UNION GALLERY — Care-oke

Care-oke

with Fan Wu

July 19, 2023, 6–9pm
Open to: Everyone!
Free + in-person program

Come out to sing your favourite karaoke bops with all your pals! Hosted by Fan Wu, Care-oke is an evening program that takes place within Gentle Disruptions, an exhibition that explores subtle and radically playful acts that intervene in our habits, ideologies, and systemic biases.

Snacks and sparkling water will be provided.

Image: Lyrics to Peaches "Boys Wanna Be Her"

Amateur means “the one who loves.” And Karaoke is one of the amateur’s premiere playgrounds, where being on stage has no set parameters and the impulse to judge is held back. Karaoke is a place for free experimentation, delirious enthusiasm, and explosive catharsis. I will never forget my friend Eddy’s screamo version of “Mother” by John Lennon, nor an unhinged disco-hips performance of The Commodores' “Brick House” by a visiting professor. Karaoke shows you a side of someone’s spirit that is often in reserve; the unleashed affects range from melancholia to mania and everything in between. To witness this momentary flare of vulnerability in a stranger, or in one you love is, for me, a source of profound gratitude.

We’ve got three hours together – let’s sink into the thrill of Care-oke.

Fan Wu

Fan’s current top karaoke songs are Lana Del Rey’s “Mariners Apartment Complex” and Faye Wong’s cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams.” He is a PhD Student in Screen Cultures & Curatorial Studies at Queen’s University and a board member at Modern Fuel. Their practice intermixes poetry, performance, and community participation; they are particularly passionate about breaking down institutional barriers that artificially divide life from art.

ALIGNING EXHIBITIONS

Gentle Disruptions
Main Space
June 13 – August 5, 2023

UNION GALLERY is funded and supported by Queen's University, Alma Mater Society (AMS), Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS), Ontario Arts Council, City of Kingston Arts Fund–Kingston Arts Council and the City of Kingston, with partnerships with Stauffer Library, Cultural Studies, Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies, and Art History and Art Conservation.