House, Pencil and oil on wood, 23×15.5 cm, 2004

In 2013, during the construction operation in Longmen county of Yangshao area, Henan, workers unexpectedly discovered a red pottery tripod (“ding”). The vortex pattern on the vessel bears similarity with the modern “hammer and sickle” motif used to represent New China. According to the C-14 dating, the tripod excavated in Longmen has a five-thousand-year history. Chinese archaeologists have named its mysterious pattern the “hammer and sickle”. On the basis of archaeology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, semantics, semiotics and mythology, Professor Yao focuses her research on the origin and development of the “hammer and sickle” motif, concerning which she proposes six hypotheses with scientific significance.

Courtesy of the artist.

Once I saw this video on YouTube, a compilation of moments of capture in
animal hunts from the North American Hunting Association. With the hunter’s gun locked in place, the animals were cursed and unable to escape. The second before being shot, their eyes look confused and fearful, stared straight in the direction of humans, and then all fell to the ground with a thud. I felt confused and vulnerable by this violent energy, as a user commented under the video: The most dangerous animal in the world.
Although hunting is ancient and primitive, I felt uncomfortable revisiting a killing “spree” in such an intense and unequal way. In another sense, it resonates with the human pleasure of pursuing absolute power. Therefore, I took this video of the hunt and juxtaposed it with another
video. I banged out some negative words on a brass plate and tuned up the metal clanging sound to echo the sound of the gunshots in the former video. On the screen, a blinking of huge eyes shows startling unease from hearing loud noises. It looks directly into the camera lens, making it impossible to avoid, with which to provoke the viewer’s fearful association
with other related matters.