For the Frankenanthem, I was interested in the interaction between the person of a singular dominant culture reacting me to singing their anthem, and that lead to the idea of transplanting culture. It moved to how I might combine the anthem practically- I took footage and melded various footage of my singing, noting that ordered lyrics were better at masquerading than chaotic lyrics. I re-iterated the lyrics by collaging them and scrambling them.

I settled on a 4 verse anthem, with 16 lines total to represent my three cultures and their anthems, which can be seen in the video below.

There is a stronger emphasis on Hong Kong’s Under the Lion Rock song, as it’s Hong Kong’s appropriated anthem, chosen by Hong Kong’s cultural custodians in place of Hong Kong’s official anthem, which is the same as China. Cultural custodians, rather than governing institutions have determined the choice of this anthem.

I ran this song multiple times with other people of different cultures, and as expected, everyone had difficulty with it- so it was interesting to see how they attempted to modulate their voices.

To infiltrate mainstream culture, I found singers who were able to sing fluently in these three languages. At first glance, it appears to be an typical Asian line up, then they burst out singing the first line from Advance Australia Fair!

VERSE 1

To Advance
(tung jau yan sai seung cheui)
同舟人誓相隨,
(tung chyu hoi gok tin bin)
同處海角天邊,
(Qiánjin! Qiánjin! Jìn!)
前进!前进!进!

VERSE 2

(gei si tung jau joi saan ha che gung jai)
既是同舟在山下且共濟,
In joyful strains then let us sing,
(mínzú dào le zùi wēixiǎnde shíhòu,)
民族到了最危险的时候,
(mou wai gang mou geui)
無畏更無懼

VERSE 3

(Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, Qiánjìn!)
冒着敌人的炮火,前进!
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts,
(mou wai gang mou geui)
無畏更無懼,
(tung jau yan sai seung cheui)
同舟人誓相隨,

VERSE 4

(Qǐ lai ! Búyuànzuò núlì de rénmen)
起来!不愿做奴隶的人们!
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
(fong hoi bei chi sam jung maau teun)
放開彼此心中矛盾
(lei seung yat hei heui jeui)
理想一起去追