as part of BLEED 2022.
August 29 - September 25 2022.