陳   靄   媛    MEL   CHAN

LAST CUP OF TEA: A REHEARSAL

Medium: Participatory Performance with bubble milk tea, glass, plastic straws. 10 minutes per session.
Year: 2020

 

In this performance, visitors are invited to practice and “rehearse” drinking their last cup of tea in their life, as if there is no more tomorrow. At first glance, it is a typical coaching session with mindfulness practice, as the coach suggests, “concentrate on this moment”, “live in now”, “only this moment is real '' etc. 
 

Participants soon find themselves led into a roleplay where, not only their behavior but how they should feel, what they should think about, is dictated by the coach, to every detail. As the unbalanced power of control unfolds, the coaching speech takes a slightly odd direction: it suggests everything we do at this moment, no matter how trivial it is, bears a past and could become an unbearable burden for any decision we make. From the moral dilemma of using a disposable plastic straw which might outlive you, to the intricate colonial history of tea and milk, to the chemical reactions that impact how our body and mind function in the time of crisis and anxiety.