Participant Responses to the Site

We asked each participant to write a short paragraph response to the site on Day Two after we had a chance to do a site-work overview as well as observation and exploration. Below are highlights from the collective responses, and below that, the full text from each participant. We have not edited the responses in any way, only typed them out for inclusion on the blog. Enjoy!

--Tom

Excerpts:

"Bethanie, there might be many stories in it" -- Maru

"I feel like I’m in a tiny cell going through a body,entering from the blood vessel to the lung and finally I come to the heart of this building." -- Kerry

"Knowing that it was used as a sanitorium, these characters do feel very much like the atmosphere of a nursing home or hospital. Also, after studying the inhabitants that were once here, I felt so much more in touch with them in their absence – than I did with the present inhabitants in their presence. " -- Derek

"The Bethanie is not soft, nor friendly, but it’s holy and demands respect." -- Lawrence

"Standing outside overlooking the South China Sea, my mind just wonders into the lives of these missionaries and the recovery process, what could have gone through their minds, their longing for home." -- Tommy

"The Bethanie site gives me a strong sense of frustration." -- Kayuen

"It made to think about a human. How to living and how human fight for their life." -- Odilia

"There is this smell when I first entered the main entrance of the building, a smell that many historical spaces own." -- Catherine

"It is the oldest western building I saw in Hong Kong... The pattern on the ground, the glass on the wall, the doors and the stairs… most of the things in Bethanie are symmetrical." -- Alz

"Enveloped in greenery, the sea view and the gentle breeze, I can feel its regenerative power." -- Gabrielle

"I experienced a sense of sinking deeper within myself, and only once I stepped into the chapel did I feel like I ever walked into a settled space and felt like I arrived." -- Muriel

'Her body, the wall of Bethanie, surprised me the most. It is not smooth at all, in fact, it is rough. It seems like she is trying to protect something or against something. The repeating patterns in Bethanie shows her patience or maybe she tries to remind us something." -- Rebecca

"I love the hardness of the site, the way it challenges us physically, emotionally, spiritually… so much inspiration, and that’s just in the density of the rock." -- Patricia

Other Full Responses to Site

Derek: Upon arriving to the Bethanie site – the surrounding nature and uplifted elevation is very warm and refreshing. The architecture and colors are very pretty and soothing to the eye. But, once walking through and around the premises, it has the opposite feeling. One of coldness, hallowness, coarsness, and hard. It’s very picturesque, but once you personally experience (walk, touch, sit, etc.) in the environment it has a very unsoothing vibe. Knowing that it was used as a sanitorium, these characters do feel very much like the atmosphere of a nursing home or hospital. Also, after studying the inhabitants that were once here, I felt so much more in touch with them in their absence – than I did with the present inhabitants in their presence.

Charles:

Peace.

in a great one piece

Where illness are healed, and where the sicks believe.
Tranquility.

from which comes creativity.

When my senses make, and where my body shakes.

Kerry:
Clean but bloody.I feel like I’m in a tiny cell going through a body,entering from the blood vessel to the lung and finally I come to the heart of this building.

Tommy: Bethanie to me is a very peaceful place, and where my friend got married. I didn’t know that it had such a great history of pain. The history of this sanitorium reflected to me on how determine people can be, the hard work they put in to help others. Standing outside overlooking the South China Sea, my mind just wonders into the lives of these missionaries and the recovery process, what could have gone through their minds, their longing for home.

Kayuen: The Bethanie site gives me a strong sense of frustration. One hundred years ago, the site was a spiritual place for religious purpose. But now, it is preserved as a Heritage something which can be accessed by tourists; and it is rent for the Academy of Performing Arts of Hong Kong for educational use. It seems spirituality is no longer there.

Gabrielle: I had never visited Bethanie before joining this workshop. The first impression that Bethanie gave me was that it is gorgeous and the neo-Gothic style building looks like it doesn’t belong on Hong Kong Island. Reviewing its history, it is easy to understand the geographical choice for this sanitorium. Enveloped in greenery, the sea view and the gentle breeze, I can feel its regenerative power. It’s so peaceful esp in the Chapel. But I can still feel a bit of tension from the rough walls. And there are so many symmetrical structures along with multiple frames. Everything is in order. With its history and architecture, I think it’s really a nice place for a site-specific performance.

Maru: Bethanie, there might be many stories in it. The white colour makes me feel peaceful. It’s like a hospital. But the most interesting is the mixed new and old things. I can dream that I am traveling in a time tunnel. I can go to the past. I can go to the future. And I most like the “box” before entering the Chapel. There, one two ground lights from the floor in front of the sides of the inner doors. If doors closed and just these two lights on, it can be a magic room that people inside can think about their life. The past and the future.

Lawrence: Strong – balanced, dominating. The space has power beyond its esthetic . The hallways are vessels of containment, you can feel surrounded and enclosed, watched by both the modern cameras and visitors that reside through resonating spirit. The depth is shallow, with a commitment to its shape. The Bethanie is not soft, nor friendly, but it’s holy and demands respect.

Alz: I know Bethanie because there is a model in HKAPA. The first time I saw it, I feel disconsolate. It look like a castle. It is the oldest western building I saw in Hong Kong. It is old but you can also say it is modern. HKAPA restored in 2003.
When I be there in Pokfulam, I really enjoy the natural light from its high, colorful glass and the view towards the Peak and outly islands. It’s very peaceful.
The pattern on the ground, the glass on the wall, the doors and the stairs… most of the things in Bethanie are symmetrical.
I enjoy to be dancing there. It is very artistic.

Muriel: A pitched roof, Flying buttresses and pointed arches proudly defend Bethanie on the outside. While on the inside: corridors lined with small rooms focus and lead to the chapel: the space with the tallest ceiling, high ribbed vaults, stained glass tableaux and the most light. The repetition of arches lining the verandah aid in creating a sense of balance, strength, security and safety. I loved noticing that the strong lines and security of the architecture is represented by stone or marble and the doors are of flexible, softer material: wood and light. Passing the arches, the beams of light and going through doors over and over again placed my mind in an active meditative space, I experienced a sense of sinking deeper within myself, and only once I stepped into the chapel did I feel like I ever walked into a settled space and felt like I arrived.

Keene: Bethanie have a over 100 years history. It experiences that the World War. The world financial problem. SAR, etc. It still here and also witness of Hong Kong everything. Bethanie grow up with Hong Kong and who love in there (HK). The building are full of Culture and Art feature. There architecture are full of it’s build feature. When I stay in the chapel I feel so sanctity and peaceful. And also means “Dead” and “Alive.”

Odilia: Is there have any ghost story? Full of secret here? Many people die in Bethanie?All these questions are around of human dying! First, I came there for my audition. I came to the theater room which are on the 2/F. It had a beautiful view to the harbor, and the glass housetop, a lovely sky view! And this is my second time to visit Bethanie, to know about the history there. It made to think about a human. How to living and how human fight for their life. The sunshine come into the Chapel, made me feel peaceful, all the love and sad here.

Rebecca: The first day I visited Bethanie, she was so calm. So peaceful and graceful. Bethanie was so silence, esp inside the chapel. I can hear the sound we made bouncing back from the wall. Her body, the wall of Bethanie, surprised me the most. It is not smooth at all, in fact, it is rough. It seems like she is trying to protect something or against something. The repeating patterns in Bethanie shows her patience or maybe she tries to remind us something.

Patricia: Bethanie is a hard site.

If you’d asked me yesterday I would have expanded on the rich history of the site – a kaleidoscopic layering of faith with healing, sanctuary with hospice, passion with restraint – and the haunting juxtaposition of its role today as a school of film & television – a surreal medium that allows for reality to be mirrored, captured, imposed, superimposed, created, edited, cropped, rewound, sped up.

I would have mentioned the symmetrical architecture with interesting potential for framing; the high ceilings that seem to highlight that separation of Earth and heaven, challenging me as a performer to try and cross that boundary, fill that space. The daily transformation the site goes under as the lighting changes with the journey of the sun and then the change into evening. And for me, I always find some of the most motivating aspects of a site are the different textures of the structures and how they look, feel and emote.

But after the fun exploration and developments yesterday, the only thing that strikes me about the site is that it is literally hard. An inventory of the bruises that colour my body, the marks they leave are inspiration in upon themselves. I love the hardness of the site, the way it challenges us physically, emotionally, spiritually… so much inspiration, and that’s just in the density of the rock.

Catherine: I’ve never been to Bethanie before until this Monday. I’ve always thought, from the pictures of the church, that it is a grandeur church situated in a piece of large greenery. It turned out to be a cozy, warm and welcoming little church housed in an elevated land, yet kept its privacy created by the plants surrounding it; a perfect space for a sanatorium in the past, and an educational space at present. It¡¦s like going to a resort every day, out from the city’s hustle life and dancing in such lovely space. There is this smell when I first entered the main entrance of the building, a smell that many historical spaces own. And the wall, the doors at the side, the patterns of tiles and the high ceiling all reminded me of my high school, which made the experience even more welcoming.

Evelyn:

welcome, says bethanie,
who sent forth its aura to embrace the lone visitor,
treading on its grounds for the first time,
ushering her way
through hollow hallways, hallowed halls.
nolstagia is written
in the air
she stood,
entranced, enthralled, captivated, spellbound,
held—
beyond words, beyond sounds, beyond thoughts way beyond bounds,
as if time has shifted through the embodied space,
life has inscribed itself through the walls that echo
their stories, untold stories.
but yet she is wary…
of the ghosts in the hallways
who peek at her, an intruder
into this sacred, holy place.
101 years, 101 deaths,
101 souls and ghouls, with long white beards,
creases in their foreheads, wrinkled eyelids that hid their glassy blue eyes,
in robes wrapped around their ailing bodies,
crucifixes around their necks.
101 years, 101 deaths,
101 souls who guarded this stone mansion
till their day of rest.
they stare,
down,
God-like,
shaking their baldy heads,
at the intruder, the traitor,
the blasphemer,
who has forgotten,
God’s face and His caring hand.