Light Voice (2015)

Site-specific installation, motion sensor, LED light, radio, dimensions variable

Light Voice is a spatial intervention in an abandoned staircase of the White Building, Phnom Penh. Designed by Khmer architect Lu Ban Hap, the modernist apartment block was part of the responses to the public housing needs for the expanding Cambodian capital in the 1960s. With little maintenance over the decades, some staircases were abandoned, left in darkness, a deposit of rubbish, and frequented by drug users.

Together with some young residents, we cleaned up and repainted one staircase to its original white color. LED lights and radios are installed, and through motion sensors, they are activated whenever people pass by. The light and the sound permeate the architectural space, highlighting its beauty and accompanying the passersby.