Keys in the Dark
a trio by Ake, Xiang, Zhuo Mengting
The film captures an improvised encounter in Beijing between three women artists working across dance, poetry and sound. Filmed in the summer of 2025 in an underground art space that no longer exists, the session had no script and no plan for documentation. A filmmaker from Beijing’s grassroots scene happened to be present and recorded the 25-minute exchange in a single take.
The hutong basement shaped the piece: a low ceiling, dense heat, bodies packed close, and the shared worry of making too much noise. What remains is not a performance designed for an audience, but a trace of attention, three bodies listening and responding in the same air. A month later, the organisers were evicted. This footage is now one of the few records of that short-lived space.
‘What is the purpose of cleaning? … I might say the purpose, generally, is to remove. In contrast to the cleaner, it didn’t seem to matter whether or not I could see the removed. And where does it go? That, as it happens, is the wrong question; all that matters is that it is no longer in our presence. … In the end, however, the sound of removal has no sound at all. We dare not imagine, let alone hear, a negative sound. ‘ (Sine Revue, May 2025)
Artists / Performers
阿科 Ake
響 Xiang
卓夢婷 Zhuo Mengting
Filmmaker
王赫 Mastem
Original Event
《发声现场系列 四》 Sound Out Series #4, 2025 Beijing
Curated by 阿科 Ake
a trio by Ake, Xiang, Zhuo Mengting
The film captures an improvised encounter in Beijing between three women artists working across dance, poetry and sound. Filmed in the summer of 2025 in an underground art space that no longer exists, the session had no script and no plan for documentation. A filmmaker from Beijing’s grassroots scene happened to be present and recorded the 25-minute exchange in a single take.
The hutong basement shaped the piece: a low ceiling, dense heat, bodies packed close, and the shared worry of making too much noise. What remains is not a performance designed for an audience, but a trace of attention, three bodies listening and responding in the same air. A month later, the organisers were evicted. This footage is now one of the few records of that short-lived space.
‘What is the purpose of cleaning? … I might say the purpose, generally, is to remove. In contrast to the cleaner, it didn’t seem to matter whether or not I could see the removed. And where does it go? That, as it happens, is the wrong question; all that matters is that it is no longer in our presence. … In the end, however, the sound of removal has no sound at all. We dare not imagine, let alone hear, a negative sound. ‘ (Sine Revue, May 2025)
Artists / Performers
阿科 Ake
響 Xiang
卓夢婷 Zhuo Mengting
Filmmaker
王赫 Mastem
Original Event
《发声现场系列 四》 Sound Out Series #4, 2025 Beijing
Curated by 阿科 Ake
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artist bios:
卓梦婷，出生于广州，现往返于伦敦和广州之间，也在白盒子与黑匣子之间以现场艺术表演者/声音艺术家/表演策展人/播客主理人等身份游走。 时区是构建的时间，也是切身的经验。声音有时是时间的余响，有时是扰动中的缝隙。受社会与自然中不可预测的随机性吸引，尝试用参与式装置、声音表演、一对一剧场等形式，探索人与人之间超越语言的联系。 近期声音创作以现成物、反馈和身体移动为媒介，探索信号与空间的交汇边界。近作见于南伦敦画廊（South London Gallery）、上海PSA、香港大馆当代美术馆（Tai Kwun Contemporary）、意大利东方美术博物馆（Museum of Oriental Art）、伦敦Frieze、Cafe OTO等。 Zhuo Mengting, cross-disciplinary artist, theatre director, and performance curator. Born in Guangzhou, China, Mengting has been living and working in London, UK since 2015, where she creates and researches contemporary performance. She is the co-founder and host of the art collective and podcast Ming Strike (小明拆台), as well as a visiting lecturer at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and London College of Communication, UAL. She received her MA in Performance Making from Goldsmiths, University of London. Mengting is particularly drawn to the unpredictable randomness within society and nature, employing participatory installations, sound performances, and one-to-one theatre to explore connections between people beyond language. www.zhuomengting.com 响来自成都，目前主要使用小提琴、身体、人声在环境中即兴。 Xiang, from chengdu. currently she uses violin, body and voice to improvise within situations. xiang-cn.com 阿科 Ake 阿科，海口人，代哭者，目前工作生活在北京，进行场地和语境特定的声音实验、事件、行为和装置的创作，也写诗，是某种乐手、组织者和服务员; 组织“五金微现场”和“发声现场”系列; 另有发起并组织多人项目: 凡人一拳、无聊歌、无聊书、音喜、夺命 100 秒、B 级恐怖片计划。之前也意外地开始了游牧空间 A2Space。 以简单直接的方式和暧昧曲折的路径抵达生活的微妙之处，有时回不来。 Ake, Hainanese artist living in Beijing, conducting site and context specific performace, sound experiment, event, compasition and installation...also a poet, some kind of musician, organizer and waitress; organizes "Wujin Tiny Concert Series" and “Sound Out Series”; and also initiate projects: Happy Music, 100 Seconds, DIY B-level Horror Film Project. Previously in 2018, she had accidentally start a nomadic space：A2Space. Reaching the subtleties of life in a simple and direct way also an ambiguous and tortuous path, sometimes can't come back. aakkee.org |