SAVE THE WORLD

In her project 'SAVE THE WORLD', TINKEBELL. travels around the world. In the month of June 2008, she attended Beijing. After spending several days walking around she found an old man selling birds at a local market. The man looked extremely sad, but also gave her the impression to be extremely kind for his birds. He was surely a poor man who did everything he could and gave everything he owned to his children-birds. This was the man who needed to be saved. TINKEBELL. decided to spent five days, to bring the man the things with which she would need to be saved, as she was in his situation. So she did:

1. On the first day, she brought him a huge cake which was especially made for him.
2. On the second day she brought him the nicest new clothes she could find.
3. On the third day she gave him the biggest and cutest pink teddybear.
4. On the fourth day she asked the kindest haircutter, to give him a haircut.
5. On the fifth day she ordered her favorite food at her favorite restaurant and made the waitress bring it to him.

After the fifth day she saw that the old man had become extremely happy and she realized: She saved his world.



In 'SAVE THE WORLD' the artist shows how western people and organizations often feel the need to help others when a situation doesn't correspond with their own life expectations. The impossibility of really changing these situations according to a western standard and all the consequences and (mis)communication this can generate, is the central point of research within this project.

TINKEBELL. is part of the Dutch artist group EMPATHYtm. EMPATHYtm attended Dagaocun Art District, Beijing for a residency in June 2008. 'SAVE THE WORLD' is an EMPATHYtm project. EMPATHYtm is Jonas Staal, Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei and TINKEBELL.
http://www.tinkebell.com/