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M+, Hong Kong, © Patty Chang
On View
Mediatheque
Patty Chang 張怡
Fountain 噴泉
1999
Fountain documents a physically demanding performance by Patty Chang that engages themes of self-representation and the female body, an approach characteristic of her early practice.
Chang positions the camera at an angle over her shoulder, closely framing the side of her head and a reflection of her face in an adjacent mirror. Her hair is pulled back, and she meets her own gaze intently. Her breath causes a thin layer of water covering the mirror’s surface to ripple, making clear she is not actually upright. She closes her eyes, purses her lips, and moves her head to sip the water. As she takes it in, she slurps loudly; her head sways from side to side. Her neck muscles tighten during each sip. After several minutes, Chang has sucked in enough water that the layer divides and disappears, and her breath fogs the mirror.
In describing the work, Chang has cited the Greek mythological figure Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Her encounter with herself in Fountain, where she draws in an externalised self-image, is at once intimate, urgent, and labour-intensive.
Chang positions the camera at an angle over her shoulder, closely framing the side of her head and a reflection of her face in an adjacent mirror. Her hair is pulled back, and she meets her own gaze intently. Her breath causes a thin layer of water covering the mirror’s surface to ripple, making clear she is not actually upright. She closes her eyes, purses her lips, and moves her head to sip the water. As she takes it in, she slurps loudly; her head sways from side to side. Her neck muscles tighten during each sip. After several minutes, Chang has sucked in enough water that the layer divides and disappears, and her breath fogs the mirror.
In describing the work, Chang has cited the Greek mythological figure Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Her encounter with herself in Fountain, where she draws in an externalised self-image, is at once intimate, urgent, and labour-intensive.
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