Hsu Zheng, Breathing. Performance, 2017. Soul Mining, ASU Museum, Arizona, 2017. 8 artistas 1 trayectoria, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica, 2019. Cubo Negro, Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San José, Costa Rica, 2021.
On March 15th 1947 my paternal grandfather, a victim of the Kuoming Tan’s national campaign led by Chiang Kai Shek, disappeared. As a teacher who took part in a university student march on February 28th of that same year, he had been singled out as one of the march’s promoters and was arrested two weeks later, never to be seen again. It was only after 50 years that his execution was officially confirmed.
His disappearance resulted in a family identity built around the ensuing hardships and frequent tragic experiences my grandmother, father, uncles and aunts had to endure. At the same time his image became a representation of a heroic and mystic character, absent but always present. His disappearance and execution created an archetype that accompanied my family’s migration to Costa Rica. This archetype became the central axis around which my upbringing – that of a daughter of immigrants – orbited. My grandfather’s history was dislocated to Central America through my father and grafted onto me.In Breathing, I use my physical resemblance to represent and re-present my grandfather. This performance consists of projecting his face over mine and breathing deeply for a determined lapse of time, everyday, for a month. The performance brings to light the flesh and blood his presence attained in life. Here, his face overlaid on my own and using my ritual breathing, I emphasize his humanity instead of a heroic archetype. At the same time it constructs the immigrant’s identity: a projection of history superimposed on our own reality. Our resemblance unites us and symbolizes our linkages through different contexts: geographical, cultural, temporal and dimensional.
In Breathing, I use my physical resemblance to represent and re-present my grandfather. This performance consists of projecting his face over mine and breathing deeply for as long as I can endure it (20-35 minutes). The performance brings to light the flesh and blood his presence attained in life. Here, his face overlaid on my own and using my ritual breathing, I emphasize his humanity instead of a heroic archetype. At the same time it constructs the immigrant’s identity: a projection of history superimposed on our own reality. Our resemblance unites us and symbolizes our linkages through different contexts: geographical, cultural, temporal and dimensional.