Where DId Macy Go?
About
2020 Color Digital Video with Sound 8 min., 53 sec Where Did Macy Go? is an 11-episode animated video told through a series reports of Macy’s encounter with the epidemic, life during the quarantine, search for his grandfather’s farm and his revival. The video discusses the collapse of old community structures, the emergence of a new community after decollectivization, Confucian obedience vs. social obedience, as well as the new tele-republic of home, “mask politics” and social justice under the pandemic. Originally posted on TikTok to challenge the possibility of online exhibitions, the work is a response to this era of volatility, complexity and confusion. The global pandemic has brought thinkers from various countries to the forefront, from Italian philosopher Giorgio Agemben’s techno-totalitarianism, to the argument between Slovenian philosopher Zizek and Korean-born German philosopher Han Byung-Chul: The re-invention of communism vs. the vigorous restoration of global capitalism, to French philosopher Bruno Latour and French writer François Gemenne’s argument on COVID’s influence on climate change, to Paul B. Preciado’s Pharmacopornography and Tele-Republic of Home. By juxtaposing all the complex and even conflicting arguments above, Where Did Macy Go? examines the “in-between” space of different social and political ideologies using COVID-19 as context.