Boat Race is a performative participatory
work that forms a continuum with Tan's other investigations into colour coding and early
Victorian racial classifications.
Audiences are invited to make paper boats from a limited
selection of coloured paper. These boats are later 'raced' on a nearby river. The work becomes a
transformational space where the processes of choice and fun are transformed via the act of
participating, into processes of competition, winning and losing.
Commissioned by Ella Gibbs, BELT, a space in between.
Shown at CAS, Osaka, East International, Norwich and Belt,
London.
boat race was
supported by a YOTA residency in Norwich Art Gallery.
Stills from Boat Race
