Films by Mai Ling

The last program features the anonymous artist collective Mai Ling, which was founded in Vienna in 2019 and whose work creates space for dialogues on racism, sexism, homophobia, and prejudice with a focus FLINT* of Asian descent diaspora and migrants. The collective's name refers to an eponymous 1979 television sketch, in which the Asian female body was objectified and reduced to the wish fulfillment of a white male fantasy. The collective appropriates the name of those who have been anonymized and exoticized and challenges the Western heteropatriarchal and racist gaze. Through its artistic-activist practice, which takes the form of videos, audio installations, cooking performances, community gatherings, public interventions, and protests, the group explores how to resist stereotypes and how new experiences can be made possible through collective togetherness.

The short film program on 28.11. (special guest: Mai Ling) presents three works by the collective: BEAUTIFUL  ALIEN  GIRL (2019) examines the portrayal of the Asian female body through the lens of the aforementioned sketch by Gerhard Polt and, by reimagining the material, highlights the continued relevance of the stereotypes it perpetuates. MAI LING COOKS: EATING AS PLEASURE AND PROTEST (2021) presents performances that reflect on food as a representation and medium of migration, thereby deconstructing forms of oppression. In BECOMING STICKINESS (2023), Mai Ling adopts the perspective of kudzu, a robust, rampant plant that possesses resilient qualities because of its tuberous root structure. Mai Ling applies this concept of kudzu to their work as a whole: resistant, communal, pleasurable, healing, and deeply intertwined. By defining “sticking together” as a form of migrant experience, they highlight both the necessity and joy of solidarity and invite individuals and collectives from the Asian diaspora to a cooking workshop, “Sticking Together Better,” on November 29 at the feminist elsewheres project space. 

Films:
Beautiful AlienGirl Mai Ling A 2019 DCP OV/English ST 7 min.
Mai Ling Kocht: Eating as Pleasure and Protest Mai Ling A 2021 DCP OV/English ST 12 min.
Becoming Stickiness Mai Ling A 2023 DCP OV/English ST 25 min.