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M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation, © Zhao Bandi
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Zhao Bandi 趙半狄
A Tale of Love Gone Wrong for Panda Man 熊貓人失戀的故事
2003
Artist Zhao Bandi, widely known as ‘the panda man’, combines performance, video, costume design, and photography for his works that involve a stuffed panda. A Tale of Love Gone Wrong for Panda Man is a performance documentary inspired by a real-life court case. The artist sued two media outlets for publishing his photograph Block SARS, Defend the Homeland (2003) without properly crediting him.
In Zhao’s video performance, the plaintiff and the defendant exchange information about the case. The artist sits with his toy panda and has a forlorn look on his face. Zhao’s copyright trial takes an unexpected turn when he reads a letter from his ex-girlfriend as evidence, explaining that the toy panda is the reason why she ended their relationship. The work is accompanied by the famous Chinese orchestral music ‘The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto’, which amplifies the narrative of heartbreak and loss. Zhao’s parody offers a humorous and satirical account of China’s rapidly changing cultural and social structures, at the same time critiquing its cold and impersonal legal system.
In Zhao’s video performance, the plaintiff and the defendant exchange information about the case. The artist sits with his toy panda and has a forlorn look on his face. Zhao’s copyright trial takes an unexpected turn when he reads a letter from his ex-girlfriend as evidence, explaining that the toy panda is the reason why she ended their relationship. The work is accompanied by the famous Chinese orchestral music ‘The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto’, which amplifies the narrative of heartbreak and loss. Zhao’s parody offers a humorous and satirical account of China’s rapidly changing cultural and social structures, at the same time critiquing its cold and impersonal legal system.
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