DSL Magazine: Issue 13

26 Hong Kong's Kwan Sheung Chi’s installation Water Barrier (Maotai:Water, 1:999) is visually strong, politicized but playful. "Please tear down this Wall" is the proclamation made in 1987 by US President Ronald Reagan to his Russian counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev, in ending the Cold War. Kwan’s empathetic addition: "Beware of People Behind" is read in parallel. On the opening night in 2013, the participatory performance brought down this fence filled with water distilled with Maotai, an alcohol consumed ritually for diplomatic purposes. The actual off-stage symbolism in turn distills the coercive nature of power.