I set 3 objectives for my residency at Hangar in Spain: to develop and release new works, exchange ideas with local artists, and observe the local art environment and ecology.

Hangar’s mission is to support visual artists and creators at different stages of their residencies and contribute to the best development of their projects. To achieve this, Hangar offers equipment, facilities, and production assistance, as well as a dedicated place for the transfer and study of experiments and knowledge. During the residency, I enjoyed my personal studio the most. It was spacious and available for unlimited use. This allowed me to work on multiple pieces of art simultaneously. Moreover, each unit is installed with a variety of facilities, with various available workspaces. The technician team is highly supportive of the artists. However, Hangar’s events are all conducted either in Spanish or Catalonian, making it less accessible for English speakers. Language barriers can be a challenge for socializing, collaboration, and exchange.

During the residency, I participated in the "Paratext" presentation organized by Hangar. I integrated on-site performance art with talks to share my creative context and recent works. At the event, I presented two shows, "Orange wristband" which includes a dialogue with locals through admission marks and deals with women’s bodily experience as Southeast Asian foreigners, and "Language Barriers" which explores the language barriers encountered during the residency through videos. I gave a presentation in Mandarin and projected the translated audio through Google Translate onto a canvas screen.

Following up, I presented the residency results through an exhibition named "bodyscape." "Massage," a video, explores a tourist beach in Barcelona, capturing the images and voices of Chinese, Pakistan, and Argentinian immigrant workers, such as Chinese masseuses and male Pakistan drinks vendors. Even those of monk parakeets, originally imported as pets and now a kind of wild species, were included. The performance expounded on the theme of "segregation" introduced in "Paratext." Additionally, a 30-minute on-site show was presented, focusing on "Confucian women’s bodies" and "imagined performance art."

Author: Hsu Yi-ting
Edited: Brix