On the Future Ruins

2022, 3D-rendered video, 6’36”

The museum's traditional focus on art objects is removed by situating the perspective within the ruins of the museum. Instead, attention is drawn towards the "invisible objects" within the museum space. This project aims to deeply investigate the museum's role and the aesthetics that are inherent in both museums and art history. By shifting the emphasis away from art objects, this work seeks to illuminate the overlooked aspects of museum culture and provoke thought about the underlying principles that shape the museum experience.

The Shade of Yellow

2021, 16mm film, B&W, 8’47”

This work explores the origins of racial classification and its relationship to encyclopedic museums, tracing back to 1684 when a French traveler documented his experiences and first used the term "race" to describe distinct groups of humans based on physical attributes such as skin color. This traveler's article is significant in that it marks the beginning of the modern usage of the term "race" to refer to these discrete human groups. By starting with this text, the work delves into how racial classification has been intertwined with the formation and curation of encyclopedic museums, revealing the complex and troubling history of these institutions.

Chautauqua

2021, 16mm film, 7’02”

In this film, the viewers follow a curious explorer as they venture into a small gated community in upstate New York. Initially, the town seems to embody the perfect utopia, complete with immaculately kept homes and stunning scenery. However, the explorer soon discovers that the community's residents are all stuck in an endless cycle of routine, where each day is marked by the repetition of the same actions. It's as if time has ground to a halt, leaving no room for spontaneity or deviation from the norm.

Truth or Consequences

2017, video performance, 12’18”

In this work, the audience is taken to Truth or Consequences, a small town in New Mexico that changed its name in the 1950s because of a game show. The game show host promised to come to the town that changed its name to "Truth or Consequences" to do a live show. The artist travelled to this town in 2017 and stayed there for a week to conduct a series of interviews. In this town, most professions have only one person, such as one florist, one lawyer, one real estate company owner, and one cinema owner. Each person was asked three questions during the interviews: "What do they think of the name of their town?" "Tell me a truth" "Tell a consequence related to that truth." Despite the town's struggles with poverty and drug problems, it has continued to embrace its funny, humorous name. The answers collected from the residents provide a bittersweet glimpse into the reality of life in this town.

Dear Mother,

2018, video performance, 18’58”

"Dear Mother" is a film and research project based on personal letters discovered in the archive room of the Elsewhere museum. The project was developed by Dai, who used letters addressed to Sylvia Gray, the original proprietor of the second-hand store, during the 1950s-1980s. The letters consist of correspondence from Sylvia's three children, other relatives, sympathy cards following her husband's passing in 1955, and various business-related documents. Using these source texts, the project reconstructs Sylvia's image through the words of others and the artist's imagination. The exploration of personal letters aims to illuminate the life of Sylvia Gray and the defining relationships in her life.

Love for Sale

2020, Text-based video, 7’02”

"Love for Sale" is a project that follows up on the Institute of Marriage project. In 2018, the artist revisited China and explored five marriage markets located in various parks in Beijing. These match-making corners are self-organized and concealed in secretive areas within the parks, with strict rules against photography and videography. To document the encounters, the artist used a Zoom recorder and a small GoPro camera. Subsequently, a text-based video piece was created based on the conversations held with various parents in the park. Through these conversations, viewers can discern the desires and expectations of parents searching for partners for their children in the marriage market. The fast-paced nature of the conversations reflects diverse perspectives on success, expectations for their children's partners, and their understanding of international situations and immigrant policies.

How to Handle A Precious Man

2018, video performance, 8’48”

The third stage of research on the marriage market in China is reflected in this series of work. Drawing from previous experience at MFA Boston, the artist contrasts how conservators handle artworks with how artists manage their own works in the studio. By comparing man to an art object and the marriage market to the art market, the artist explores the varying value assigned to both. Due to the one-child policy, there are statistically more men than women in China. However, societal pressures for women to marry before a certain age have created an imbalance in the marriage market, making men highly sought after. This series delves into this complex issue of gender and value in contemporary Chinese society.

Language Product

2016, video performance, 9’06”

The body of work in question was initiated by research on NvShu, a Secret Women Language used as a code by women in Hunan Province, China. Although the language has lost its practical use, women who know it are still expected to perform their cultural activities for tourists, often for low wages. The artist created a video featuring a language factory, portraying the process of producing the Secret Women Language as an art object to be sold to those who do not understand its meaning.

Commandments for Women / Message through Generations

2015, video performance, 4’

During the Han Dynasty of Imperial China, a text was written outlining the status and position of women in society. Titled Lessons for Women (circa 80 CE), the book describes four precepts for women: proper virtue, proper speech, proper countenance, and proper conduct. Eventually, the book was used as a national text for all women in the late Ming and Qing Dynasties. By today’s standards, the text seems highly unfeminist, with codes of conduct that place women squarely in the position of an obedient wife, mother, and daughter. Upon closer inspection, it turns out that the text was in fact written by a woman, the first known Chinese woman historian and poet Ban Zhao (班昭).

The video series Commandments for Women (three video performances) examines the questions that arise from Zhao’s text. What does the conversation between generations of Chinese women look like? What does the generation gap look like when elder generations of women pass these rules on to younger generations of women (who may seek a more feminist existence)? What are the ways in which this text has held women back in Chinese history or integrated them into society through Confucian principles?

Mouse with Ears and Tail

2020, Neon Light Kinetic Sculpture

In her artwork related to the Year of the Mouse, Dai conducted research on the evolution of the Chinese character "鼠" (mouse) from the ancient Oracle bone script to the modern SimSun font. The placement of foreign language characters in a different cultural context often leads to their interpretation as a series of abstract lines and shapes by those unfamiliar with the language. This artwork aims to explore the experience of viewing a Chinese character from both native and foreign perspectives, urging both Chinese and non-Chinese speakers to see "mouse" when they see "鼠". The artwork features the small mouse from the ancient Oracle bone script moving around the contemporary SimSun font, which ultimately transforms into a cartoon mouse figure with a welcoming neon glow, inviting viewers to engage.