The Gesture I / 手勢 I

2019
lecture performance
LED screen, digital projection, 3D-printed sculpture x 9, 29 min
by Musquiqui Chihying and Chen Liang-Hsuan
work commissioned by Times Museum
video trailer ︎

Filmed in 1985 in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Mr. Vampire is a classic of Chinese-language zombie cinema. The film deftly blends the genres of Kung Fu, Thriller, and Comedy, becoming an almost overnight box office sensation in the Hong Kong and Taiwan film industries. Clad in Qing Dynasty court robes with their ghostly visages, the zombies in the film have also been interpreted as metaphors for 'the other' and 'fear.' In the 1980s, when the economies of Hong Kong and Taiwan were booming, the film projected the public’s fears and anxieties about the other and uncertainty about the future. Even today, despite changing times, the underlying causes of anxiety related to the transformation of political identities, immigration, and epidemic invasion have not been eradicated.

The lecture performance The Gesture I appropriates nine gestures from Taoist exorcism rituals, as used by the master (played by Lam Ching Ying) in the film to combat demonic forces: Power, Energy, Harmony, Healing, Intuition, Awareness, Dimension, Creation, and the Absolute. This performance explores the cultural representations in Chinese zombie films and how they might offer a means of addressing contemporary anxieties.

Installation view at Times Museum in China, 2019

© 2024 Musquiqui Lab

The Gesture I / 手 勢 I

© 2024
Musquiqui Lab

The Gesture I / 手勢 I