Tomorrow Will Be Better, Performance, Chongqing, 2022. 

 

A chair in the exhibition hall, and a bamboo leading to the ceiling. I walk up to the chair in a gorgeous costume, holding a saw in my hand. I struggle to saw off the bamboo, using this saw as a string like a cello player, and quickly move out of the way as the bamboo falls down. The performance ends. 

 

This work presents a reflection of the cruelty in hope and optimism facing the combined oppression from neoliberalism and capitalism in our current burnout society. It also reminds me the question of whether our world’s tomorrow will really be better under this illusion of a called age of peace, when we are collectively experiencing invisible violence towards the self — exploitation — and visible violence, war, around the world. However, in the sense of Terry Eagleton and Slavoj Žižek, true hope demands reflection and commitment, the courage to face up to the abyss. For the former, this 'tragedy of hope' refers to a strength that remains even after the devastating loss has been confronted.

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