Blind Date is a performative video work inspired by the matchmaking culture of Shanghai’s People’s Square marriage market, Chinese television dating shows like If You Are the One, and Marina Abramović’s performance artwork The Artist Is Present. The work follows a single protagonist seated in the same location throughout one day while different people rotate in and out of the frame. Each scene transition marks a new encounter, capturing subtle emotional shifts through silence, eye contact, awkward conversation, attraction, and discomfort.

By keeping the protagonist physically fixed while the surrounding figures continuously change, the work transforms dating into a repetitive social ritual shaped by judgment, expectation, and self-performance. Inspired by the durational stillness of The Artist Is Present, the project focuses on presence itself — how emotion can emerge through waiting, observation, and brief human interaction.

At the same time, the work approaches these encounters with humour, irony, and subtle satire. Influenced by the retro aesthetics of classic American cinema, the film adopts stylised framing, nostalgic costumes, and exaggerated editing rhythms to create an overly romantic atmosphere that contrasts with the awkwardness. The repetition of introductions, forced charm, polite smiles, and uncomfortable silences gradually exposes the absurd theatricality embedded within contemporary dating culture.

Through this humorous yet melancholic structure, Blind Date reflects on how modern intimacy is increasingly shaped by performance and evaluation, questioning whether genuine emotional connection can survive endlessly repeated cycles of first impressions.