The video piece REHEARSAL OF THE FUTURES: POLICE TRAINING EXERCISES is a continuation of the artist’s investigation into imagined futures and how, through certain movements and postures, past ideology can be interpreted and improved upon by future generations. As a point of departure for this work, Isaac Chong Wai takes on the history of protests through their repetitive expressions and actions.
His research into police training exercises around the world also questions the development of these actions and their intended use: Are they meant as a first line of defence, or a last resort? Chong and a group of performers enact choreographed sets of movements based on past alterations at protest sites and training exercises taught at police academies, but at greatly reduced speeds. When drastically slowed down, these acts are transformed into something new. Aggressive posturing and the threatening collision of bodies become poetic, gentle, healing, and even comforting caresses. At the same time, these decelerated actions visualize the slow violence inflicted upon individuals by the collective power structures. Can beauty be found in confrontation? And if so, can such beauty lead to reconciliation? (Blindspot Gallery)

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