This project is a performance art piece I developed, with darkroom photography as the final outcome.
I’ve been living a diagnosed anxiety disorder for a very long time. In order to seek answers and resonance, I decided to design an experimental performance around the topic of anxiety and to document it using 35mm film.
The purpose of this performance is to give concrete form to the rules of a normative society and to explore the relationship between these open set of norms and the individuals with anxiety who live within their web. Using ableism as a starting point, I take a socially constructed perspective, framing anxiety as a complex sociocultural and political phenomenon that demands interdisciplinary study. This viewpoint sees mental disorders as products of culture and social constructs, aiming to uncover the structural forces behind them and seeking a collective narrative through film photography.
We often assume that a way to treat or alleviate anxiety is to divert attention or focus on other activities. But for someone with an anxiety disorder, this is an incredibly challenging—almost impossible—task. Anxiety stems from a particular group's inability to conform to social rules, which are established by a normative society. My work seeks to discuss the relationship between individuals with anxiety disorders and these societal rules.
I invited shibari artist Hanyu Wang and my friend Dieu Lin Vueong to join me in this performance. To me, Dieu embodies a facet of Gen Z in Europe; she has long struggled with OCD, insomnia, depression, and severe anxiety triggered by these mental health issues. She is now actively working to overcome alcohol and substance dependence. In spending time with her, I noticed that she couldn't go without a constant flow of external stimuli, continuously seeking fragmented information to ease her persistent anxiety. I often found resonance with her experience.
The experiment was set to last for one hour, during which Hanyu Wang used hemp ropes to tie and untie Dieu. This performance was carried out with the consent of all three of us. During this hour, Dieu was required to relinquish control over her body, abstaining from the usual comforts of checking her phone or smoking. Throughout this hour, she repeatedly asked us, “Can I just have a quick look at my phone?” “Could I get a cigarette?” “I’m about to lose my mind.” Watching her struggle and cry felt like observing an embodiment of the anathema between an anxious individual and societal norms. I recorded her post-binding struggle and submission with my camera.
这一个项目是我策划的一次行为艺术，最后的产出为暗房摄影作品。
我很长一段时间都活在焦虑障碍中，我寻求解答，寻求共鸣的路上，策划了这一场实验表演，并使用35毫米胶片拍摄记录。策划这一次行为艺术的目的旨在将健全社会的规则具象化，讨论健全社会下规则与焦虑症患者个体之间的关系。
我们常认为治疗与缓解焦虑障碍的方式是将注意力转移，或者去做一些其他的事情，但作为焦虑障碍者，这是一件十分困难、几乎难以完成的任务。焦虑的原因是特定的群体无法适应社会规则，而这个“规则”是健全社会制定的。我的这个作品旨在讨论焦虑障碍个体与社会规则之间的关系。我希望以能力主义\健全者中心主义（ableism）为切入点，从社会建构视角出发，焦虑症是一种需要从多学科角度综合研究的复杂社会文化政治现象。这一视角将精神障碍看作文化的产物和社会建构的结果，致力于发现其背后的结构性力量，并积极通过影像的形式寻求共鸣。
我邀请了绳艺艺术家王晗昱和我的一位朋友dieu lin vueong一起参与表演。Dieu在伦敦的中央圣马丁就读大三，我与她在一次拍摄合作中相识，她是一名非常出色的stylist。Dieu像是欧洲Z世代的一个缩影，她长期患有强迫症，睡眠障碍，抑郁症，以及精神症状产生的严重焦虑障碍。她目前正在积极地戒除酒精和药物滥用中。在与她的的相处中，我发现她无法离开外界刺激的不断输入，她需要一直不停地获取碎片化的信息，以缓解内心不断产生的焦虑情绪，我常能在她身上找到共鸣。我设置了1小时的实验时间，邀请绳艺艺术家王晗昱用麻绳将dieu束起又解开，这一次的行为表演是在三方自愿进行的前提下进行的。在这一个小时里，dieu需要放弃自己对于自己身体的强迫掌控，她不能够再随心所欲地触碰手机，不能够抽烟。在这一个小时中，她不断向我们提出“能不能把手机递给我让我看一眼就行”“能不能给我一根烟”“我快要疯了”，我看着她的挣扎和眼泪，就像是看见了焦虑障碍者在健全社会规训下的行为缩影。我在一旁用摄影机记录下了她被“束缚”后的挣扎与服从。