Moving Target Shadow Detection, 2022

Everything or Nothing starts on the ground floor of the gallery with the artist’s new video Moving Target Shadow Detection (2022). Commissioned by Forma and Frieze, it investigates the mysterious illness known as the Havana Syndrome. In 2016, U.S. State officials stationed in Cuba were the first to be diagnosed with the syndrome, which encompasses ailments such as headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, nausea or visual disturbances, with unclear causes. Intelligence services suspected attacks with powerful electromagnetic waves to be behind the reported health problems, with some theories suggesting sonic or acoustic weapons attacks.

Given her interest in inconspicuous surveillance systems, and new war technologies, her film goes back to where it all began: a room at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana, where the first instance of Havana Syndrome was reported. The video reconstructs meticulously all details as a 3D animation. Surveillance cameras and Nano drone footage draw a path from the hotel lobby to a room, occupied by a member of the CIA, where viewers hear news reports about recent Havana Syndrome attacks around the world.

Sung Tieu, Moving Target Shadow Detection, 2022, HD animation and sound, 18 min 56 sec (Extract)