Conrad Shawcross: The ADA Project at The Peninsula, Hong Kong

In partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts, the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong presents a work by the British artist Conrad Shawcross called the ADA Project. The ADA Project is an ongoing series of musical commissions using a hacked industrial, assembly-line robot as the integral commissioning instrument. It combines sculpture, robotics and music to create a dramatic visual performance, comprised of a series of collaborations between Shawcross and leading contemporary composers. For Shawcross’ first exhibition of the work in Asia, a series of live performances in The Peninsula’s iconic Lobby feature the British composer Mira Calix performing “if then while for”, alongside Hong Kong soprano Joyce Wong, who sang a musical lament to the robot on 22 March at the unveiling; on 23 March during Afternoon Tea at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm; and at the exclusive Love Art Gala on 24 March. The work is in “Salon Mode” at all other times, inviting the audience to “play” one of four tracks created by composers Beatrice Dillon and Rupert Clervaux, Tamara Barnett-Herin and Mylo, Holly Herndon, and Calix. This video documents the performance on 23 March during Afternoon tea at 5:00 pm.

Conrad Shawcross: The ADA Project at The Peninsula, Hong Kong. Performance, 5 pm, March 23, 2016.