Trevor Yeung’s “Courtyard of Detachments”

The exhibition “Courtyard of Detachments” by Trevor Yeung is presented as a response to his earlier work, “Courtyard of Attachments,” and is showcased in Hong Kong. The exhibition explores themes of power dynamics, human relationality, and artificiality through mixed-media installations, drawing inspiration from Hong Kong's Mong Kok goldfish market. Historically, in the densely populated city of Hong Kong, fish have been popular pets due to limited living space. Yeung, having grown up in Hong Kong and cared for pet fish, finds the goldfish market a compelling subject, incorporating elements from it into his art. His artistic practice often choreographs animals, plants, and objects into staged scenes that subtly reveal intricate human relationships. This approach was previously seen at the 60th Venice Biennale, where Yeung’s installations featured flowing liquids and functional aquariums, notably without live fish. The 2024 exhibition, “Courtyard of Attachments,” combined cultural symbols with pet shop displays to highlight underlying artificial structures, building on the artist’s thematic interests. In contrast, “Courtyard of Detachments” in Hong Kong faces different contextual constraints, primarily the inability to incorporate large quantities of water due to the architectural design of the Herzog & de Meuron-designed gallery spaces. An installation titled *Pond of Never Enough (Under Construction)* (2025) in a bamboo-clad gallery, named the “Venetian Courtyard,” ironically alludes to this limitation. What was a working fountain in Venice is presented in Hong Kong as boarded up and dry, featuring seating that serves as a pedestal for sculptures made from found objects. Another significant piece, *Gate of Instant Love* (2024), is a metal sculpture that mimics the display structures found in Mong Kok fish shops, featuring mesh and S-hooks. Within its arch, a photograph titled *the stealth that doesn't hurt/the scratch that doesn't help* (2024) depicts wafer-thin clear plastic in a transparent acrylic frame. This image, appearing weightless and clinical from a distance, reveals subtle complexities through light refractions and scratches up close, echoing themes from the publication *Cruising Archaeology*, which documents flattened remnants from cruising sites. A separate room in the exhibition simulates an abandoned pet fish shop under neon-pink lighting. Here, *Little Comfy Tornado (After Typhoon)* (2025) consists of empty aquariums filled with filtration equipment necessary for sustaining fish in artificial environments. Wires, pipes, and pumps are arranged around a shattered glass tank on a plinth, serving as a "warning of the consequences of neglect." The exhibition’s use of textual descriptions often directs the interpretation of Yeung’s otherwise nuanced works. The aged appearance of the tanks, with clouded glass and lime-scarred rubber seams, transforms them into metaphors for societal systems that claim to provide care but also impose restrictions. The absence of water and life in these aquariums symbolizes a void, reflecting themes of longing or desire. This carefully constructed emptiness allows for the concept of attachment or detachment to be understood through the exhibition's infrastructure, turning the theme of animal husbandry into a broader examination of power dynamics, observation, and control, particularly evident with the inclusion of full-length mirrors in the room. #TrevorYeung #ArtExhibition #HongKong #MPlusMuseum #MixedMediaArt #CulturalSymbols #HumanRelationality #PowerDynamics #Artificiality #TrevorYeung #ArtExhibition #HongKong #MPlusMuseum #MixedMediaArt #CulturalSymbols #HumanRelationality #PowerDynamics #Artificiality