Patty Chang @ 18th street Arts Center, US

Milk Debt is a multi-part video project of women pumping breast milk while reciting lists of fears drawn from different communities in various geographical regions around the world. The title refers to the idea in Chinese Buddhism where a child is forever indebted to its mother for the milk she gave. Milk Debt is an arrangement that binds us to our history and to the earth, and is considered an unpayable debt. Biologically, breast milk is created when the body starts to produce the hormones prolactin and oxytocin – a hormone also produced when someone is in love. The performance acts as a type of ritual, with the performer channeling the fears of others into public speech. By speaking the fears, the pumper transforms them from the individual into the communal. In a time when people are being impacted by climate change, governmental policies, lack of resources, and pandemics, it is vital to find ways to connect to others, be inclusive and compassionate and find ways of making meaning in our world.