With a background in communication and cultural studies, Wen Yau’s practice shows her keen concern over the public dimensions of art. She stages performances in public space, presents work of institutional critique, develops participatory methodologies in her research, and more. In this talk, she will discuss the ideas behind her public practices and how she tries to engage the audience and/or other counterparts to reimagine their roles in public sphere in a performative manner. She will also share the challenges and dilemma she faced and the inspirations she had gained in her work processes.
The talk “Performing the Publicness: From Public Space to Public Sphere” was part of the “Methods of Engagement: Architecture and the Humanities” Fall 2020 Discussion Series, organised by Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong. This discussion series tackles questions related to the role of interdisciplinarity in contemporary architectural design and scholarship. It brings humanities-oriented researchers, artists, and writers from outside the discipline of architecture to the Faculty of Architecture to share their scholarly approaches to questions that are shaping debates both within and ancillary to architecture and the humanities.