• Performance Art•Installation• Concept Development •Video Editing
Cinematography: Josh Gondrez
The Martial Artist explores the themes of masculinity and cultural re-appropriation. It reflect the stereotype of Asians in mainstream cinema, with Ben performing an Asian Kung Fu caricature, wearing a fake muscle outfit, and utilizing a nunchuck paintbrush to create an expressionist painting. Since the Hollywood stereotype domesticates our imagination, Ben ironically performs the Asian Kung Fu caricature and simultaneously embodies the macho art movement of the abstract expressionists, the so-called brush art hero.
The project was featured in New American Paintings, issue #132: https://archive.org/details/wen-bens-feature-in-the-new-american-painting_202401/page/143/mode/2up
