DIRECTOR: MARTIN AHLGREN / PRODUCTION COMPANY: SHANZHAI BIENNIAL / BRAND: SHANZHAI BIENNIAL / COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA / DURATION: 4'15" / MUSIC: "NOTHING COMPARES 2 U" BY PRINCE, PERFORMED BY HELEN FENG / CAST: WU TING TING / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARTIN AHLGREN / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: BABAK RADBOY AND CYRIL DUVAL / STYLIST: AVENA GALLAGHER / HAIR: LUKE BAKER / MAKE-UP: ROBERT GREENE.
FILM SYNOPSIS:
The second installment of Shanzhai Biennial is a video installation debuted at MoMA PS1 May 2013 on a 20×10 LED curtain. Featuring a Chinese model lip-syncing to a surreal Mandarin-language version of Sinead O'Conner's version of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U", wearing a floor length, sequined gown in the likeness of a bottle of Head & Shoulders anti-dandruff shampoo.
DIRECTOR'S BIO:
Martin Ahlgren was raised in Sweden, and would have pursued science if not for watching Christopher Lambert's movie "Highlander" when he was 14 years old. Founded in 2013 in Beijing, Shanzhai Biennial is both and neither a fake life-style brand or a fake art collective celebrating the Chinese Shanzhai, phenomenon of ironic and politically charged counterfeiting.