Performance at Times Square, NYC
HD, 2 channel video installation, photo documentation, 2013
In my work, I use costumes to be someone else for a moment. I regard costume as the character’s face. I made a costume with printed fake American dollars covering my whole body, and then stood in front of the fake ‘Statue of Liberty’ actor. In the second performance of “Statue of Liberty II”, I was wearing the casual costume that I wear everyday, while holding a sign saying, “I’m a Chinese Citizen. $10 for Taking a Photo with Me”. Interestingly, more than ten people stopped and paid $10 to take a photo with me. In this performance, people don’t view my work passively – they become collaborators.
Throughout this performance, I wonder: What is freedom? What’s the definition of a costume? What is a nation? Also, what is liberty? Why can all the actors who are wearing costumes in Times Square charge $10 to take a photo with the tourists?
