Experimental Relationship (2007-Now) by Yijun Liao

Issue 30

As a woman, I used to think I can only fall in love with someone that I adore, who is maturer than me, older than me, a protector, a mentor. Then I met my boyfriend, Moro, who is 5 years younger than me. I felt the whole relationship is changed all the way around. I become the person who has more authority & power. & when I told my male friend about my new relationship, he said, “How could you choose a boyfriend the way we choose a girlfriend?!” and I think "Damn right. That’s exactly what I’m doing, & why not?!" I have always doubted the stereotype of a man-woman relationship. Why should a couple be a man and a woman? Why does man have to be a certain way? Why should woman be a certain way? I feel relationships are for more complicated and always changing, and it has lots of possibilities. So I began to think about the meaning of this relationship and experiment with it.

In this project I throw out questions and ideas about relationship. What will happen if man & woman exchange their roles of sex & roles of power. What this relationship does to man & woman? I also express my frustrations in a relationship, like the impossibility to find a soul-mate, the feeling of isolation & disconnection. Because my boyfriend is Japanese, & I am Chinese. The project sometimes also describes a love & hate relationship.

This project is an experiment to me, not a real document of our real relationship.

Yijun Liao is a Brooklyn, NY based artist.
To view more of Yijun's work, please visit her website

Get a firm grasp of your man

Get a firm grasp of your man

Home Gym 

Home Gym 

Relationships work best when each partner knows their proper place 

Relationships work best when each partner knows their proper place 

Mind-control is a woman's essential skill 

Mind-control is a woman's essential skill 

Liven up your conversation with a novel approach 

Liven up your conversation with a novel approach 

How to build a relationship with layered meanings

How to build a relationship with layered meanings

I told you so! 

I told you so! 

How a man reacts to female violence 

How a man reacts to female violence 

Live like a pair of siamese twins 

Live like a pair of siamese twins 

Intimacy will improve your relationship 

Intimacy will improve your relationship 

Whisper 

Whisper 

You don't have to be a boy to be my boyfriend

You don't have to be a boy to be my boyfriend

Concave VS Convex 

Concave VS Convex 

Start your day with a good breakfast together 

Start your day with a good breakfast together 

Hush 

Hush 

Homemade Sushi 

Homemade Sushi 

Your heartbeat is my favorite tune 

Your heartbeat is my favorite tune 

The Kind Under Me 

The Kind Under Me