Spread the Word - Language is a Decoration (2015)
Made in China
T-shirt installation of 50 T-shirts with 10 variations of text in English and Chinese
Approximate size of whole installation: 18m x 4m
Spread the Word - Language is a Decoration, consists of 50 T-shirts bearing prints in both English and Chinese, with quotes and one-liners from my own collection (originating from books, people and situations), which I have collected over the years, and which is continually growing. The one-liners on the T-shirts were translated into Mandarin and were displayed, together with the English text, on the T-shirts. The T-shirts were distributed to the exhibition’s visitors in exchange for their email addresses and a photo of them wearing the T-shirt. The work was inspired by the gap (or loophole) in the Chinese censorship system which does not control language on T-shirts. Many T-shirts in China bear English prints and therefore pose no threat to the system, since, to the majority of people in China, English text has no meaning and is seen as mere decoration. However, this is slowly changing. Spread the Word - Languages is a Decoration plays with this gap and tries to breach it, by adding meaning through translating the T-shirts and distributing them to the public, giving the concept a life beyond the exhibition setting, outside the control of an institution.