Pest Control 1110, 709, 428 (or, a Myth for Another)

2013 - Installation (Installation)

38.1 x 129.54 x 386.08 cm

Tan Zi Hao

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Tan Zi Hao produced Pest Control 1110, 709, 428 (or, a Myth for Another) , in response to the Bersih social movement, that catalyzed three rallies on 10th November 2007, 9th July 2011 and 28th April 2012, respectively, to demand a clean electoral roll. Tan Zi Hao’s work is a commentary on the Bersih protest movement; “Bersih” is the Malay word for “clean” and the movement was an important precursor to the changes in Malaysia following the 2018 elections when the Barisan Nasional coalition lost power for the first time since the country’s independence in 1957. Najib Razak, the prime minister ousted in those elections and the focus of some of the biggest demonstrations during the Bersih movement was sent to prison in 2020 after being found guilty of massive theft of public funds. The installation work is a precise commentary, full of references and allusions from a Malaysian context. It can be seen as an attempt to create a subtly ironic infographic of Bersih: its three main demonstrations each represented by a circle, growing in scale, just like the momentum of Bersih, accumulating over years. The artist compares Bersih as a pest control project and sulphur as a common anti-snake remedy, despite being proved ineffective (just like street protests against corruption perhaps?). Still, following its logic, the more the sulphur, the stronger the effect. In full knowledge of its lack of efficacy, the remedy is applied. Further, 2013 was the year of the snake according to the Chinese calendar, the year of much-anticipated elections in Malaysia. The work points out to the different levels of make-believe, myths, hope, and cynicism that inform a very particular Malaysian brand of politics, with its unstable negotiation between authoritarianism, freedoms, and corruption: unnecessary remedies known to be fake used against cheap replicas of a dangerous totem that never goes away but never mortally attacks either. The ongoing saga following the 2018 elections is an indication of the work’s continuing relevance, both in a Malaysian context and across the continent.

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Tan Zi Hao is a multi-disciplinary artist who works predominantly with installation and performance art. His works explore discourses of power within the postcolonial setting and probe the disjuncture in the production and contestation of history. Language, multilingualism, and linguistic ideologies are subjects that inform most of his text-based installations. Trained and also working as a graphic designer, aside from his projects as a conceptual artist, Tan is active as a researcher, writer, and occasional zinester. His perspectives as both a designer and researcher inform his artistic practice in both its richly layered substance and rigorous vocabulary.

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Colors:

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• government.n.01
• protest.n.01
• dissidence.n.01
• corruptness.n.02
• power.n.01
• resistance.n.01