Teresa Time explores the use of pirate radio as a method of resistance by examining minor acts of insurrection against government censorship. This work is based on the culture of pirate radio stations in the 1980s, when Taiwanese broadcasts were illicitly transmitted into China. At the center of this conflict was the beloved Taiwanese pop singer, Teresa Teng, whose voice became the symbol of these Broadcast Wars, enticing Chinese listeners to defect to Taiwan. As a result, the CCP, who maintained strict control of the incoming media, attempted to ban, jam, and disrupt the radio stations. Listeners in China resisted by adjusting the frequencies and recording live broadcasts onto tapes.

Using transmitters and archival materials (bootlegged Teresa Teng CDs, audio clips, and historical broadcasts) I reactivate this history at Wave Farm. Evoking James C. Scott’s concept of “peasant resistance,” listeners follow a set of instructions to locate the frequency of the broadcast, while it is disrupted by overlapping media and interference.