Wu Tsang (1982, Worcester, USA) lives and works in Zurich; they are an award-winning filmmaker and visual artist. Tsang’s work crosses genres and disciplines, from narrative and documentary films to live performances and video installations. Tsang is a MacArthur Genius Fellow, and their projects have been presented at museums, biennials, and film festivals internationally. Tsang received their BFA (2004) from the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and an MFA (2010) from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Currently, Tsang works in residence at Schauspielhaus Zurich, as a theater director with the collective Moved by the Motion.
Girl Talk
Video, 2015
Girl Talk features author and scholar Fred Moten dancing in slow motion, with a Josiah Wise rendition of the jazz standard playing over the performance. In light drag, a studded cloak hanging loosely over his body, Moten spins in a sunny garden. The amateur nature of the performance at times renders it less an exploration of shifting identity and more an observation of the collaboration. Power dynamics are in flux throughout, as the dominant discipline of each performer — text and speech for Moten, visual and physical communication for Tsang — takes alternate precedence. Each party has their moments of vulnerability and domination, exchange and play, and mutual support, all of which allow movement to continue.