No looking back

In this digital installation, a silhouetted figure is seen bringing the words "Emptiness is form, form is emptiness" - the central tenet from the seventh-century Buddhist text The Heart Sutra - to life through sign language on M+ museum's 65-by-110-meter LED facade. The glow from the cloudburst of colors on screen is reflected against the Kowloon skyline, rippling out across the waters of the harbor. Visible from anywhere on the north coast of Hong Kong Island, The Shape of Light draws attention to the illusory, and ephemeral, nature of our material existence. Apotheosized in a work of digital art, this piece of ancient wisdom serves as a perfect counterpoint to the mighty International Commerce Centre tower standing next to it.

A co-commission by ABHK and M+, the site-specific work is Pau's gift to Hong Kong as the city tries to shake off two and a half years of pandemic fatigue. "I hope my version of The Heart Sutra helps ease pain and suffering. I hope it can turn on the light of wisdom for the city to move past difficult times," the artist says.