DE SARTHE is pleased to present 1, its first solo exhibition for Hong Kong-based artist Ailsa Wong, featuring a mechanical sound installation, a body of moving sculptures, an interactive 3D video game, a 2D visual novel game, and mixed media works all situated within an immersive cave-like environment. A dimly lit chamber constructed to recall the interior of an ant nest, the exhibition explores the notion of existence within a unified body and considers techno-animism under the context of contemporary pantheism. Utilizing the archetypal ant colony as basis, the artist proposes a paradigm wherein all sentient beings – living, mechanical, or otherwise – are constituents to a single, all-encompassing entity. 1 opens on May 24th and runs through July 26th.

Ants operate as a superorganism, where the colony functions by instinct as a singular, self-organizing system. Each ant plays a specific role, such as foraging, defending, or caring for the young, all working in concert such that the colony may adapt, survive, and thrive as if it were one living organism. Across varied philosophies, similar ideas have been raised vis-à-vis the universe and all that it contains – seeing all living things as part of a unified whole, be that of a divinity, cosmic harmony, or simply the natural order. It is under this framework that Ailsa Wong asks: what if all objects, including those of technology, had souls? If we were to subscribe to techno-animism, how will we co-operate within an interconnected system?

Gallery address: 26/F, M Place, Wong Chuk Hang