In 2011, Yan Xing stood facing a wall in a Beijing gallery and performed a passionate first-person account of his father, his family, and his lovers. Through a vivid, hour-long stream-of-consciousness narrative, he described the progressive transformation and projection of his father image. Daddy was widely hailed as a milestone work. It outlines the impact of China's social transformation in the 1980s and shows how in turn the individuals affected by this transformation acted out their bewilderment upon their families. In it, Yan Xing explored violence and trauma, memory and retelling, and the relationship between the collective and the individual. By alternating his narration with chanting, he constructed a dramatic, reality-transcending scenario. Throughout this early iconic piece, the artist never faced the audience, thereby both sidestepping indiscreet questions about reality and probing the boundaries between private and public spaces.