Adelle Lin

hair/cut is a durational performance in which my hair is divided into braids, tied to floating balloons, and offered to the audience to cut. Participants are invited to choose a braid and make the cut. Each piece of hair becomes a take-home artifact: part charm, part record, part remnant of the exchange.

For this iteration, I chose to embody the clown. In a world where power so often performs as farce, the clown becomes more than comic relief. The clown is a figure who wants to be loved but cannot fully show their face. They exaggerate feeling while concealing it, absorbing attention, ridicule, desire, and discomfort at once. What can the clown do that I cannot?

In hair/cut, the costume becomes a kind of protection, but also an invitation. The body remains available. As the audience collectively shaped my final haircut, the work became a study of spectacle, intimacy, control, and what it means to offer a part of oneself in public.

Thank you to @workinprogress__official for the opportunity to develop this piece - jerry, @chuman_zh @luisaasv @sofi_dlp_ , @barrolivia for transforming me into character through costume and makeup, @selanispecialevents for the balloon and hair artistry, @thehybridstudio for your continued support and advice, and everyone who came by to participate.

📷 @ardensklar_photo 💖