In G.O.D. We Trust, 2009
Audio by Mr. Cloak and Dagger
5 min HD 1080p30 video
Dedicated to my Grandma Sze Mui Lee
In G.O.D. We Trust remixes the political and economic hardships Barrack Obama has to overcome within various religious contexts. In the series the 44th US president keeps reincarnating into seven various prophets, spiritual leaders and deities in order to heal the world, including Jesus Christ, Buddha, Elegua, Lady of Guadalupe, Krishna, Mohammad and Abraham. The series uses the pillar beliefs, remixes the important stories, and substitutes the key elements of the religious texts with current political and economic climate. Rather than idolizing Obama, In G.O.D. We Trust examines the hope and changes the popular 44th US president promises to deliver and the obstacle along the way.
The title of the series appropriate the US national motto, but with a twist. In G.O.D. We Trust “GOD” is an abbreviation of “Global Obama Devotion.” Contrary to the artist’s previous works criticizing the manipulation of religion in politics, In GOD We Trust starts from the religious teaching and reinterprets the moral values within current affairs. The result is a spiritual journey that even an atheist cannot deny it.
I employ and remix images from popular culture, political figures and imagery found in cyberspace. Most of my social conscious artworks adopt the form of advertising in a reduction of contemporary events to a cartoon like mythology.
Through various media I aim to explore the nature of digital communication while touching on issues such as identity, politics, sexuality and power. My media includes Hi-Definition video animation, video game, net.art, digital graphics and mixed-media installations.
– Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung
Biography
Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung was born in Hong Kong and is now living and working in New York. He earned his BA in Arts from San Francisco State University. His work has been exhibited at the New Museum, New York; Yerba Buena Center Of The Arts, San Francisco; Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley; Sundance Film Festival, Utah; Postmasters Gallery, New York; Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, UK; Urbis, Manchester, UK; Hebbel Am Ufer theatre, Berlin, Germany; and ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark.
www.tinkin.com