Samson Young (b. 1979, Hong Kong)
Multi-disciplinary artist Samson Young works in sound, performance, video, and installation. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Princeton University in 2013. In 2017, he represented Hong Kong at the 57th Venice Biennale. Other solo projects include the De Appel, Amsterdam; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh; SMART Museum, Chicago; Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art in Manchester; M+ Pavilion, Hong Kong; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Ryosoku-in at Kenninji Temple, Kyoto; and Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, among others. Selected group exhibitions include Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Gropius Bau, Berlin; Performa 19, New York; Biennale of Sydney; Shanghai Biennale; National Museum of Art, Osaka; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul; Ars Electronica, Linz; and documenta 14: documenta radio, among others. In 2020, he was awarded the inaugural Uli Sigg Prize. His works are in the collections of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Mori Art Museum, Japan; and KADIST, Paris.
“To imagine you’re hearing the same thing as somebody else, that you can’t fully process, is a wonderful way to know that there’s this other consciousness at the opposite end of the table. We are hearing the same sound, but I know we’re not really hearing the same thing, but I can acknowledge that, and can imagine what you’re experiencing.”
Hans Ulrich Obrist, “Booming: Samson Young,” Mousse Magazine, 2016
Installation view, A Dark Theme Keeps Me Here, I’ll Make a Broken Music, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, DE, 2016
1979 Born in Hong Kong
2002 BA in Music, Philosophy and Gender Studies, University of Sydney, Australia
2007 M. Philosophy in Music Composition, University of Hong Kong
2012 No Transnational: Liquid Borders and Empty Promises, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY
2013 PhD in Music Composition, Princeton University
Innovationist: the Spectacular Journey of New Media Art, Taipei Contemporary Art Museum, Taipei, TW
2015 Begins For Whom the Bell Tolls Project, spanning two years & eleven countries
2016 A Dark Theme Keeps Me Here, I’ll Make a Broken Music, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, DE
Installation view, One Hand Clapping, Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2018
2017 documenta radio, documenta 14
Songs for Disaster Relief, Hong Kong Pavillion, Venice Biennale
2018 One Hand Clapping, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
2019 Silver Moon Or Golden Star, Which Will You Buy of Me?, SMART Museum, Chicago
2020 100 Drawings from now, the Drawing Center, New York, NY
Real Music, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, AU
MAM Collection 012: Samson Young, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
2021 Studio: Samson Young, Capitain Petzel, Berlin
Begins showing with Petzel
2023 Forthcoming debut solo exhibition at Petzel
Sonata for smoke
2020
Production still
© Samson Young. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Dennis Man Wing Leung.
Sonata for smoke
2020
Production still
© Samson Young. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Dennis Man Wing Leung.
Sonata for smoke
2020
Production still
© Samson Young. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Dennis Man Wing Leung.
Installation view, The Immortals in exhibition "Unconstrained Textiles: Stitching Methods, Crossing Ideas", Centre for Heritage, Arts & Textiles, Hong Kong, 2020.
Image courtesy: Centre for Heritage, Arts & Textiles, Hong Kong and the artist. Photo: Dennis Man Wing Leung.
The Immortals (feat. Michael Schiefel, Eliza Li and DITHER)
Performa 19 Biennial
Image courtesy: Performa 19 Biennial and the artist. Photo: Caroline Budge.
The Immortals (feat. Michael Schiefel, Eliza Li and DITHER)
Performa 19 Biennial
Image courtesy: Performa 19 Biennial and the artist. Photo: Caroline Budge.
The world falls apart into facts
2019
Production still
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Lily Chan.
The world falls apart into facts
2019
Production still
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Lily Chan.
The world falls apart into facts
2019
Production still
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Lily Chan.
Utopia Trilogy #2: Da Da Company
2019
Animation still
Image courtesy of the artist.
Installation view, Utopia Trilogy #2: Da Da Company in exhibition "Samson Young: Silver Moon or Golden Star, Which Will You Buy of Me?", Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, 2019.
Image courtesy: Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago and the artist. Photo: Michael Tropea.
Possible Music #2
2019
3D-printed nylon, soft pastel, Jesmonite, polyurethane foam, timber, plywood, plaster, paint, bronze, 16-channel sound installation, 10 short compositions at regular intervals
Image courtesy: Talbot Rice Gallery, The University of Edinburgh and the artist. Photo: Sally Jubb.
Possible Music #2
2019
3D-printed nylon, soft pastel, Jesmonite, polyurethane foam, timber, plywood, plaster, paint, bronze, 16-channel sound installation, 10 short compositions at regular intervals
Image courtesy: Talbot Rice Gallery, The University of Edinburgh and the artist. Photo: Sally Jubb.
Installation view, Possible Music 1.5 in exhibition "Instrumentation", Hong Kong Visual Art Centre, 2019.
Image courtesy: Hong Kong Visual Art Centre and the artist. Photo: Lily Yiyi Chan.
Installation view, Possible Music 1.5 in exhibition "Instrumentation", Hong Kong Visual Art Centre, 2019.
Image courtesy: Hong Kong Visual Art Centre and the artist. Photo: Lily Yiyi Chan.
Installation view, Possible Music 1.5 in exhibition "Instrumentation", Hong Kong Visual Art Centre, 2019.
Image courtesy: Hong Kong Visual Art Centre and the artist. Photo: Lily Yiyi Chan.
It's a heaven over there: Interviews
2018
Performance documentation
Image courtesy: HKADC and the artist. Photo: Dennis Man Wing Leung.
It's a heaven over there: Interviews
2018
Performance documentation
Image courtesy: HKADC and the artist. Photo: Dennis Man Wing Leung.
It's a heaven over there: Interviews
2018
Performance documentation
Image courtesy: HKADC and the artist. Photo: Dennis Man Wing Leung.
Installation view, One Hand Clapping at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, May 4–October 21, 2018.
© Samson Young. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo Credit: Ji Hoon Kim, New York/Seoul.
Installation detail, One Hand Clapping at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, May 4–October 21, 2018.
© Samson Young. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo Credit: Ji Hoon Kim, New York/Seoul.
Installation view, Muted Situation #22: Muted Tchaikovsky's 5th in 21st Biennale of Sydney at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2018.
Image courtesy of the artist, Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; and Team Gallery, New York. Photo: Silversalt Photography.
Muted Situation #22: Muted Tchaikovsky's 5th
2018
Production still
Nocturne
2018
Performance still
Image courtesy: Hamburger Bahnhof and the artist. Photo: Miro Kuzmanovic.
Nocturne
2018
Performance still
Image courtesy: Hamburger Bahnhof and the artist. Photo: Miro Kuzmanovic.
Nocturne
2018
Performance still
Image courtesy: Hamburger Bahnhof and the artist. Photo: Miro Kuzmanovic.
Palazzo Gundane (homage to the myth-maker who fell to earth)
2017
Silk-screen print on vinyl cover, felt tip pen on vinyl records, 3D-printed nylon, vitrine of found objects, movable curtain system, neon, video, animation and 10-channel sound installation.
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel, Cologne.
Palazzo Gundane (homage to the myth-maker who fell to earth)
2017
Silk-screen print on vinyl cover, felt tip pen on vinyl records, 3D-printed nylon, vitrine of found objects, movable curtain system, neon, video, animation and 10-channel sound installation.
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel, Cologne.
Detail, Palazzo Gundane (homage to the myth-maker who fell to earth)
2017
Silk-screen print on vinyl cover, felt tip pen on vinyl records, 3D-printed nylon, vitrine of found objects, movable curtain system, neon, video, animation and 10-channel sound installation.
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel, Cologne.
Concept sketch, Palazzo Gundane (homage to the myth-maker who fell to earth)
2017
Image courtesy of the artist.
Detail, Palazzo Gundane (homage to the myth-maker who fell to earth)
2017
Silk-screen print on vinyl cover, felt tip pen on vinyl records, 3D-printed nylon, vitrine of found objects, movable curtain system, neon, video, animation and 10-channel sound installation.
Image of courtesy the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel, Cologne.
Installation view, We Are the World, as performed by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions Choir in exhibition "Samson Young: Songs for Disaster Relief", 57th Venice Biennale, 2017.
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel, Cologne.
We Are the World, as performed by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions Choir
2017
Video still
Image courtesy of the artist.
One of Two Stories, or Both (Field Bagatelles)
2017
Radio drama production still
Photo: Simon Bray, Manchester.
One of Two Stories, or Both (Field Bagatelles)
2017
Radio drama production still
Photo: Simon Bray, Manchester.
Live performance of Canon in exhibition "A dark theme keeps me here, I'll make a broken music", Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 2016/2017.
Image courtesy: Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel, Cologne.
Installation view, A dark theme keeps me here, I'll make a broken music, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 2016/2017.
Image courtesy: Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and the artist. Photo: Simon Vogel, Cologne.
Installation view, Canon in Art Basel Unlimited, 2016.
© Samson Young. Image courtesy Galerie Giesla Capitain and Team Gallery. Photo Credit: Simon Vogel.
Installation view, Hanne Darboven, Wade Guyton, Allan McCollum, Stephen Prina, Samson Young, Petzel, 2021
Installation view, Hanne Darboven, Wade Guyton, Allan McCollum, Stephen Prina, Samson Young, Petzel, 2021
Installation view, The World Falls Apart Into Facts, OTA Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2021
Installation view, Studio: Samson Young, Capitain Petzel, Berlin, DE, 2021
Installation view, 100 Drawings from Now, The Drawing Center, New York, 2020
Silver Moon Or Golden Star, Which Will You Buy of Me?, SMART Museum, Chicago, IL, 2019
Installation view, One Hand Clapping, Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2018
Installation view, Songs for Disaster Relief, Hong Kong Pavillion, Venice Biennale, 2017
Installation view, A Dark Theme Keeps Me Here, I’ll Make a Broken Music, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, DE, 2016
Muted Situation #2: Muted Lion Dance, 2014
Installation view, Coffee Cantata (Institute of Fictional Ethnomusicology), 2015
