WangShui's Video Work Explores Hong Kong's Bel-Air Complex Through Feng Shui and Mythology

WangShui's 2018 video, 'From Its Mouth Came a River of High End Residential Appliances,' delves into Hong Kong's Bel-Air luxury residential development through the perspectives of feng shui and Chinese mythology. This 13-minute piece premiered at a solo exhibition at Triple Canopy in New York before being featured in the group show 'Holy Mosses' at Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong in late 2019. The video includes drone shots attempting to navigate the complex's 'dragon gates,' architectural openings meant for mythical dragons. These gates, part of the 50-storey structures by Foster + Partners completed in 2008, symbolize feng shui beliefs and a critique of Western capitalism. WangShui, identifying as a 'hyperorientalist Chinese American,' addresses themes of cultural dislocation and queer identity. Since its launch in 2004, Bel-Air's property values have more than doubled, with economist Xu Chenggang selling a unit for HK$30 million in 2020, having bought it for HK$13.8 million in 2009. The work contrasts modern architecture with ancient mythological narratives, challenging notions of artistic representation and self-identity.