Secret City, 2022
Music and video
3’17”

Secret City (2022) is a collaborative moving-image work developed with Winston Yeung that investigates the spatial politics of queer desire within Hong Kong's marginal urban enclaves. Set against the post-industrial backdrop of Tai Kok Tsui's back alleys, the video functions as a site-specific performance where the physical decay of the metropolis mirrors its fading spiritual landscape. Echoing the track's lyric regarding the "vanishing faith across this land," the work frames these hidden, nocturnal corners as spaces where temptation and clandestine narratives become tools for navigating urban alienation.

Through the methodology of drag, Yiu’s on-screen persona subverts traditional navigations of public space to embody a gender-fluid stream of desire. This visual exploration is anchored by a rigid, retro-industrial sonic framework. Employing an 80s-inspired vocal performativity that continuously oscillates between chest register and falsetto, the work uses vocality itself as a metaphor for the fluidity of queer identity. Ultimately, Secret City channels visceral, unrecorded urban secrets into an audiovisual dialogue on identity, sexuality, and spatial dynamics. 

《秘密都市》（2022）
3 分 17 秒

《秘密都市》（2022）是一部由姚氏與 Winston Yeung 共同創作的流動影像作品（moving-image work），旨在探討酷兒情慾在香港都市邊緣空間中的政治性。作品以大角咀後街巷弄的後工業地景為背景，將錄像轉化為一場場域特定展演（site-specific performance），城市實體的衰敗正正映射了其逐漸消散的精神面貌——一如歌詞所述：「信念消失於這邦」。在這些隱蔽的角落裡，誘惑與地下敘事成為了個體應對都市疏離感的一種方式。

透過變裝（drag）實踐，姚氏的螢幕形象顛覆了對公共空間的傳統認知，化身為模糊性別界線的情慾載體。這種視覺探索被錨定於復古工業音樂的聲響框架之中。透過借鑑80年代的流行唱腔，其聲線在真音與假音之間不斷游移，作品將「發聲性」（vocality）本身視為酷兒身份流動性的隱喻，將我城的地下秘密轉化為一場關於身份認同與空間動態的視聽對話。

"Secret City" Lyrics

Pitch-black sky, the route unseen,
Ignite the bike, ride the machine,
Hands grip tight, caught in between,
(Tell me where’s your sensitive spot)

Breath speeds up, the force fields rise,
Short, sharp gasps like a falcon's cries,
One attacks, one defends, no compromise,
(I’d like to do it without barriers)

It's the lingering echo of a blissful ache,
It's the fragrant recipe the night winds make,
It's the secret intel we never share (how could we share?)
A midnight rendezvous in the coastal air.
It's you on the street, roaming through the night,
Refracting my gaze, returning the sight,
(It's you looking back in the fading light)

Indulge me tonight, hit the basement space,
Who cares if tomorrow leaves an empty trace?
The vocals drop, setting a brand new pace,
(Do you wanna dance with me)

A twist, a bend, tracing marks you expose,
With every breath, the temptation grows,
Bodies colliding as the dead-end glows,
(Let me know you further tonight)

It's the echoing ache of flesh and bone,
A rainy night blurring the world we've known,
In the secret city, left completely unsaid (how could it be said?)
All these visceral forms, unrecorded and shed.
It's the vanishing faith across this land,
It's temptation taking the upper hand,
(Let us go explore it tonight)