Inspired by the untold personal story of the 19th-century Chinese poet and revolutionary Qiu Jin, Wu Tsang brings to life, subverts, and re-enacts the lesser-known romance and friendship with calligrapher Wu Zhiying. Set in contemporary Hong Kong, the film shifts between time and space, past and present, fact and fiction through Tsang's continued exploration of language and misinterpretation.
This two-channel film, initiated as a long-distance communication experiment, was the result of an exchange with Fred Moten, the poet and theorist whose work explores representation and identity in black avant-garde culture. Moten and Tsang left each other voicemail messages every day over a two-week period, never actually making contact, but often riffing off of the other’s previous message. The recordings of these messages serve as voiceover for footage of the faces of Moten and Tsang looking directly at the camera with deadpan expressions.
Salomania reconstructs a dance: the ‘dance of the seven veils’ from Alla Nazimova’s 1923 silent film Salomé. Also shown and rehearsed are sections from ‘Valda’s Solo,’ which the choreographer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer created after having seen Nazimova’s film.
Filmmaker, installation artist, activist and performer Wu Tsang produces artwork that addresses issues in the trans and LGBT community. Her work interrogates themes of gender identity, social spaces and the tension between film and art. In 2012, she produced the film Wildness, which focused on the weekly performance-art dance parties of the same name and featured vignettes of marginalised gay and trans communities. Says the artist, “For me performance is like research; lived experience is fundamental. I have to do these things to understand or have any critical analysis.” Tsang was featured in the 2012 Whitney Biennial and New Museum Triennial, and the 2014 edition of the Hammer Museum’s biennial exhibit “Made in L.A.”
By browsing this website, you accept our cookies policy.