<Power Play>

Inspired by the eviction story of Ma Wan’s abandoned town, the work seeks to explore the constant push and pull between entities of man, nature, and space. 

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Sensing and Testing Boundaries

Captured by a decayed house where nature has mostly taken over, I cautiously entered this unfamiliar space by removing the padlock and opening the wire gates. Instinctively, I wanted to test and push its boundaries. I immediately used a broom to sweep the dirt and seeping vines on the floor into the form of a triangle, until I could feel the resistance in some spots. This reminded me of the evicted residents. I then left it alone, and yielded.

Boundary Crossing, Violations and Enforcing

I further imposed this new triangular shape by wrapping in between the columns with cling film, enforcing a barrier. This repetitive action of wrapping strenuously forced my body in a small space between the wire gate and the column. Slowly, my back was covered in cuts, dirt and rust from the wire fence gate.

The finishing touches involved using found green rope and burgundy velvet curtain from an abandoned community hall, where leaders of the abandoned village gathered to have meetings. I tied this found rope into a web like structure within this triangular space, controlling and limiting the height and body movement of any trespassing stranger. Then, I hung the deep red curtain on the far end of the wire gates, almost like a victory flag.

As a visitor, to enter this space, you must open the padlock, go through the wire gate, bend down from the cling film, and manuever your body through a web of rope before the “flag” is witnessed. It becomes a space that you, too, can test and play its boundaries further.