Venue
Columbus Drive, Base Space, SAIC 2012
Defibrillator, Chicago, 2014
Year of Creation
2012
Medium
Installation & performance art video
Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of “Passive violence” and the symbology of the turtle were referenced in this work.
Ideal values conveyed by legends of the Four Sacred Animals: the Dragon, Unicorn, Turtle, and Phoenix are impregnated in the Vietnamese collective mind. The Turtle represents Stability, Sustainment and Endurance. At vital moments, the turtle appeared to safeguard Vietnam’s independence from invaders. Nowadays, the symbol has a negative face. Everyone is uniformly obedient. So was born my performance and installation work. I wore a white laboratory coat then beat one turtle at a time with a hammer, exposing their mechanical viscera. I was performing as a beholder of my action caused by some subconscious passive habit.
