DEER FANG ::::

Deer Fang’s two-channel video installation Don’t Talk about Politics makes reference to the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ torch relay and the debates that arose internationally about Chinese politics and democracy. The video installation presents the conflict the artist experienced while living in China during the race towards the Olympics and the international attention focused on China: patriotism over against skepticism, collectivism over against individualism.

The first channel in the installation shows the rehearsal and performance of a Cantonese girls’ dance group. The second channel displays footage captured during the Guangzhou leg of the global tour of the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ torch. This video features a line-up of local police and military waiting for the flame to arrive. The title Don’t Talk about Politics comes from a publicized response from the central Chinese government to torch-relay protesters—the response having stated that the Olympic games should not be politicized.

Fang, an SFAI alumna, is a video artist working in San Francisco and Guangzhou. Her earlier projects investigate the condition of video in art making and the dynamics of the production process through participation, improvisation, real-time, and socialization. Her current work uses common formats from popular culture such as the news, reality TV shows, and music and online videos to dissect culture and political meanings in the media and in our everyday society. www.deerfang.org