The East is Red, the West is Bending

JPG\124\rosler_GF0002000.00_001.jpg
© Generali Foundation Collection—Permanent Loan to the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Repro: Werner Kaligofsky

Martha Rosler

The East is Red, the West is Bending, 1977

Video performance, color, sound, 19 min 57 sec Performer: Martha Rosler

GF0002000.00.0-1999

Artwork text

In a kind of amateurish TV cooking demonstration from a local broadcaster, a woman (Rosler with sunglasses) presents Asian cooking, including the various ingredients and utensils, one of which is an electric wok. Viewers are given guidance in how to make themselves connoisseurs of exotic, foreign cuisine. A few absurd moments (the wok lid as a hat, yoga positions) bring out the colonialist attitude underlying it all. (Sabine Breitwieser)