DADDY+Project;+Daddy+--+Yan+Xing

**DADDY Project/ DADDY by Yan Xing**
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Title: DADDY Project/ DADDY Artist: Yan Xing Date: Performed 15 January, 2011 Period: Contemporary Country of Origin: China Cultural Affiliation: Chinese Medium: Performance art/ Film
 * Identification**


 * Introduction**

In 2009 Yan Xing graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Oil Painting Department with BFA, Chongqing, China. He now lives and works in Beijing, China.(Yan-Xing.Com). The spoken text used for this performance titled DADDY is based on a series of posts from Yan Xing's highly personal and often scandalous blog that focuses on his childhood with his father and mother. This rather personal text that he writes is highlighted in his performance work //Daddy Project, DADDY//. --needs to be rewritten


 * Descriptive Analysis**

Yan Xing's work //Daddy Project/ DADDY// is a combination of a performance piece, and film. If viewers were lucky enough to be in the gallery on January 15, 2011 they would have been able to see Yan Xing standing in a gallery with nothing but himself, a microphone, television, and a camera. Yan Xing faces away from the video camera, which instead of it filming his face it records the back of his head. If the viewer chooses to they can instead watch what the camera records on the television on the adjacent wall. This video screen shows the entire video long after Yan Xing completes the performance. It continues in an endless loop showing the back of his head. Yan Xing speaks in Mandarin, and addresses his father (also sometimes his mother) in this monologue. He narrates his experiences as a child from his controversial blog that he had written online about his father and his childhood. Within the blog he expresses his thoughts about other important issues like politics, history, and the media.

For two hours Yan Xing stands facing the white wall and talks about his own experiences growing up with a single mother, exposed to family violence (mostly his father), great uncertainties, the lack of recognition and love from his extended family, and the absence of fatherly affection throughout his life (Yinghua Lu, 2011). Yan Xing starts at the beginning to address his account to his own father, whom he announces to be in the audience. As he continues his narration it starts to become clear that its not the father he was referring to, but instead a fatherly figure he never really had but wants. Within the video he states "Today, before I walked into the gallery I bumped into my dad at the door, he was smoking outside. We had not met each other in many years" he continues to address the viewers "Before making this work I told him that I wish he would come to Beijing to complete this work with me. But now that I am about to start this performance today I cannot believe he is standing behind me".

Yan Xing addresses things concerning his mother as well "Every boyfriends, she told me to call them dad. Basically, I called Uncle Zhang daddy on Monday. On Tuesday, I called Uncle Li daddy. On Saturday, I may need to call Uncle Zhao daddy". His mother isn't completely innocent in his life, he also describes his constant fighting and competitive relationship with his mother, which reached a breaking point at which she stabbed him (Yinghua Lu, 2011). He talks about how police were often called in these situations, which usually were occasioned by Yan Xing's affairs with his mother's boyfriends. --This needs clarification.

There is no doubt that Yan Xing is a great storyteller. It could possibly be because of everything he has been through, or simply that he has a great memory, but there is no awkward silence or struggle for words during his performance.


 * Formal and Contextual Analysis**

By facing the white wall, instead of looking at the camera, Yan Xing automatically places up a boundary. Symbolically it could be a number of reasons why he does this, either to hide himself from the spectators, possibly his father figure that Yan Xing addresses is in the audience. By having the audience view the back of his head it could also imply that they are looking into the back of his mind/ thoughts about this subject. Much like when people read his blog, he allows those readers into his mind on the various subjects that he talks about on his posts.

Here the results of Yan Xing’s initial act of online exposure are retold, and subsequently presented over and over again within the gallery after he has left. Much like the post, once published, can never totally be removed. It's something there online that people can search and re-read over and over again. In an interview with Travis Jeppesen, artist Yan Xing explains more about his blog and how he uses it in correlation with his work. "It is simply an artists blog" he mentioned when prompted about his blog, "I never expected the output from blogging would deliver deeper values" (Jeppensen, 2011). He then continues to explain the relationship between art and blogging, "The relationship between blogging and me and my art practice is similar to the one between my life and art. All the web tools, including my Weibo {the Chinese version of Twitter- E.D], are all becoming an individual medium that can be quickly consumed" (Jeppensen, 2011).

Stepping away from the internet, the artwork //DADDY Project/ DADDY// is essentially a stepping stone for speaking about controversy in a performance. [|Performance art in China] has their variety of styles, much like [|He Yunchang], and Yang Zhichao who place their bodies in physically risky circumstances (Tan, 2008). Yan Xing in a way mentally risks himself for the sake of his performance artworks. By reliving his past experiences as a child and young adult he risks his mentality [??] from all his troublesome times from his abuse. It's the similar work from He Yunchang, which has cemented himself, and risked serious injury to his body for his artwork. By testing his body, he attempts to reveal the existence of an individual “state of being” beyond his own physical limitation (He Yunchang).

Yan Zhichao parellel's with Yan Xing's works, in which almost all of Yang Zhichao's works are drawn directly from his personal experience and his living environment (Pace Beijing; Yan Zhichao). Yan Zhichao creates a series of performances using his own body to examine a particular identity or state of being. Much like these performance artists, Yan Xing also uses his body to evoke a deeper meaning within his artwork. This is where he is very similar with the artist Yan Zhichao, since when they both use their bodies in their artworks they do it to reveal past personal experiences.


 * Personal Interpretation**

Personally I think that the way that Yan Xing performs this work is very powerful. By facing away from the camera it allows the viewer come up with their own thoughts.. Even though he is talking about something specific he allows the viewer to come up with opinions about this work of art. For instance, why does he only allow people to gaze at his head. Is it because he is ashamed? Afraid of how people view him? It's Possible, I think it's because he wants to emphasize the point that the viewers want to gaze into his thoughts in his mind. I personally would like to think that he hides from the viewer much like how he hides behind his computer screen from his readers. The readers cannot see him talking to them, so in a way he mimics that in his artwork.

I enjoy the idea that the video of Yan Xing is displayed in the gallery. It's not just good for the people that were unable to see the original performance work, but also it in a way becomes part of the work.

By opening up about his life it's such a personal subject that it's hard for me personally to ignore. It's a life story that I can become entranced by, and I think that's what gives this work special meaning. Originally I didn't think much about this artwork, but the more I learned and understood why Yan Xing does certain things with this work the more I grew to like it.


 * Bibliography**

__Printed Sources__

Cotter, Holland. "In a Perfect World". //New York Times//. April 28, 2011. C29.

Engstrom, Einar. "Yan Xing: Autobiographer, Voyeur. //LEAP//. October 2011. pp.74-77.

Yan Xing, interview by Travis Jeppesen. //An Interview with Yan Xing//. Whitehot Magazine. October 2011.

Yinghua Lu, Carol. //Realism On Yan Xing//. Realism. 2011.

__Online Sources__

Art Slant, Yan Xing @http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/197133-yan-xing

Pace Beijing, "He Yuchang".[]

Pace Beijing, "Yang Zhichao". @http://www.pacebeijing.com/exhibitions/Great%20Performances/Yang%20Zhichao.html

Sanderson, Edward. "Fantastic Five". ArtSlant China, [|www.artslant.com/cn/articles/show/28128]

Tan, Adele. "Adele Tan's Study Room Guide- A Small Map Piece of Performance Art in China". June 2008. @http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/pdf_docs/SRG_Tan.pdf

Xing, Yan. Artist Blog [|http://blog.yan-xing.org]

Xing, Yan. Artist Website []