 Rewriting History Phoebe Man 2009 -11 Many women have experienced indecent assaulted. The number of reported indecent assaulted cases has increased rapidly in Hong Kong. "Share indecent assaulted experience" is a hot topic on a popular Hong Kong forum on the Internet. |  |
| "Rewriting
History" is a series of art works that addresses the issue of indecent assault.
Through releasing memories and imaginations, making destruction and construction,
the works tried to confront the misconceptions of the society and to attain self
empowerment. "Rewriting History" has 5 versions: writing, paper cutting, installation, animation and interactive installation. When comparing with works of similar topic which put emphasis on the impact, Phoebe's works are subtle and have kind of psychological undercurrent. | |
Individual idea of 5 versions of "Rewriting History"
| 1.
creative writing For the written version (http://www.cyman.net/RW/stories.pdf) the artist rewrote stories of her own and other impressive stories told by some sexual assault survivors. It aims to organize thoughts, reflect the reality, and to have paradigm shift. |
2.
paper cutting (http://www.cyman.net/RW/paper/main.htm)
When looking at the paper and thinking of how to deal with the stories, Phoebe
said she would like to show her feelings and thinking through cutting and sculpting
these paper. The paper cutting version is about the trauma of the victims, the
misconceptions of sexual assault, the desire for a supportive society and the
encouragement of the offenders to cease committing crime.
For the form "paper
cutting" (Jianzhi), it is a traditional Chinese craft which was commonly
done by women to decorate their homes. When girls invented some new patterns,
they would share them among themselves. They also use Jianzhi to express their
thoughts. Although Jianzhi is not regard as "high art", it is a hands-on
way of art expression which can reflect the inner self sometimes. The artist said
that is why she like paper cutting. She like to have dialogue with paper and explore
the potential of it. It could be a form of respect.
3. Installation
Phoebe
mixed the paper cutting with a cabinet. It is about the desire of hiding and releasing.
2010
version
2011
version
4.
animation 3mins 55second, Mini DV, Color, Sound., 2010
Excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys66jPi3nQc
When the
artist was looking at her paper cutting, she could see them moving. Therefore
she made an animation to put all the imaginative scenes together. There is a little
girl fighting with a big hand in the animation. Big hand is a symbol of power.
People sexual assaulted other people because of power. They need reassurance or
they are assertive.
5. Interactive Installation, 2011
Video Documentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoRobCarbw0
The big hand is a symbol of power. It will follow the audience. Hit the hand and it will turn to something good - flowers. It encourages audience to fight against the abuse of power.
Concept/ Photo: Phoebe Man
Programmer: Ling Huang, John Ho
Background
The sexual assault crime rates have been raising over the years as supported
by Annual Reports of Hong Kong Police. There are 775 cases reported indecent assault
and 54 cases reported rape in 2010 from January to June, around 20% increase when
comparing with the same period in 2009. It cannot reflect the reality because
most of the women did not report their cases. A research found that only 11% of
victims reported their cases to the police (Ng 2005). Does it mean that people
don't care about these crimes? However, impacts on victims are negative and could
be life-long in some cases. Below are the words* from a sexual assault survivor.
KC,
50 years old, survivor of 2 rapes,
“ One thing I always think about being a
victim, now a survivor, I live a life sentence. Once I was a victim the first
time I was stripped of my freedom. I haven’t gotten that back in my fifty years.
Freedom. They walk the streets and I live a life sentence. I’ll live it to the
day I die – I can’t shake it.”
“When both rapes happened, I learned the impact
of fear – there was a knife in the first one and the second was physically violent
so … I’m always worrying ‘what if’ … so I try to avoid it at all cost.”
“You’re
kind of like a leper, too, if you’ve been raped.”
(Reddington and Kreisel,
2009)
Why don’t victims report their cases? Why do they only feel comfortable
to mention their experience through anonymous channel? Why is the crime rate raising?
Why is it hard to convict the offenders (a research found that only 18.4% of the
offenders are convicted of sexual crime from 2001 to 2004, (Ng 2005))? Why do
offenders commit crime? Why did they commit it over and over again and could not
stop until they are caught by the police? (A research found that almost all of
the offenders committed crime far more than the number of times that they are
being arrested, some even did it hundreds or thousand times (Yuen, Working group
on Assessment and treatment of Sex Offender 2004))
There are biological,
psychological, sociological and Cultural reasons behind the crime. Mythologies
of rape and indecent assault also contributed to the cause. Traditional gender
roles and sexism are still common in Hong Kong. Art as a social force can be a
mean to respond to this phenomenon.
Works
Cited:
Ng, Irene. RainLily 466 Calls from the Victims:
The problem of Sexual Violence Cannot Be Ignored. Association Concerning
Sexual Violence Against Women, Jan. 2005.
Reddington, Frances P. and
Kreisel, Betsy Wright (edited) .Sexual assault : the victims, the perpetrators,
and the criminal justice system, Durham, N.C. : Carolina Academic Press, 2009.
Working Group on Assessment and Treatment of Sex Offender (edited) .The causes
and treatment of sexual offenses. Clinical Psychological Service Branch,
Social Welfare Department, Hong Kong, 2004.
Exhibition History:
Paper
Cutting
2009 - 2011 Fotan
Artists open Studios, Fotanian,
Hong Kong.
2010 Shifting Definitions, OV
gallery, Shanghai, China.
2010 COLLECTIVITY,
1a Space,
Hong Kong.
2009 A-USUAL
OBJECTS, Experimenta, Hong Kong.
Installation
2010 -
2011Fotan Artists
open Studios, Fotanian, Hong Kong.
Animation Screening
History:
2011 The
Other: Hong Kong Experimental Shorts, Videotage, Hong Kong
2011
Fotan Artists
open Studios, Fotanian,
Hong Kong.
2010 Shifting Definitions, OV
gallery, Shanghai, China.
2010 Hong Kong Screening: The Other, EX!T
2010: Experimental Media Festival in
Taiwan, Image-Movement Film
Association, Taipei, Taiwan
Media Coverage
CNNGo.com:
What does feminism have to do with Chinese art?
OV Gallery’s new exhibition, "Shifting Definitions," asks if women’s issues are only Western issues
[9.11.2010]
am730: Art
against Assault and Discrimination [12.1.2011] (Chinese only)
Hong
Kong Daily News: Use Art to Rewrite History[13.1.2011](Chinese only)
Hong
Kong Economic Journal: From Phoebe Man to Feminism [17.1.2011](Chinese
only)
