Ghostwalking (2010) is a series of audio-video walks.

It takes the form of a download, which people will listen to or watch while on the train or exploring neighbourhoods off the North East Line (NEL).

Stories and memories are played out at the different locations. At a life’s end, what does one remember? A love, a heartbreak, a loss… perhaps a moment is replayed, over and over again. The narrator, Tony is haunted, or is he haunting these places?

He tells stories, lies, attempts to make sense of his life once lived or invent one he’s dreamed about. During the journey, past and future intermix, jump cutting the listener from love and innocence in the 60s to futuristic Punggol in 2021, from climbing up Pearl’s Hill in the heady 70s to a domestic scene of trauma during the war.

The effect of the walks is cumulative. All the little and big things that add up to a life. Do they mean anything? Does your life mean a thing?

Look back, have you left anything behind?

Listen to Ghostwalking here.

Production Credits:

Concept: Kaylene Tan, Text: Ben Slater, Kaylene Tan, Sound/Music: Evan Tan, Voices: Brendon Fernandez, Lim Kay Siu, Glory Ngim, Oon Shu An, Kaylene Tan, Tony Yeow, Video: Sherman Ong

Another incarnation of the project was presented at the Architecture Section of the PQ Prague Quadrenial of Performance Design and Space in 2011. The exhibit, Ghostwalking: Take Possession made in collaboration with architect, Ling Hao looked at the city as a performance space included sound, video and an interactive table. 

Sherman Ong went on to present the three videos as part of Motherland, a project that deals with the migration. Watch the videos here (Xiao Jing) and here (Jesman)