CV121 - Chun Hua Catherine Dong, I Have Been There — Didier Morelli
Ciel variable 121 - Wanderings (Fall 2022
Portfolios (Individual article, digital version)
Chun Hua Catherine Dong: I Have Been There – New York
To Be There, or To Have Been There | Y être ou y avoir été
— Didier Morelli
Since 2015, Chun Hua Catherine Dong has been creating performances at different iconic places in global cities. She lies on the ground, each time covered with a different silk blanket embroidered with traditional Chinese motifs, and is photographed in front of these places emblematic of the triumph of urban life. I Have Been There also distorts the common tourist snapshot and the ubiquitous selfie by displaying an unusual bodily presence that exposes attributes of an original culture. The New York photographic performance is part of a series produced in fifteen countries, thirty-six cities, and more than three hundred sites. Didier Morelli notes that Dong’s wanderings were not without waking old demons, such as ostracism of Asian communities. “Behind each perfectly composed image,” Morelli writes, “...are stories that betray the stillness of Dong’s body,” and he notes that her attitude is perceived as a threat to peace and stability.
Details
Language : English & French
Digital Version : PDF, 13,5 Mb
Bibliographical Notice
Didier Morelli, “Chun Hua Catherine Dong, I Have Been There — To Be There, or to Have Been There” in Ciel variable, No. 121, “Wanderings”, Montreal, 2022, p. 24-34.