Prayer Bus and Empty Orchestra (ongoing)
Prayer Bus and Empty Orchestra reflects on the specific Taiwanese cultural phenomenon of outfitting buses that shuttle the elderly to regional temples with karaoke machines. This project considers “karaoke in a transitional place” as a narrative device and looks at how singing and praying offer participants a kind of transcendence and place to consider death and rebirth. The work also looks at the effects of colonial Japan's influence in Asia, and karaoke as a cultural technology. By diving into the cultural place of the karaoke music video, the project asks uncomfortable questions about how the imagery of Taiwan functions in holding up the nostalgia of different nations as an empty vessel.
Performer: Maria Fang
Sound mixing: Nicolas Losada
Sound mixing: Nicolas Losada
Projection, air dry clay, durable resin, disco ball, LED, spray paint, wax, plastic, wood panel, light bulb.
Bus seat, beads, tassel, wood, LED light, speaker.
