Under the Table: A Hidden Space of Resistance is conceived as a spatial installation that uses the area beneath a school desk as a materialised “safe zone” to explore psychological repression and rebellion during early adolescence. Drawing from my middle school memories, the installation constructs an inner world shaped by parental blame and teachers’ criticism—voices that define obedience, discipline, and failure.

Drawing inspiration from Carl Jung's analytical psychology, I explored the relationship between representation and reality. Jung believed that the shadow refers to repressed impulses and desires within a person; this part, though often unacknowledged, is a crucial source of authenticity and creativity. The safe space under the table that I wanted to create is precisely this expression of hidden self. Furthermore, this research also cites Ann E. Schlosser's research on self-disclosure and self-presentation on social media, pointing out that people often hide aspects that do not conform to social norms, only presenting an idealised image.

This project is framed as a resistance to dominant narratives of obedience, productivity, and educational success. Rather than dramatising rebellion as an external act, the work emphasises subtle forms of inner resistance through hiding, listening, enduring, and imagining alternative possibilities. By shifting attention to the space beneath the desk, the work subverts conventional power relations, where authority dominates from above, disembodied yet suffocating. The project critiques how educational and familial systems discipline adolescents through rules, spatial arrangements, and repeated verbal judgments. Importantly, the work offers no final resolution or redemption. The space beneath the desk remains enclosed and uncomfortable, reflecting the ongoing nature of psychological struggle rather than complete liberation. In rejecting simplified narratives of healing, the project foregrounds complexity, vulnerability, and the persistence of inner resistance.