Wong Kit Yi

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It’s well-documented but still not commonly known that amid today’s tense geopolitical climate, some of the world’s major powers have resorted to using fishermen and their vessels for (often covert) military and intelligence objectives. In this experimental TV episode, the Norwegian government enlists the services of an ordinary Norwegian fisherman for similar purposes. But the fisherman has ideas of his own about how best to use the resources allocated to him for his new official role. He feels called instead to accomplish something radical and exploratory in the world of television. He believes the result will be nothing short of revolutionary, particularly in an age of “peak TV”, with global online streaming services that far outshines the erstwhile “peak TV” days we once thought we knew with traditional television. Under the guidance of a TV god that seems to be communicating to him through his family’s television box, and with the encouragement of his olfactory-obsessed Chinese scientist wife and his two quirky daughters, our singe-minded, do-or-die fisherman sets out on an interdimensional covert covert mission in a narrative that blends elements of (soap) opera and karaoke while exploring the intersections of domestic life, art, politics, and mass media. 

This project is co-commissioned by The Kitchen and North Norwegian Art Centre for Lofoten International Art Festival - LIAF 2024 (September 20–October 20, 2024) and the exhibition Lines of Distribution at The Kitchen at Westbeth (November 21, 2024–January 18, 2025). The commission emerges from a cross-institutional dialogue between Alison Burstein, Curator at The Kitchen, and LIAF 2024 curator Kjersti Solbakken about overlaps between The Kitchen's historical and contemporary activities and LIAF 2024's curatorial framework. Burstein and Solbakken invited Wong to examine these resonances across time and place by conducting research in The Kitchen's Archives and by participating in residencies in Lofoten at Skrova Lighthouse and Sørvågen Radio. The resulting work draws inspiration from a range of materials—including those related to The Kitchen’s media productions such as Robert Ashley’s made-for-television opera Perfect Lives (1983) and Tom Bowes's arts and entertainment special Two Moon July (1986)—and was filmed on the premises at The Kitchen at Westbeth in New York in summer 2024.

Wong Kit Yi lives and works between New York and Hong Kong. Her works have been included in projects organized by The Kitchen (New York, 2023); M+ (Hong Kong, 2023); Tate Modern (London, 2023); FRONT Triennial (Cleveland, 2022); Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong, 2021); Public Art Fund (New York, 2020); Para Site (Hong Kong, 2019); Surplus Space (Wuhan, 2018); the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (Riga, 2017). She was a resident in the Chinati Foundation Artist in Residence program (Marfa, 2021) and received an MFA from Yale University. She has taught university courses about performance, video art, and new media and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts (New York) in the MFA Fine Arts program.