Annuit Cœptis I (2010)

A durational performance installation

Date: April 29, 2010
Venue: Sullivan Graduate Studios, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Time: 6 p.m. till 12 p.m.

Presented as a work-in-progress

Made in reaction to a 2007 parliamentary speech against the repeal of Anti-sodomy laws in Singapore, this presentation of Annuit Cœptis in its first phase of development juxtaposed the speech with ‘live’ go-go dancing performance and ritual acts that referenced Brother Cane – a performance piece by Singaporean artist Josef Ng which incited the government’s decade-long restriction of licensing and funding of performance art.

Text from the speech was inscribed across 306 American Dollar bills in ultra-violet ink. These notes were earned by the artist working as a go-go dancer over a period of 6 days in New York City from the 16th till the 23rd of January 2010. The notes are laid out in 6 frames each measuring 66.5 inches in height, lining one wall of the installation, while 6 canvases stained with the artist’s semen collected over 3 months line the opposite wall.

A 16mm projector projecting film loops measuring 66.5 inches in length projects extreme close-ups of an American Dollar bill above a square podium. The 6 hour durational performance involves the artist transforming the installation space by his engagement with various materials, which includes a rope, boxing wraps, shaver, a ceramic jar etc.

*Annuit Cœptis – He who approves of our undertakings, annuo (nod, approve) and cœpta (beginnings, undertakings).

Download transcript of speech as a .pdf file

Photo Documentation: (by Cheng-Yung Kuo)