无用功 Futile Work

Medium: archival pigment print on Alupanel 艺术微喷，铝塑板

Dimensions: 20” x 30” (50.8 x 76.2 cm)

Year: 2022

Edition 限量5版: 1 of 5

Statement: Furthering my investigation of the construction and negotiation of selfhood in a contemporary diasporic context, 无用功 Futile Work inquires what it means and what it takes to fully arrive at one’s various roles— whether academic, occupational, or familial—as well as to fulfill their respective commitments. It explores the invisible and/or under-acknowledged energy, labour, and cost for individuals in intersectional positions to achieve their goals. I’m interested in how the permeating boundaries between the cultural and the personal, the public and the domestic, the conscious and the unconscious, impact one’s sense of self and one’s understanding of what they can accomplish. This piece is part of a larger photography series that documents performative acts based on partly fictional, partly autobiographical narratives during my residency at Banff Arts Centre in 2022.

《⽆⽤功》摄影系列是我以当代移民体验出发对个⼈⾃我认知的建构和妥协的思考。它设想了对离乡背井的移民来说，若想充分实现⼀个⼈的各种⾓⾊，⽆论是学术、职业或家庭中，将意味着怎样的付出和需要履⾏怎样的职责。本系列探讨了处于交叉⾝份的个⼈（如有⾊⼈种⼥性移民即为三重弱势群体的⾝份）为实现其⽬标所付出的那些隐形或未被⼴泛认知的⾟劳与成本。当代社会中⽂化与个⼈、公共与隐私、有意识与⽆意识这些范畴之间互相渗透的边界会如何影响个⼈的⾃我意识构成以及她对⾃⼰的期许和能⼒预判？《⽆⽤功》记录了我2022年在班芙艺术中⼼驻地期间就以上主题进⾏的半虚构、半⾃传叙述的表演⾏为。本作品是该系列中的⼀幅。