CHING CHU 仟青
Bedtime Stories
one-on-one performance with research-based stories
2024
Bedtime Stories is a participatory conceptual performance work reflecting the predicaments we are accustomed to enduring in daily life. The work invites visitors or audience members to take a rest in the bed, while unusual bedtime stories are delivered at the bedside, describing real-life individual events of hardship. By juxtaposing the comfort of resting in a bed with the unease of listening to discomforting stories, the work seeks to raise awareness of the emotional and bodily experiences of participants, highlighting the dissonance between resting and restlessness, which paradoxically becomes an intimate and resonant experience.
This work emphasises the space for active reflection during the time of getting ready to sleep. It is common for children to receive bedtime stories to soothe them into a good night's sleep, which can also serve as a subtle form of education through the messages conveyed by the metaphors within the stories. As adults, the act of going to sleep can be a complicated process involving rethinking the day, consolidating experiences, organising thoughts, and anticipating the next day—often provoking emotions and tensions in the body.
Reflecting on my own experience growing up as a woman and my observations of the world, I realise that there are many discomforts, injustices, and agonies in life that we need to sleep on, sleep with, sleep off, and sleep through.
I intend to collect real-life stories about discomforts and hardships, focusing on each individual's subjectivity to illustrate their expanded and profound self-reflection in relation to the world we live in. Some of the stories may touch on various issues such as power abuse, gender, minority experiences, mental health, and more—topics that are often dismissed or overlooked by mainstream society. Others may reflect universal experiences of self-reflection and contemplation of loved ones. Nonetheless, each story is unique.
The stories are collected through conversations with friends and interested participants, framed around discussions of unresolved discomforts, injustices, trauma, and/or ongoing struggles that we cope with yet have become accustomed to. The drafts of the stories are first returned to the storytellers for amendments before being compiled into a booklet. All personal stories and any subsequent amendments require consent from the contributors before being incorporated into the work.
I would like to specifically thank all the storytellers for sharing their sincere thoughts, personal experiences, and vulnerabilities.
I intend to make this work an ongoing project to collect more stories and further develop the performance. If you are interested in sharing your stories as well, please feel free to fill out the form for leaving your contact information. Thank you.
