Patty Chang's 1999 video 'Fountain' featured in M+ collection spotlight

Patty Chang's 1999 video work 'Fountain' is currently highlighted as part of ArtReview's 'Work of the Week' series celebrating the opening of M+, Hong Kong's new visual culture museum. The five-and-a-half-minute video documents a performance where Chang crouches over a mirror covered with water on a restaurant toilet floor, drinking the liquid with increasing intensity. Filmed from a 45-degree ground angle and later righted for presentation, the work creates illusions about its filming circumstances and the artist's motivations. While initially appearing as a self-loving act with Chang staring at her reflection, the piece evolves into a consumption ritual that viewers might interpret as desire, self-healing, or basic thirst. The title references Marcel Duchamp's famous 1917 porcelain urinal that challenged artistic boundaries, while the imagery connects to the Narcissus myth famously depicted by Caravaggio in 1594-1596 and originally told by Roman poet Ovid in the eighth century CE. Chang's work specifically examines what happens when an Asian female body occupies narratives traditionally centered on male icons in Western culture. The video has gained additional relevance in contemporary contexts including social media identity projection, digital surveillance, and anti-Asian prejudice during the COVID-19 pandemic when terms like 'Chinese virus' and 'Kung flu' circulated. The work is available for viewing on demand at M+'s Mediatheque in Hong Kong.