Self-Statement in 2018
My art practice mainly focuses on “Wuhan”, the city in which I grew up. I am interested in urban space, as well as the connection and contradiction between the residents in Wuhan and their mother river “Yangtze River”. I mainly use photography and video to make art.
Located in the middle of China, Wuhan is the biggest city in the central China and one of several megacities in China. It has a population of more than 10 million. “Yangtze River”, the broadest river in China, converges with its biggest tributary “Han River”, dividing Wuhan City into three parts. The urban space in Wuhan grew from the river bank, so the culture in Wuhan is closely related to the river. I grew up near the river, and walking along the river bank has been integrated as a part of my daily life. Gradually, a special connection between me and the water in the Yangtze River as well as the space along the river bank has been formed. And it was from here that I started my art practice and study on Yangtze River and urban space in Wuhan.
In my art practice, I pay close attention to the urban space in Wuhan the developing city and the residents’ lives in the booms of great construction. The bank along Yangtze River located in the downtown is a place that moves me. In a place rapidly expanding and with a growing sense of hierarchy, it leaves a space for people to live with equality, freedom and peace. I bring my shooting devices to get involved into these spaces to explore the relationship between people and the space. I usually use Leica film camera, Ricoh pocket camera and cellphone to take photos and shoot videos. I seldom use large DSLR camera and flashlight as I am not willing to pose pressure on my subject. Deeply affected by the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, I try not to bother the subject and let them present objective and natural moments. Besides, many areas under the urban construction in China are sensitive, so it is more convenient to bring small and portable cameras with me to shoot in these places. I use Leica film camera because I love the photos on the suburban life in the USA taken by the American photographer Wiliam Eggleston using Leica film camera.
As for the video works, I was heavily influenced by film director Jia Zhangke. The camera language in his works such as In Public and Still Life have great impact on me. When I shoot videos, instead of carefully arranging everything and cooperating with professional actors, usually I just take my video recorder to real spaces to discover natural and accidental scenes, and to observe the relationship between human and space from a neutral and distanced perspective. Usually I use handheld DV because it’s portable and flexible. It produces something different from the industrialized film and brings me a feeling of adventure. This interaction between human and space in real life is probably something closer to life and more vibrant.
In addition, as the most important city in central China, Wuhan seems to be an epitome of the fast accelerated and urbanized China. The urban space here is undergoing rapid changes and filled with uncertainty. Through a series of artistic creation, I try to get intervene into it to observe the real connection and contradiction between changes of the urban space and the residents’ lives. These are the sceneries that are bound to be gone.
-2018, China
Background Photo by Yi Zhou
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