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Nothing really happens in this city: Talking back in one’s worst manner (2024)
This performance was initiated by stumbling upon a stack of game cards labeled 'Trivial Pursuit' from a pub in London.
Each card contained 6 quizzes about random facts regarding the common sense of British people, with the answers provided on the back. The companion and I, both immigrants in London, went through the cards and played along. However, none of the questions could be answered.
(Pause and try answering one of them)
The card set was brought home, an irrational act caused by a mixture of frustration and determination. The day of this event, which involved stealing the card set, marked three and a half years since I moved to the UK.
All the drawing and painting tools used for the last three and a half years were laid out on the table, and 'I AM HERE' was written on the answer side of each card with them. There was no further intention involved while writing, such as aesthetic considerations or the layout, but only the thought of the sentence itself.
As a dramatic extension of this act of protestation, the card set was burnt into ashes in a glass jar. The action took place at the time of sunset and continued until no distinguishable figure remained in the jar. The next morning, the ashes were stuffed into a balloon for the following performance.
The balloon was then filled with helium gas. Three more balloons were also filled with helium to help lift the one containing the ashes. All four balloons were then tied together using fishing lines. Holding a camera to film the performance in one hand, the tied balloons were brought out to the backyard and released into the air using the other hand.
As the balloon set disappeared from sight, I turned on the Safari app to search for a website that shows the wind direction in my neighborhood. However, I soon figured out that the pre-installed weather app on my phone had the feature of forecasting the wind stream across the entire globe.
The wind was passing through the Netherlands, Berlin, Belarus, and then northwards to Moscow. I hoped for the wind to continue towards my hometown as I scrolled through the windstream. However, the stream was disconnected at China.
Finding my hometown on the weather app's wind tab marked the end of this performance.
Above is the video documentation of this performance, showing the process from burning the cards to releasing the balloons.
The glass jar broke into pieces when I was tumbling it on the ground to gather the few remaining ashes. I asked my friend, who was visiting for dinner, to open the front door. The remaining ashes and the broken pieces were then taken to the front courtyard of my house and left there.