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DADDY Project – Artist Statement

by Yan Xing

This work originated from a blog entry about my father that I wrote last year. It was quoted by many and generated conflicting on-line

discussions, and my life was greatly affected at the time. With this new on-site work, I am trying to discuss the violent nature of the Internet,

privacy, and the limits of recounting real life events on-line.


In the 'DADDY' performance, the artist has his back to the audience, as he recounts an important event in his personal life involving his father.

At the same time, the artist video records the speech so that the audience can view his face on a video monitor. The anonymity of the

audience provides a seemingly safe space for the artist, but invisible motives are hidden. Spying on violence is a kind of violence itself. The

private life of the artist is forced onto the audience, creating a voyeuristic transition between the speaker and the audience. Who is inflicting

this painful personal story on whom? Is the audience a willing participant, a sympathizer, a victim or a voyeur? In the recounting of this

personal drama, which is unscripted and known only to the artist, what is fabricated and what is real? Any doubt, discussion, sympathy, pity,

understanding, tolerance...will all be faithfully recorded by a video camera.


I concentrate on my own body. I try to create an uncontrollable stage where I sincerely tell my abnormal life story, a story that is not completely

taken from reality. All of this exists in relation to the audience; everyone involved experiences one take of violence.

Yan Xing

Mark Wallinger Marnie Weber

Saya Woolfalk

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