2022
21.0 x 29.7 cm
A4 paper, clipboards
2023
Single-channel video (color, sound)
6’27”
平安SAFE
2021-2023
29.7 x 21.0 cm (42 x 32 cm with frame)
A4 paper, frames
Is it every daughter's duty to report their safety or even perform it in order to show it to their families?
The artist's friend's father passed away because of cancer on 21 December 2021, she couldn't imagine what to do if it were her father. After she told her parents about it, she thought maybe it's time to chat with them more often than before, to make some progresses to their relationship.
From 25 December 2021, she started to take a picture of herself holding a piece of paper on which says '平安SAFE' and then send it to her family group chat every day for one year as her futile resistance to her parents' concerns with her safety.
Along with photos are 'Safety Report Forms', each contains one screenshot of their group chat. The forms are sorted by month. The good daughter filled all the forms.
But the rebellious daughter made a video I AM SAFE to emphasize to her mom that she's safe.
The artist used four A4 paper for the project, each one lasted for 3-4 months. She framed them to memorise the strength and inconvenience they brought to her during the year thus now they can rest with honour. (scroll down for a longer version)
每个女儿都有义务向家人报告（甚至表演）她们的安全，从而证明她们确实是安全的吗？
艺术家的朋友的父亲在2021年12月21日因癌症去世，她无法想象如果是她父亲的话该怎么办。当她把这件事告诉她的父母后，她想也许是时候应该更经常地联系他们，让他们之间的关系有更多的进展了。
从2021年12月25日开始，每天她都会拍一张自己手举一张写着 "平安SAFE "的纸的照片发到她的家庭群里，持续一年的时间，作为她对父母担心她安全的徒劳的抵抗。
与照片一起的有 "安全报告表"，每张表里都包含一张他们的群聊截图。这些表格按照月份分类。好女儿填写了所有的表格。
但叛逆的女儿做了一个视频 I AM SAFE，向她的妈妈强调她是安全的。
艺术家为这个项目使用了四张A4纸，每张可以使用3-4个月。她将它们装裱起来，以纪念它们在这一年中给她带来的力量和不便，现在它们可以光荣地退休了。
Every day I would take a picture of myself holding a piece of paper on which says '平安SAFE' and then send it to my family group chat since the Christmas of 2022.
It all starts with a sad story. My friend's father passed away because of cancer on 21 December of 2022, I couldn't imagine what to do if it were my father. After I told my parents about it, I think maybe it's time to chat with them more often than before, to make some progresses to our relationship. Because my mom always blames me not sending messages to them actively, and usually she is the one who called me. But I really don't know what to talk with them even though we've been living with each other for 25 years.
Then I started to think that in China, we have this tradition if you go somewhere faraway from home, you should tell your families that you're alright, you're safe, you're fine…and it's called '报平安' (bào píng'ān) in Chinese. Google translates it as report safety. I was thinking what if I turn this action into a job that I have to do every day, just like people need to punch in before they start to work, could this help me to start a conversation with my parents?
In the meantime, as an Asian female living alone in the Europe, I have to prove to my parents that I am safe and it is safe to live here, because all the negative news about Europe that was shown on the TV, they kept reminding me to stay safe and be careful. I am always wondering if I were a man, would they still say the same to me? Is it every daughter’s duty to report their safety or even perform it in order to show it to their families?
So I decide to clock in with my parents every day in our family group chat by sending them a photo of me holding this SAFE paper for one year, committing myself to something really easy and simple, and repeat doing it for one year, as my futile resistance to my parents' concerns with my safety.
It is futile, because, on one hand, deep inside my heart I am still the rebellious daughter who knows what is actually good for herself. On the other hand, I have to respect and gratify my parents because I still need their support financially and emotionally. So I had to find a tactic, a subtle trick, the art of the weak that could allow me to balance myself between these two positions. And reclaim a tiny piece of my agency in our relationships.
Apart from taking photos which mostly were taken by myself, sometimes I asked friends for help; I also took screenshots of our chat as evidences. During the process, my phone crashed for several times, and I had to reset it, then I lost some chat histories with my family, so I need to ask my parents to take the screenshots and send them to me.
I appropriate the style of administrative forms and made my own version of safety reports that requires me to filled in the date of the report, the number of the report, the location and who did the report. I also signed my name on each of them to make them legally authentic. It's never too much when your safety is your parents' highest concern. And a good daughter should always report her safety. After I filled all the forms, I sorted them by month to make them easier to be examined.
Another resistance is presented through the video, the video starts with my mom's voice message asking me to be careful and stay safe, then I respond her with all the photos I took through the year accompanied by a monotonous sound piece that resembles war-drum, and with me keep saying or rapping 'I AM SAFE' in order to emphasise to her that I AM SAFE although in a provocative attitude.
I listed my friends' and my parents' names at the end of the video for their help and participation in this project.