Akeroyd Collection

Works

Andrew Thomas Huang, Kiss of the Rabbit God (兔兒神), 2019

A Chinese American restaurant worker falls in love with a Qing dynasty god who visits him at night and leads him on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery. Interweaving the artist's personal family history in the Chinese restaurant business with the richness of Chinese mythology, Huang has said of Kiss of the Rabbit God (兔兒神), that it is a confession and a love letter to his queer Asian community. While it is left unclear if this restaurant worker, exhausted by his job, is dreaming, or actually experiencing a transcendental reality, he nonetheless finds himself intrigued by a customer who seems to visit him one way or another. Between shots depicting the prosaic and shots that feel fantastical, the film reveals a greater truth about a lover’s quest for self-possession and determination to own one’s desire. Human reality, with all its attendant demands of work and life, is blurred evocatively with the ambiguity of subconsciousness, fantasy, and religious rapture, and in the cinematic and emotional space, this creates, sexual intimacy is unlocked through spiritual embodiment.

MediumDigital Video HD1080
Duration14 minutes 39 seconds
Editionof 5