YAY Pt.1 Performance 2019
YAY is a series of Alejandro’s performance works, which contains three parts. The YAY pt.1 performance is developed from the artist’s lived experience of Chinese identity, addressing individual and cultural autonomy in China where often, Chinese people hide their identities in order to safeguard their individuality, and issues of visibility in public space and hidden queer identity.
As a Chinese, the artist has been told he should be “normal,” according to traditional Confucius society. At the same time, being a queer artist violates Chinese expectations of cultural normalcy. The artist hides behind the walls, behind a wood frame with windows-blinds, in order to not show the true self but also naked. He can be seen from the gap with red light to show his existence. The headphone presents talking, noise and songs sampling from the environment the artist used to live. That space becomes an identity shelter, which the outside is pure white walls. Viewers cannot address the psychological activities shown by the body inside the shelter. YAY is a celebration of hiding the identity, but also is crying for not showing the true identity.
Performance: Dec. 2nd, 2019. MCAD MFA Gallery in Minneapolis
Photographers: Junyao Zhang
Music: Junyao Zhang
Light: Junyao Zhang
Curation: Junyao Zhang
YAY Pt.2 Performance, 2019
In YAY Pt.2, the artist gradually changed from the invisibility of the body to the visibility of the body. The show is a combination of sound, video, light, and installation. It aims to continue the hidden nature of the first part and the visibility of identity and to evolve and conduct more extensive public reaction experiments.
The artist transformed from a closed, opaque space into a more open and transparent box, explaining the further recognition and progress of Chinese identity. Nevertheless, at the same time, the transparent box still represents the isolation and severance from the outside world. People outside the box can only observe the people inside the box, they cannot touch, and there is no conversation. The portrait in the box is a queer object being observed and challenging the audience’s feelings and ethics. Behind the box, a dynamic effect composed of geometric figures is played, and the video gives the entire performance space a tense atmosphere and a strange sense of space and focuses on the body. The entire space shows the inner confusion of the body of the queer being observed, and critically expounds a disapproval of the queer identity and the weird definition of queerness in the current mainstream society’s injustice to queerness.
Performance: Dec. 6th, 2019. MCAD MFA Gallery in Minneapolis
Photographers: Hendrick Zhang, Emma Shen
Music: Junyao Zhang
Light: Junyao Zhang
Video: Junyao Zhang
Curation: Junyao Zhang
YAY Pt.2.5 Performance, 2020
The YAY performance series is developed from the artist’s lived experience of Chinese identity, addressing individual and cultural autonomy in China where often, Chinese people hide their identities in order to safeguard their individuality, issues of visibility in public space, and hidden queer identity. Throughout the series, the body is made invisible and visible by transitional spaces, like hallways, windows, found and constructed architectural props.
In previous iterations of YAY, my body was obscured behind barriers that kept me separate from the viewer. Here, in YAY Pt. 2.5, it crosses the barriers and my identity is revealed by the body’s influence on the external space and things with an interactive performance. I move my body through the gallery space dressed in a cloak-like garment of red and black floral-patterned velvet——an absurd silhouette. The overall attraction is focused on the body, representing a transformation from being invisible to, now, publicly visible.
I walked toward the audience, wearing a big red dress, looking for body touches. After getting permission from people, the touches happened between the two bodies’ skins. The MIDI chip installing on the performer was activated through the bioelectricity and touches between the audience and my body create irregular sound—electronic grand piano sound without actual rhythm, but magically harmonized. While touching, some were closing their eyes and some were asking where the sound came from. The bodies in the audience function as musical instruments now ready to transmit and receive sound as thoughts, desires, connection, instincts, and vulnerability.
Untitled 16: SooVAC’s 16th Juried Exhibition at Soo Visual Art Center in Minneapolis
Performance: Feb. 15th, 2020.
Photographers: Trina Fernandez, Darren Schneibel
Music: Junyao Zhang
Garment: Junyao Zhang, Trina Fernandez
Curation: Carolyn Payne, Alison Hiltner, Natalie Bell
Alejandro Junyao Zhang 