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The Table (2013)

Installation with framed photograph and a table
A set of two
Table: 76 (H) x 150 (W) x 75 (D) cm
Photograph: 14 (L) x 18.5 (W) x 4 (D) cm

 
In the leftist riots in October 1967, thousands of homemade bombs were placed on streets and public spaces, but only a small fraction contained real explosives. Headlines were filled with stories of discovered bombs, consequently, the entire city was on edge. Every time the colonial British government found a suspected bomb, it made a big show of dispatching bomb disposal experts, who placed the bomb on a table in the middle of the street and removed the detonator. In fact, bringing suspected bombs closer to large crowds goes against bomb disposal procedures. The entire process was part of the Hong Kong government’s strategy to strike back local leftists, so that table was a stage for “performances”. The picture came from Ming Pao in 1967.