galerie Joseph Tang, Paris
Julie Béna, Jo-ey Tang
A recording made by Jo-ey Tang in August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a recording of his own voice reciting in parts answering machine voice messages that were saved by the late artist David Wojnarowicz in the mid-1980s. Specifically a cassette tape labeled “Time period of Pete’s death”, referring to Wojnarowicz’s mentor and lover, the artist Peter Hujar, who in 1987 died of the still ongoing pandemic of AIDS. These messages reveal the various commitments and urgencies of the moment, with calls from concerned friends interlaced with requests from galleries and invitations from artists to participate in exhibitions and performances. An earlier version of this audio work was part of Jo-ey Tang’s solo exhibition, “Like An Intruder, The Speaker Removes His Cap,” at Galerie Joseph Tang, Paris, in 2014.