Anne Anlin Cheng and Patty Chang on Beauty and Violence
The scholar and artist discuss the afterlives of anti-Asian violence, the tender possibilities of rupture, the beauty of squids, and more.
When Patty Chang's 1988 short film "Melons (At a Loss)" first appeared on screen, I was struck by its provocative commentary on the female Asian-American body and its complex history. The film captures Chang's figure, waist-up, clad only in a 1940s-inspired cone-shaped "bullet bra." This provocative choice immediately hints at the film's themes of femininity and aggression.
Chang then introduces a ceramic plate, inherited from a deceased aunt, atop her head. As she balances the plate, she narrates its history, highlighting its poison-dyed makeup and its role as a historically transglobal commodity. This porcelain object symbolizes the larger heritage of ceramics as a tool of Euro-American desire, shaping Western perceptions of Asiatic individuals over centuries.
The film's narrative grows darker as Chang raises a large paring knife with her right hand, gingerly sawing through her bra-covered left breast. This act of self-mutilation persists for nearly a minute, its intensity punctuated only by Chang's eventual revelation of a real melon. The transformation of this fruit from visual and verbal pun to violent act underscores the film's exploration of self-nourishment and self-cannibalism, as Chang's movements intensify and become increasingly frantic.
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