80 Washington Square East, NYU

Shu Lea Cheang

September 11, 2024 – January 23, 2025

Washington Square Windows

Shareen Lightfoot, 2024, is a commissioned installation by Shu Lea Cheang at Washington Square Windows coinciding with the 30th anniversary of her groundbreaking film, Fresh Kill, 1994. 

This project is part of Legacies: Asian American Art Movements in New York City (1969-2001).

The experimental film Fresh Kill speculates a post-apocalyptic New York City in which main character lesbian protagonists navigate existential eco horror, consumer society, urban class drama, and technological dystopia.  Described as an "eco cyber noia" and "avant-anarcho ecosatire", the film features a screenplay by Jessica Hagedorn and music by Vernon Reid.

The new street level installation Shareen Lightfoot spotlights an iconic neon sign from the film that alternates between the words "Kiss Kiss" and "Kill Kill" and a sprawling assemblage of televisions showing static noise.  The image of film character Shareen Lightfoot (played by Sarita Choudhury) leaping over a techno junkyard wreckage looms in the background.


Organized by Howie Chen 
Gini Yu Pei Lee, Curatorial Assistant. Produced by Jon Huron, 80WSE. 

The exhibition’s presentation is made possible by Teiger Foundation.    

Special thanks for the support of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, CHENZO.STUDIO, and Fales Library and Special Collections. 

Equipment provided in part by Lower East Side Ecology Center. 
Press Release
Resources:

Shu Lea Cheang Papers at Fales Library and Special Collections

Legacies: Asian American Art Movements in New York City (1969-2001).




Streetfront window display featuring a stack of old CRT televisions with distorted white-line visuals, a red neon sign that reads “KISS KISS,” and a large black-and-white image of a woman surrounded by televisions. The scene is lit dramatically, with a fire hydrant and bike rack on the sidewalk in front.
Streetfront view of a nighttime window display. The left window features a red neon sign that reads “KISS KISS,” positioned above a stack of old CRT televisions showing distorted white-line visuals. The background is a grayscale photo of an overturned room. The right window displays a large black-and-white image of a woman surrounded by televisions. The word “LEGACIES” is visible in the leftmost window. A “No Parking” sign and fire hydrant are in the foreground
Close-up of a streetfront window display featuring a red neon sign shaped like lips with the words “KILL KILL” inside. Below it, a stack of CRT televisions displays static and vertical white lines. In the background, a grayscale photo shows scattered vintage TVs and a booted foot in motion.
Photo: Carter Seddon
Black-and-white photograph of a woman mid-motion, jumping or stomping on a pile of old CRT televisions scattered on the ground. She wears a plaid shirt, jacket, and boots, with her hair flying upward from the movement.
Shareen Lightfoot from a scene in Fresh Kill, 1994. Courtesy Shu Lea Cheang.  
Poster for the film Fresh Kill: Eco Cyber Noia, featuring two women posed closely in front of a green-tinted landfill. Bright pink fish float across the image, and an old television sits at the bottom right. The film title appears in bold black and white text, with credits listed along the bottom.