David Khang 2 - Monday July 21, 2008

Before David Khang’s performance a passer-by yelled at David for not placing the Canadian flag above all others. She was obviously of the “you come to this country you learn to play by our rules” school. She wasn’t willing to stay for the performance so she missed the complex interplay of two languages (Korean and English), four national ensigns (Canada, USA, North and South Koreas), photos of two black American leaders of different eras (Martin Luther King and Barak Obama), perhaps the world’s most famous speech about peace (“I have a dream”) and the actions two assassins poised with paint guns. The layering of histories and geographies were so dense that I continue to unravel my own personal readings around the piece beyond an interconnectedness of our struggles for justice, an interconnectedness symbolized by our bodies.

When the speech switched into English, when the content of the text was revealed to most viewers in the Edmonton audience, guns flared, piercing the photos of the black leaders, piercing David’s flesh, spraying all with glowing pink paint.

The audience became alarmed. Something was wrong. David was hurt. When he removed his helmet, a dime-sized wound in his forehead leaked blood down his face. An unexpected performance glitch. Collateral damage. More than an image, a casualty. The line between performance and life blurred once again. The costs of freedom-fighting unwittingly alluded to in most visceral terms.