ACTIV/IST (2017)

Archival Pigmented HDR Print, 27x40 in.

Kung Fu Master Poa Shen Wong, a 92 year old immigrant from Hong Kong teaches her martial arts at the Little Flower Park Basketball Court in our Lower East Side neighborhood. As with our larger neighborhood, where real estate developments continually displace senior citizens and immigrants, the basketball court is contested territory. In the video, Poa describes how a meditation group attempted to take over her exercise turf, but Poa fights back and reclaims her territory in the public park. To encourage both activist and active audience participation, Poa offers us her exercise sequence. In sharing her technique and her secrets of longevity, Poa hopes to plant seeds to take root for the next generation. In service of her goal, I created an exercise poster to allow audiences step-by-step guidance.