Tino Sehgal

One of the most important artists in recent decades, the work of Tino Sehgal (b. 1976, UK; lives in Berlin) unfolds itself not by way of the object but by ephemeral constructed situations. Redefining the museum as a place for social relations, Sehgal radically eliminates the conventional art object, shifting the focus to live interconnections—compositions of voices, choreographies, and people, without involving or generating any physical materials. 

Marked by his training in political economy and dance, Sehgal’s live works consist of language, conversations, games, movements, and choreographies, poignantly reflecting on the ways society today takes and is given shape. Like no other, Sehgal rearticulates art spaces as a ritualistic environment of social interactions. Visitors often take part in the very construction of the works, which in turn prompt the visitors’ responses, opinions, and sentiments, and carry them to a new place. Thus, the conventional subject-object relation is challenged and redirected into a fleeting production of implication, engagement, connection, and belonging.  Meaning and value are thereby produced through the exchange of language and movement, rather than through the traditional operation of visual object and beholder. 

Sehgal’s work raises pertinent questions about the mass production and consumption of materials that have taken hold of our contemporary life. With a deep consideration of locality and minimal carbon footprint, a full cast of over 170 people was chosen in Hong Kong through a long process of exchange, training, and collaboration—offering immeasurable community impact and turning the institution towards engagement beyond its usual remit.