Preview:
99 Agreements
Video & Sound Installation
Variable time
99 Agreements is a performance-based video & sound installation. In 99 Agreements, Zhang plays 99 different female characters. They are doing different things on different occasions, while constantly repeating, “Yes”. Some are talking to others pleasurably, some are muttering by themselves nervously, some are helpless and in pain.
People are accustomed to a stereotyped lifestyle, repetitive action, and habitual language. Our reactions to the outside world are often mindless. “Yes," not only expresses agreement, but also nuanced emotion, providing multiple meanings through a meaningless oral habit. “Yes” is used cheaply and understood simply in daily communication, its ambiguous implications are always overlooked. Behind the simple language may be habitual harmony, may be the consent to authority, may also refer to absolute resistance.
In this project, Zhang explores the meaning of a spoken habit through the scenes of 99 women's lives, especially discussing the relation of consent to female identity. The audience may interpret the various scenes and their multiple implications especially in regard to career association and linguistic expression.