People Pushing
2007—2008
35mm transferred to Blu-ray disc．color．sound．5’ 9”．single-channel video + sheet-metal structure
Introduction
Many of Taiwan’s factories, illegal structures, temporary homes in disaster zones and construction site dormitories have roofs and exterior walls fashioned from green or gray sheet metal. Temporary walls used to separate private and public land are also made from this material. One could say that sheet metal reflects the struggle between authority and desire in Taiwanese society, and uncertain borders between the legal and illegal, private and public, conservative and liberal, and visible and invisible.
People Pushing is segment taken from Chen Chieh-jen’s video Military Court and Prison and presented as an independent artwork. Chen created this single-channel, continuous loop video such that only the backs of anonymous people are visible as they push a sheet metal structure. (1) Under a what appears to be relentlessly sweeping searchlight, the group struggles to move forward against a metal wall that could be part of a fence, a shipping container or a room. Perhaps they are resisting the established labor redistribution mechanisms that continue to crush nameless, faceless people.
Audience members enter a sheet-metal structure to view the video, suggesting they are joining the anonymous group of pushers in the film.
A heavy, low-frequency sound is continuously emitted from People Pushing and vibrates the metal structure, shifting it from its original position at an imperceptible speed. In this way, an internal sound changes the direction of the structure’s movement.
Notes
- The participants in the video are actually unemployed laborers, homeless people and social activists.