Sidi Chen
My Physical/Material archival is a series of objects, games, movements, and recordings in relation to my diasporic experience and memories of homeland. My time at What Lab started with a series of movements to “loosen the soil” – to feel connected, settled, and grounded at this space. With such a wide scope of time and distance to travel through, I particularly enjoy the sense of ritual to move through the time and space to arrive at What Lab to dive into this very intimate subject. Continued with explorations and experimentations of children’s games and materials I brought from oversea, I further probe into how memories are archived and decomposed as well as how the materials empathize and re-connect the experiences.
About Sidi Chen
Sidi Chen (he/they) is a traveling queer artist whose practice addresses the intersectionality of the body, community space, and the land. Through his interdisciplinary research, Chen’s interested in how the physical and cultural environments reflect and (de)construct the humanities. Through his practice, Chen is passionate about utilizing arts for community research, relationship building, and action development.
Chen graduated from the University of the Fraser Valley with BFA with the honor of distinction in 2018, and has participated in a wide range of residencies, exhibitions, performances, and projects in North America. Sidi Chen is currently residing and working as a practicing artist, an independent arts administrator, and a community worker in the historical Chinatown, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations, known as Vancouver, BC.