Difu Shi

IRON JOKES begins with a terrorist attack that took place in the artist’s hometown and his own family history. These experiences introduced discipline and punishment not as exceptional events, but as conditions embedded in everyday life. Leaving his hometown, and later his country, did not bring an end to these structures. They persisted, assuming different forms.

Combining sculpture and image, the series brings together domestic furniture and fabricated steel modules. Objects associated with the private sphere are interrupted by forms that resist use and remain unmoving. Everyday life continues around them, while these structures quietly occupy the same space.

The works consider how systemic violence is absorbed into ordinary life. Violence is understood less as an event than as a way of behaviours, and relationships. It rarely announces itself; instead, it settles into routine, where the familiar can become uncertain without warning.