Let No More Days Be Numbered: Florence Lam’s Performances

This essay proposes that time and body movements complement spatial conceptualisations of dwelling, as evidenced in the performance practice of Hong Kong-based artist Florence Lam. In her work, she prioritises giving time rather than making space (as dimension) or place (as meaning). The materials she employs in the performances do not designate specific spatial boundaries; they become varying material formations evoking competing motifs of violence, vulnerability and vitality. Her work offers inspiration as to how time could be individuated and embodied despite the speed of social and political changes in Hong Kong recently. The moving body becomes a pathway for reconciliation. As it dwells in time, it allows for hesitation over the meaning of historical and personal memories. By prioritising fluidity in movements that are new every time, the artist sustains what remains unresolved and unsettling in understanding destruction.