私?日本語?話???? Wa-ta-shi wa...

聽寫王系列 TengSeWong/VoiceWriter Series	私は日本語が話せません Wa-ta-shi wa...
	こんにちは、私は…… Kon-ni-chi wa, wa-ta-shi wa... (Part 1) @Yogogi Park, Harajuku, Tokyo

In this work, I made paper ribbons of different colours with handwriting of romantisation of Japanese greetings “Kon-ni-chi wa, wa-ta-shi wa wen yau. Hon-kon ka-ra ki-ma-shi-ta.” (Hello, my name is wen yau. I come from Hong Kong.) After making friends with the passers-by, I asked their names in Japanese (A-na-ta no na-ma-e wa/
あなたのお名前は), transcribe it into Cantonese-Chinese characters. The ribbons with their Chinese names and my greetings were tied on their hands as a souvenir of friendship.

I was shocked to find that most Japanese were very shy with a stranger like me and was scared by my friend-making act. The performance was ended abruptly when a group of Japanese girl called the police to get me off because of my body touch that infuriated them unintentionally.

Yogogi Park is a very popular place for cultural activities in Tokyo, with a diverse taste of music playing and dancing group cheered by people wandering around freely on Sundays.

こんにちは、私は……
Kon-ni-chi wa, wa-ta-shi wa... (Part 2)
@ Morishita Studio, Morishita, Tokyo

Inside the studio theatre, I started with the same Japanese sentences. (‘Kon-ni-chi wa, wa-ta-shi wa wen yau. Hon-kon ka-ra ki-ma-shi-ta.’). My voice was input into the computer and automatically transcribed into Japanese (Hiragana) characters. Audience was invited to read out those computer generated Japanese (which did make sense at all) and each of their voices was further transcribed into another string of non-sense text for another transcription. Meanwhile I then tried to copy the Hiragana characters with chalk on the floor. At the end, the studio was filled with a lot of mystery-like Japanese language that even a Japanese could not understand. My performance was a response to my first performance in Yoyogi Park where I felt so alienated by the seemingly-familiar Japanese culture and their fear of intimacy in public space.

The 11th NIPAF Asian Performance Art Series '06
– Asia Meets Latin America
17/07-01/08/2006,
@Tokyo, Nagoya, Nagano, Kumagaya, JAPAN

こんにちは、私は…… Kon-ni-chi wa, wa-ta-shi wa... (Part 1 & 2)
あなたの秘密…… A-na-ta no hi-mi-tsu...
愛してるか…… Ai-si-te-ru ka... (Part 1 & 2)

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TengSeWong/VoiceWriter Series