The Kung Flu
The title of the work is inspired by a phrase created by the then US president, Donald Trump, during his 2020 presidential campaign. A cunning blend of racial stereotyping and discrimination, the phrase became a sensation and was rapidly circulated via streaming media, deepening the Western world’s prejudices against the Asian communities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, the speculation of Asians as virus carriers. At this point, the notion of the “sick man of East Asia” has truly evolved from a politically critical phrase at its birth into a racial imagination implying innate biological flaws. The Kung Flu adopts the form of a lecture-performance video in the attempt to deconstruct the association between the virus, kung fu stereotypes and image while further discussing the problem of racial discrimination in Asia, especially in Taiwan.
Still image from the video The Kung Flu © Musquiqui Chihying
Installation view at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan © Musquiqui Chihying
