Las performances de Patty Chang tratan temas de género, lenguaje y empatía. Trabajando casi siempre con video, Chang usa este medio para documentar sus actuaciones, a menudo utilizando las posibilidades que entrega la cámara para tergiversar imágenes. Sus trabajos desafían la percepción de los espectadores sobre lo que están viendo, creando juegos de prestidigitación, los que resaltan las fantasías en las representaciones de “Asia”. Su trabajo ha sido exhibido a nivel nacional e internacional en el Museo Guggenheim y New Museum en Nueva York; Hammer Museum en Los Angeles; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Chicago; Hamburg Kunstverein en Hamburgo; y Moderna Museet en Estocolmo. Fue nominada para el Premio Hugo Boss en 2008, llamado Guna S. Mundheim Fellow of Visual Arts at the American Acade.

As obras performáticas de Patty Chang lidam com temas relativos ao gênero, à linguagem e à empatia. Trabalhando predominantemente em vídeo, Chang usa esta mídia para documentar suas performances, frequentemente utilizando o potencial da câmera para misrepresentar. As suas obras frequentemente desafiam as percepções do espectador sobre o que eles vêm, muitas vezes criando truques de prestidigitação visual que destacam representações fantásticas da “Ásia”. A obra de Chang já foi exibida nacionalmente e internacionalmente no Guggenheim Museum em Nova Iorque; New Museum em Nova Iorque; Hammer Museum em Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art em Chicago; Hamburg Kunstverein em Hamburgo; e Moderna Museet em Estocolmo. Ela foi indicada para o Prêmio Hugo Boss em 2008 e nomeada a bolsista Guna S. Mundheim de Artes Visuais da American Academy.

Slide courtesy of Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc.

Fountain (1999)

Patty Chang addresses standards of beauty, representations of Asian women, and the politics of the male gaze in Fountain (1999). Throughout the performance, Chang stares into a mirror while drinking water from her reflection. To create the imagery in the video recording, she reverses the orientation of the performance footage captured on camera. By displaying the footage vertically (as seen in the preserved video documentation)––rather than horizontally as it was initially shot—Chang creates an illusion of herself drinking water from an upright mirror. Positioning the footage this way flips the visual plane and reshapes the viewer’s perception of the performance recording. Chang’s Fountain was intended to be part of Franklin Furnace’s History of the Future (1999) netcast on Pseudo Programs, Inc.’s the Performance Channel. However, the corporation went bankrupt during the height of the culture wars, leaving the performance footage in the artist’s possession until it was preserved by the Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library.

PATTY CHANG explores gender, language, and empathy through a performative art practice. Predominantly working in video, Chang uses the medium to document her performances, often utilizing the camera’s potential to misrepresent. Her works challenge the viewer’s perception of what they may see, frequently creating visual sleights of hand that highlight fantastical representations of “Asia.” Chang’s artwork has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum, New Museum, Hammer Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Hamburg Kunstverein, and Moderna Museet, among other venues. She was nominated for the Hugo Boss Prize (2008), named the Guna S. Mundheim Fellow of Visual Arts at the American Academy in Berlin (2009), and received the Guggenheim Fellowship (2014). www.pattychang.com