Shark Proof Web 

1997, Hong Kong; performance,

30 min

leaflets of the Basic Law

​

The retrocession of Hong Kong is a potent symbol of the current global post-colonial transformation and extremely important to Lin, a resident of Hong Kong's neighbouring Guangzhou. His recent work attempts to reveal the collective, unspoken panic in the face of such a historic change. --In November 1997, Lin realized another action in a swimming pool in Hong Kong. Calling the event Shark Proof Web, 1997, he was referring to the netting that protects Hong Kong people swimming in the ocean. His web, however, was made up of hundreds of copies of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region). When he had woven it, he lay on a life buoy and floated in the void. 

-- Hou Hanru