Wang Ping-Hsiang

When “Girl on Fire” is no longer just a pop song but a marching tune for soldiers going to war, Ping-Hsiang Wang wonders, will his fragile memories then be destroyed by the fire of war?

Retina Maneuver is a solo lecture-performance that springs from Ping’s inexplicable obsession with Alicia Keys’ pop song “Girl On Fire.” His frustration at not being able to remember where he was when the song was released in 2012 drives him to dive into his digital archives. Eventually Wang stumbles upon a photo accidentally uploaded to his Facebook page and finds himself in a military setting, passionately engaged in bayonet exercises and shouting the command “kill.”

Ping-Hsiang Wang is a Berlin-based theater director from Taiwan. His signature aesthetic focuses on transforming normal everyday landscapes into fantastic digital realities. His work presents narrative as a full sensory experience and combines multiple performative elements using text, sound, movement, live streaming video, objects, documents and scenography.

Concept – Wang Ping Hsiang / Dramaturge – Dan-Dan Liu / Visual Design – Yi-Ju Chou / Artistic Consultant – Kang-Hua Chang. Supported by National Culture and Arts Foundation Taiwan, Tatwerk Berlin, Mestizo Arts Platform/WIPCOOP.