Caged Woman In Union Square Park Sat Silently for 10hours

Performance art like the spoken word is a powerful real-life artform. Artists are able to connect with the audience on a heart-to-heart, down-to-earth level. All forms of good art aim to awaken and inspire their audience.

Hedy Zhang is a fine-art major, she started expanding her horizons last year and began experimenting with performance art. Recently, she went out and locked herself in a steel cage out in a public space.

She went into a steel cage— actually it’s a dog crate.

Hedy sat still in the cage for 10 hours in Union Square Park, Manhatten, New York.

She performed a silent drama called “Self Imprison. Hedy didn’t utter a word the entire time except for exchanging a few words between her and her assistant.
The artist wanted to bring to the public’s attention that it’s oftentimes us that imprison ourselves within our own psychological prisons.
By becoming aware of this, we can begin to liberate ourselves.

After sitting for 10 hours, Hedy kicked open the cage door, finally breaking it.

Hedy Zhang spent 10 hours in a cage in Union Square Park on June 15.

Hedy said, “The most difficult part of this performance, was to get over my own fear and finish it — I didn’t know how people in New York City would react.”

Hedy says she’s planning to create more performance art.

Hedy expressed that she had to overcome her own fears to do the cage project.

She said she didn’t know what kind of reactions she would elicit.