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M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation, © Zhang Qing
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Mediatheque
Zhang Qing 章清
Moo-cow! 牛哞啦!
2002
Moo-cow! documents a performance in Nanning, Guangxi, in which Zhang Qing makes his naked body into a ‘matador’s flag’ by painting it red from his neck down. He then taunts a bull by dancing before it, leaping and inciting it to advance.
There are no barriers surrounding Zhang and the bull, and a small crowd looks on. The artist prances barefoot through the mud and grass to laughter from his audience. When the animal is slow to advance, Zhang holds out a cabbage to lure it. After becoming visibly flustered, the bull eventually attacks, lowering its head as it prepares to ram Zhang several times. In this dangerous game fuelled by biological impulses and power hierarchies, Zhang’s nakedness projects the ultimate vulnerability. His attempts to provoke the bull can be seen as brave as well as foolhardy.
There are no barriers surrounding Zhang and the bull, and a small crowd looks on. The artist prances barefoot through the mud and grass to laughter from his audience. When the animal is slow to advance, Zhang holds out a cabbage to lure it. After becoming visibly flustered, the bull eventually attacks, lowering its head as it prepares to ram Zhang several times. In this dangerous game fuelled by biological impulses and power hierarchies, Zhang’s nakedness projects the ultimate vulnerability. His attempts to provoke the bull can be seen as brave as well as foolhardy.
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