What Are Your Names, ‘Asia(n)’?. video
‘아시아’의 이름은 무엇입니까?. 영상
single-channel video. Oct 2023
What Are Your Names, Asia(n)? (2023), questions the ambiguities and oversimplifications of the word 'Asia(n),' as used in North American publications, and hails the silenced names of the agencies behind this term. In the video, the artist runs her hands over five books titled "Asia," or "Asian," randomly selected in Ann Arbor District Library, then softly lays her head on each book. She whispers and writes the names of distinct characters, food ingredients, regions, and artworks on the book titles. This attentive and somehow helpless performance—due to its impossibility to alter the title and hear her voice clearly—invites viewers to reflect on the history of Western literature, where Asia(n) is presumed to be a single obscure entity, both geographically and culturally. Through the work, the artist calls attention to those beings whose unique characteristics and names are forgotten and diminished under a generic construct of Asia(n). These tender gestures serve as one Asian’s loving words to another, devoting her utmost effort towards a goal that is futile in nature.
