‘HELMETING’ by Zhuyang Liu

HELMETING by Zhuyang Liu // 

Zhuyang Liu, HELMETING / 2024–25. Courtesy of the artist. © Zhuyang Liu.

videographer of the film: Didi hu 

‘A director called a bunch of performers to f*ck the work on public transport, cook and gamble their frequencies to solve a case’

Four-channel synchronized video installation, site-specific architectural intervention, live CCTV surveillance and installation.

’’A director called a bunch of performers to f*ck the work on public transport, cook and gamble their frequencies to solve a case is a

pseudo-scientific documentary that unfolds through absurd humour, speculative fiction and improvisation. The work combines field recordings

from everyday life in London with sonic textures drawn from Asian queer experience, constructing an acoustic landscape where apocalyptic

science fiction, experimental theatre and black comedy coexist.

Originally presented as a four-channel synchronized video installation, the film is set within an alternative reality in which people wear human-skin

helmets with listening devices embedded inside them to receive "human frequencies." This fictional premise creates an unsettling visual

language while opening questions surrounding communication, surveillance and the circulation of power. Throughout the film, performers

"bet on frequencies" in exchange for information, transforming listening into an unstable economy where knowledge, truth and evidence

become negotiable, speculative and open to manipulation.