Patty Chang
b. 1972, San Leandro, CA
Melons (At a Loss) Script, 1994
Paper, cardboard

At a Loss, 1996
Digital transfer of Super 8mm film
P.S. 122, New York
6 min.
Courtesy the artist

Patty Chang is an artist known for her use of performance, video, installation, and other narrative forms to examine identity, gender, body, and impacted subjectivities. In memory of her aunt’s death from breast cancer, Melon (At a Loss) features Chang performing an imagined ritual of mourning in which the artist cuts and eats a melon affixed to her chest while balancing a plate on her head. Another work, Shaved (At a Loss), also performed at P.S.122 in the East Village, shows Chang shaving her pubic hair while blindfolded, relying solely on touch as her guide.