ABOUT

‘D-day’ originates from a pivotal operation during World War II, refers to a date on which a significant event is expected to happen. This project adopts the name and comprises multiple units of experimental video and interactive installations, exploring the visual representation of Chinese Renqing Society within contemporary funeral rituals. It defines handshakes in rituals as a ticket to a new language system, granting participants access to a revelry world.

In urban daily life, the process of various traditional ceremonies has been simplified. Contemporary funeral rituals, coloured by sorrow, have become an unusual social space. The separation of work and living areas (mobility) and the widespread use of social media have allowed the ripple-like social structures of the deceased’s family to become visualised during funeral ceremonies. Funerals become a sliced projection of differential pattern (Fei Xiaotong) in contemporary daily life, turning mourning into a merch activity.
 
The project focuses on the handshake, a persistent gesture in ceremonies. Without needing explanation, participants quickly grasp this seemingly familiar language system—a rule everyone understands. In funerals layered with various taboos, handshaking subtly indicates rich emotions and language. The ritual has become an unique revelry (neutral connotation), with the handshake as a cryptic cipher for participants to recognise each other's entry.
 
The various components of the project are brought together in a small exhibition space:
a) Participants execute configured handshakes, triggering the random display of experimental videos.
b) Specific handshake gestures activate random preset words in the word library.
c) Each audience member transforms into a participant, collectively contributing to the creation—a dialogue resembling a conspiracy—using the random words from step b. This dialogue is random, variable, continuous, and unpredictable, yet there is no escape from the established system.