Red Dolls
THE MAP SERIES
THE MAP SERIES
THE MAP SERIES
Ran Zhou

User Manual: if my hand is a sexual organ
pdf document, size adjustable, 2021
User Manual: if my hand is a sexual organ is an ongoing multimedia project including writing, art books, videos, and installations. It is Ran Zhou’s long-term project that delves into themes of sex, instruction, intimacy, and cultural identities with posthumanist strategies.
At this stage, the project consists of two art books, User Manual I and User Manual II, comprising more than 10,000 words. User Manual I is formatted in the style of a quintessential user manual, presenting a fictional reproductive system to be implanted into the human hand. By instructing customers (the readers) on how to use this non-existent product, the User Manual reimagines the relationship be- tween the body, gender identity, and technology in an absurdist manner. User Manual II is an academically advanced version of UM I. Inspired by Jacques Derrida’s Glas, UM II applies a non-linear creative writing style and presents an interpretation of UM I alongside the orig- inal text, intending to dismantle and evaluate the I’s form and content.