Design: Maeve Redmond
For his Room for Reading selections, Peng Zuqiang shares a book of short stories, poetry and feminist sociology, all of which have influenced his practice and research in different ways. These publications and others selected by artists we work with, are available to read in our Library during exhibitions.
Jennifer S. Chang, ‘House A’ (2016).
‘House A’ by Jennifer S. Cheng
“Dear Mao,…”—every poem from the ‘Letters to Mao’ chapter begins with this impossible address. But what follows are intimate reflections: falling asleep in a sun-bathed Texan car; the sound of a hand shadow; and history that, like coastlines, “change shape every so often.” These are letters both to and not to him at the same time, and he can be the you-know-who, or a long-lost friend. It reminds me of the need to write letters.”
Read three poems by Jennifer S. Cheng here.
Eileen Chang, ‘Love in a Fallen City’ (1943:2007).
‘Sealed Off’ from ‘Love in a Fallen City’ by Eileen Chang
“I came to Eileen Chang late; perhaps it took time to understand the complexity of the human psyche she is so skilful at portraying. In ‘Sealed Off’, two people encounter each other on a tram that halts when a Shanghai street is temporarily sealed off due to a wartime air-raid alarm in the 1940s. History repeats eighty years later in a different way. Who do you talk to, and how do you feel, when a city is sealed off, and cleared up later again?”
Read ‘Sealed Off’ here.
Gail Hershatter, ‘The Gender of Memory: Rural Chinese Women and the 1950s’ (2011).
‘The Gender of Memory: Rural Chinese Women and the 1950s’ by Gail Hershatter
“What people remember is the product of a continual process of reworking, recitation, invention, and sometimes carefully guarded silences that help shape what is said.”
“This book was important to my process while working on the piece: it taught me how to pay attention to the inaccuracies, misremembering, and forgetting within the research.”
Watch Gail Hershatter discuss her book here.
‘If You Love Me, Please Let Me Know’ by Michelle Chen (1994)
This song by the Taiwanese artist Michelle Chen is one that Peng referred back to when developing the three channel work ‘Autocorrects’ (2023). This pop song from 1994 features a downtempo beat style, a genre popular in the early 1990s Chinese music scene, and perhaps partially influenced by British Street Soul, explaining the particular references contained in this karaoke music video.
Details
In conjunction with our projects, exhibitions and events, Room for Reading offers artists we work with an opportunity to contribute to The Common Guild library and share the books and resources that have influenced their artistic practice.
Every artist’s selection is added to The Common Guild’s expansive reference library of artist books, catalogues, and cultural and critical theory.
Visit
Visit our Library space Thursday-Saturday, 12–5pm and Sunday 12–4pm, where Peng Zuqiang’s Room for Reading selection will be available to read.
