Virtue Village: Vibe Buster
What is inherited; what is our own? Three years after their debut solo show 鈥淰illage Porn,鈥� Hong Kong-based artist duo Virtue Village presents 鈥淰ibe Buster,鈥� an experiential exploration of hauntology, queer theory, and the personal archive. Engaging not with literal ghosts but the intimate, spectral lingering of taught narratives, Virtue Village parse their new body of work across three central themes: the death of identity, the death of the father, and the death of magic.
At the crux of the show is the theory of queer hauntology, an identity movement that challenges the inclusivity of the 鈥渂orn this way鈥� narrative. Institutionalized through popular culture and political agenda, the slogan has been instrumental in the advancement of queer rights鈥攜et its message contains a paradox, one that suggests queerness and identity is a fixed, and perhaps even inherited, state.
Challenging this concept is You鈥檙e a Wizard, Baby! (2025), an outsize identification card displayed on the floor as if dropped by a recent visitor. Referencing a document that lists a person鈥檚 gender, residence, and birthday鈥攁ll facts that make, according to governments, a person legible or valid鈥攖his alternate ID card instead deconstructs or kills the notion of identity, featuring cryptic symbols and messages that refute rigid recognition or identification. Yet an enigmatic quote by a Tibetan Buddhist monk inscribed on its surface鈥斺�渨hatever you resist, exists鈥濃�攑rovides yet another perspective: the more we struggle against systems of control, the more we are in turn controlled by them.
These slippery tensions continue with a series of ties, 鈥淗omme Fatale鈥� (2025). Referencing Joseph Chen鈥檚 patrilineal family history in manufacturing silk ties, the accessories feature portraits of Wah, a performance artist and recurring collaborator in Virtue Village鈥檚 works. Acting as a conduit for the father figure, Wah鈥檚 explicit range of expressions鈥攆rom tender to enraged鈥攔eveal a fragmented performance of masculinity, referencing the felt absence of Chen鈥檚 father and grandfather in his childhood, and the tensions of heteronormative conformity.
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What is inherited; what is our own? Three years after their debut solo show 鈥淰illage Porn,鈥� Hong Kong-based artist duo Virtue Village presents 鈥淰ibe Buster,鈥� an experiential exploration of hauntology, queer theory, and the personal archive. Engaging not with literal ghosts but the intimate, spectral lingering of taught narratives, Virtue Village parse their new body of work across three central themes: the death of identity, the death of the father, and the death of magic.
At the crux of the show is the theory of queer hauntology, an identity movement that challenges the inclusivity of the 鈥渂orn this way鈥� narrative. Institutionalized through popular culture and political agenda, the slogan has been instrumental in the advancement of queer rights鈥攜et its message contains a paradox, one that suggests queerness and identity is a fixed, and perhaps even inherited, state.
Challenging this concept is You鈥檙e a Wizard, Baby! (2025), an outsize identification card displayed on the floor as if dropped by a recent visitor. Referencing a document that lists a person鈥檚 gender, residence, and birthday鈥攁ll facts that make, according to governments, a person legible or valid鈥攖his alternate ID card instead deconstructs or kills the notion of identity, featuring cryptic symbols and messages that refute rigid recognition or identification. Yet an enigmatic quote by a Tibetan Buddhist monk inscribed on its surface鈥斺�渨hatever you resist, exists鈥濃�攑rovides yet another perspective: the more we struggle against systems of control, the more we are in turn controlled by them.
These slippery tensions continue with a series of ties, 鈥淗omme Fatale鈥� (2025). Referencing Joseph Chen鈥檚 patrilineal family history in manufacturing silk ties, the accessories feature portraits of Wah, a performance artist and recurring collaborator in Virtue Village鈥檚 works. Acting as a conduit for the father figure, Wah鈥檚 explicit range of expressions鈥攆rom tender to enraged鈥攔eveal a fragmented performance of masculinity, referencing the felt absence of Chen鈥檚 father and grandfather in his childhood, and the tensions of heteronormative conformity.
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