CHENG YANG

Shivers: Computational Arts MA/MFA Degree Show, Goldsmiths College, London

2021

Water and women are where life begins.

Water can be regarded as a feminine symbol in Chinese culture.

Water is intangible. From what mentality you look at it, it is just as you think.

In contemporary society, women who post self-portraits on social media always receive various comments, with a significant proportion focusing on body evaluation. This phenomenon causes a sense of unease among many women concerning their body shapes.

In the context of Chinese traditional culture, water and women are intricately linked, women and water are recognized as the genesis of life. Water serves as a symbolic representation of feminity and women are conceived as being comprised of water. To convey the diversity of women’s body shapes, this interactive installation features five distinct shapes of glass cups containing water, each symbolizing diverse women’s body types. The interactive mode involves enabling the audience to observe dynamic images includes the water ripples and authentic comments from social media by knocking on distinct glass cups. It can enable the audience feel the hurt of these words on women as much as the percussive force. If the audience do not have enough force to knock they may not see the effect. The greater the percussive force, the more glass cups will sense it, which represents the severity of judgement directed at a woman also influences the self-perception of other women.

Throughout 5 days of the exhibition, one glass cup will be intentionally shattered daily, and the resulting fragments will be displayed on the table. This act metaphorically underscores the notion that women should not be constrained by the shape of the glass cup, water is intangible like our souls are also free. In the performance video, I captured water from Thames River using a glass cup, symbolizing the restraint of a fixed aesthetic form to women. This dance performs a gradual integration between myself and the glass cup, and the gradual desire for liberation. Ultimately, I intentionally shatteres the glass cup, allowing the water to return to the river and flow to the ocean.