Image
![One man striking a peculiar pose while another leans against a wall.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_07.jpg?itok=VSIPyeGW)
Renee Cha
Happy Days
Happy Days, titled after Samuel Beckett’s play, explores the intersection between absurd theatre and the process of searching for self. Similar to the attempts of absurd theatre to challenge and subvert conventional ideas, one of the most important aspects in worldviews for colored women is to defy the dichotomy formed by the western authorities. Describing human beings in binary oppositional terms is heavily based on a standardized form of identity that separates self and other. But we are not to be defined nor opposed; the ‘self’ can be constantly reinterpreted, challenged, and in a way, continuously created.
Building on the idea of using absurd theatre as a metaphor for resistance, the images create a space for fragmented and nonsensical moments to see and experience alienation in alternative ways. When the script of Samuel Beckett that is only left with gestures overlaps with the images, everything becomes more incomprehensible and paradoxical.
Image
![A figure giving birth to a glass object while a doctor-like figure receives it.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_01.jpg?itok=UNpDtNaU)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
40x32inch
2023
Image
![An excerpt of a theatre script that all the spoken lines are omitted.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_02.jpg?itok=B8tWHnIZ)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
18x12inch
2023
Image
![A girl dropping eyedrops into both left and right eyes.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_03.jpg?itok=wjL6uDPK)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
15x9inch
2023
Image
![A man is lying on the table full of glasses, while two hands of others are holding glasses up in the air.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_04.jpg?itok=ZzcgBZYr)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
25x32inch
2023
Image
![A figure standing in behind a wooden sculpture.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_05.jpg?itok=EjJEWMoQ)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
30x38inch
2023
Image
![Partial view of a figure's lower body as they strive to achieve a posture.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_06.jpg?itok=D7V6bZFQ)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
20x16inch
2023
Image
![One man striking a peculiar pose while another leans against a wall.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_07_0.jpg?itok=EvbdmJux)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
7x5inch (each)
2023
Image
![Two figures engaging in playful interaction.](/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2023-05/PHOTO_HeeYoungCha_08.jpg?itok=-Pw-2URt)
Untitled
Inkjet Print
20x16inch
2023