David Boring’s lead vocalist Janice Laujan has turned a former gold shop in Wong Chuk Hang into an acoustic soundscape where taking your shoes off is mandatory and confronting your repressed personal baggage is largely the point. Co-curated by Aaditya Sathish and Tobias Berger, ‘Memory & Punishment’ runs from August 22 to October 3 at GOLD. It is part art installation, part durational performance, and entirely designed to swallow you whole.
What happens inside ‘Memory & Punishment’
Stepping into ‘Memory & Punishment’ requires stripping off your footwear and stepping onto a plush, undulating purple floor shrouded in faint haze and low light. Every step and rustle contributes to an ever-shifting acoustic ecology, turning the audience into active participants rather than passive observers. The environment feels halfway between natural landscape and alien ecosystem, crafted specifically to act as a social space beyond the usual grind of home and work.
Rather than attempting to fix or neatly resolve uncomfortable emotions like grief and shame, Laujan’s installation invites visitors to simply sit with them. Performing bodies traverse the carpet like living sculptures, operating on their own internal logic alongside the ambient soundscape.
Live activations and sound interventions
Hour-long guest interventions by prominent Hong Kong sound artists will break up the continuous run of the installation. Kelvin T opens the series on August 28 at 5pm, followed by Nerve at 3pm and Gold Mountain at 5pm on September 19. Karen Yu rounds out the guest sets on October 3 at 3pm.
For those preferring something a touch more aggressive, Laujan’s post-punk band DAVID BORING will staged a full-scale live intervention within the space on September 13. The performance promises an intimate, transgressive mix of punk urgency and noise—ticket details are set to follow shortly.
Visiting hours and gallery details
GOLD opens its doors on Thursday and Saturday from 2pm to 7pm, and Friday from 2pm to 8pm. The gallery remains closed on public holidays, with an exception made for September 26. Entry is located at GOLD, G/F Remex Centre, 42 Wong Chuk Hang Road.