Loveletter to a Cockroach
Have you ever felt so sad that you fell in love with a cockroach? – Ongoing art performance with paper, pen, and the dead body of a cockroach
“Have you ever felt so sad that you fell in love with a cockroach? These are the first words of the love letter to a cockroach. I started writing a love letter to a cockroach during the protest in Hong Kong in September 2019. Since then, I keep writing once a year. The letter grows like the trunk of a tree. My emotions towards the time I spent in Hong Kong and towards the cockroach are in the handwriting like the weather in the rings of a tree.”
The letter is placed on the ground. To be able to read the letter you need to crawl on the ground on all fours and get your face very close to the dead body of the cockroach.
Many people don’t see the artwork and trample on it. Their footprints become part of the piece.
The work is continued in Chinese by Zhang Roshiu (name changed due to security reasons) and in English by tobibienz.
“Have you ever felt so sad that you fell in love with a cockroach? These are the first words of the love letter to a cockroach. I started writing a love letter to a cockroach during the protest in Hong Kong in September 2019. Since then, I keep writing once a year. The letter grows like the trunk of a tree. My emotions towards the time I spent in Hong Kong and towards the cockroach are in the handwriting like the weather in the rings of a tree.”
The letter is placed on the ground. To be able to read the letter you need to crawl on the ground on all fours and get your face very close to the dead body of the cockroach.
Many people don’t see the artwork and trample on it. Their footprints become part of the piece.
The work is continued in Chinese by Zhang Roshiu (name changed due to security reasons) and in English by tobibienz.
Title: Love Letter to a Cockroach
Performer: tobibienz, Zhang Roshiu
Involved: tobibienz, Zhang Roshiu, Duy Buy
Form: Ongoing art performance with paper, pen, and the dead body of a cockroach
Venue: First exhibited at Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Date: ongoing since September 2019
