Dreamer 夢想家

Dreamer, 2013
Two-channel video installation with curtains, writings and graphite on paper
Dimension variable

part one/ wander:  http://vimeo.com/77561205, 5min33s
part two/ sleep: http://vimeo.com/77840624, 5min33s

If a person is awakened directly from the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep by an alarm, for example, people are more likely to remember the dream that occurs during this REM phase.―Wikipedia: Dream

In Dreamer, Tang Kwok-hin investigates the fragile relationship between urban life, sleep, and the imagination. Confronted by years of diminished dream recall amid the pressures of city living, the artist conducts a personal experiment: he wanders repeatedly through the same district, then deliberately stays awake through the night before sleeping in various public spaces — restaurants, libraries, parks, and vehicles — while wearing headphones that play alarm sounds at irregular intervals.

Presented as a two-channel video installation (with curtains, handwritten texts, and pencil drawings on paper), the work documents this durational process. One channel follows his wanderings; the other captures the moments of public sleep and sudden awakening. Upon each interruption, Tang records and later redraws fragments of his dreams, placing these drawings alongside everyday objects from the process, transforming private mental space into a public “bedroom” display.

Drawing on scientific notions of REM sleep and cultural reflections on the soul, Dreamer questions how the modern urban environment — with its routines, anxieties, and overstimulation — shapes, suppresses, or alters our subconscious. By exposing his sleeping body and inner visions to public scrutiny, Tang highlights the erosion of personal imagination under collective pressures and asks whether our dreams have become as homogenized as our waking lives.