Crazy English in Performa, NYC
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED!
Shanghai based artist, Zhou Xiaohu, in conjunction with the curators of his Performa Premiere, has canceled his performance “Crazy English,” scheduled for Saturday November 19th, in New York. “Crazy English,” a work first produced by Arthub Asia for the “No Soul for Sale Festival” at Tate Modern in May 2010, examined the technique of teaching English developed in China, as an interactive, mass media event, which, in the actions of the participants becomes its own body language. The decision to cancel the presentation was due to a shift in the intention of the project, caused by recent developments related to the founder of the Crazy English school of teaching. Performa and Depart Foundation look forward to working with Zhou Xiaohu on a future project.
Performa Premiere Zhou Xiaohu: Crazy English Camp
Time: Saturday, November 19th at 1 pm
Saturday, November 19th at 4:30 pm
Location: Judson Memorial Church, at Washington Square Park South
For Performa 11, the Shanghai-based Chinese artist Zhou Xiaohu will invite the inventor of Crazy English, a company specialized in teaching English language to thousands of Chinese students in stadiums or large open spaces, to join them. The teaching requires repetitions of sounds, words and sentences in American English together with gestures and movements. Crazy English is both a performance and an effective technique that translates standard American English into a gestural, theatrical movement. Concerned with Chinese social behaviors that incorrectly translate and misinterpret western marketing concepts and tools, Zhou’s aim, through the simple action of bringing Crazy English to New York, is to show how something familiar can instantly be transformed into something alien and foreign, thus raising questions of legitimacy and the distorted effects of cultural imperialism.
CREDITS:
Performa Premiere, Crazy English by Zhou Xiaohu featuring Li Yang, inventor of Crazy English
Curated by Defne Ayas and Davide Quadrio
Co-presented by Arthub Asia
With generous support from Depart Foundation
About Zhou Xiaohu
Critical of the role and influence of visual media in everyday life, Zhou Xiaohu’s (born 1960 in Changzhou, China) practice reflects on how history is documented in a digital age where particular details may be privileged, fabricated, altered and omitted. Working across performance, photography, installation, sculpture, video and animation, Zhou’s work has most recently been shown at various international locations.
