Qiyun Zheng

On your autotheory section, write (about) the “fictions”/”share pretenses” in your body and body of work .¨Try to unpack both the conscious and possibly the unconscious ones. Use the theory to explain what is fiction/ shared pretense for you

my body

I’ve been dying my hair for the past two years. It is always highly colorful: purple, orange, red and pink. My original hair is dark brown. The darkness was bleached away and colors took the place.

On the plane from China to the Netherlands, everyone was required to wear masks, so personal features were not identifiable. I dyed my hair bright red just before leaving for the airport. The flight police went straight forward to me and asked, “Did you just smoke?”

“No.”

“Let me warn you, smoking on the plane is not allowed, even electronic cigarette would get you into trouble. The regulation is …”

“I’ve never smoked in my life!” I was furious.

A flight attendant came and pulled the flight police away.

So what about red hair?

Do we (the flight police and I) share the pretense that dying hair to bright red means this person is so full of “personalities” and would certainly do something that is considered “bad” in Chinese culture, which probably includes smoking?

Or, is the actual fiction I made to my body, simply because I love red color?

My body of work

Do I assume every spectator understand what I mean/ want to express through movements? When the spectators watch my work, we share the pretense that this is a performance.

In ballroom, everyone is expected to look fabulous and fierce. But we know in real life it does not always look that way. And when I dress in a way that does look expensive, it puts people off, no matter how the movements are.