Student Reconstruction / 2018 / High-definition digital video / 16:9 converted to 4:3 aspect ratio, colour, sound, 15.30 minutes
In this video work, a group of students attempt to re-enact and reconstruct a televised confession after engaging in a workshop with the artist. The aim is to explore concepts of theatricality and truth-telling and to reactivate history through the students’ interpretation of the TV confessions. The performance of the students reflects the apparatus of the state at work.
This work is part of the TV Confessions series – an ongoing research series of video works that examine the public confessions made by political detainees in Singapore from 1960s – 1980s. They were arrested for suspected communist activities and most of them were freed after publicly denouncing their communist links on national television. As the televised confessions were broadcasted only once and were not seen again, the re-enactment in these videos were based on transcripts found in newspaper archives.
GREEN ZENG 