MLitt Fine Art Practice School of Fine Art
Yang Liu
Where Does True Authenticity Lie?
Reality and perception are inherently subjective, raising the question: where does true authenticity lie? Observing the absurdity of “reality” in everyday life reveals how our thoughts and perceptions are often mistaken, rendering the reality we perceive largely fictional. Awareness of this concept allows individuals to adopt a transcendent perspective on various issues, detaching from rigid ideologies and physical perceptions. This detachment facilitates an escape from the confines of the “self,” dissolving the binary opposition of subject and object thinking, and ultimately achieving true freedom. My work focuses on dissolving and disrupting reality and perception at the level of fundamental constructs such as time, space, and self.
As beings within reality, we may never fully grasp it. However, humans possess an inherent drive to transcend themselves, striving to glimpse the unknown, even if the ultimate destination remains unreachable. This pursuit of the unattainable is a defining aspect of our humanity. Another dimension of my work is the attempt to find truth amid chaos, beneath the surface, in the gaps, and behind the fog, seeking a glimpse of authenticity.
Once perception is disrupted and reality demystified, the challenge becomes reconstructing our understanding of the internal and external worlds. I hope each viewer, after experiencing my work, embarks on an independent journey of seeking and constructing new understandings. This journey is difficult and arduous. When everything becomes unfamiliar, we experience profound discomfort; when we cannot trust ourselves, we question the very essence of “me.” The answer to this dilemma is “love” and “connection.” All of humanity shares this predicament. Realizing that we are not alone in facing this challenge fosters a sense of solidarity. While we may not have definitive answers, we have each other.
Clock
Metal machine, pinspotlight
200cm X 200cm
Yang Liu, 2024
The Inspiration is a vision of a large metal wheel with a massive arm, I was struck by the thought of what would happen if the arm were to drop. The sheer weight of it, so heavy and imposing, could crush time itself. This idea challenges our usual perception of time, which we trust to move at a steady, predictable pace. But if the arm of this wheel were to fall from the top, it would shatter that belief, distorting our sense of time. It’s fascinating because gravity, a force we also inherently trust, would be the very thing that disrupts the clockwork precision we rely on. The clock becomes a paradox—simultaneously wrong and right—because it follows the laws of gravity while defying the regular passage of time. The arm should drop, but in doing so, it creates an unsettling dissonance, as it no longer turns at the expected pace. This concept plays with our dual beliefs in the consistency of both time and gravity, leaving us with a sense of unease and wonder.
What that interests me and lead my works to is seeking for the TRUE AUTHENTICITY by destroy what people believe in the moment!
Project Links
All of us
Print A4 tracing paper
64cm X 64cm X 29cm
Yang Liu, 2024
As humans, we are constrained by our own cognitive and perceptual limitations, and we may never truly get close to the truth of existence. We are small, fragile, and transient. We are unable to fully understand the external world, nor can we truly understand ourselves. We are helpless, isolated within this vast space-time continuum, just floating, isolated, emitting a faint light. What is the answer? We do not have the answer, but we have each other. Together we are helpless, together we search, together we are fragile. You are not alone, and that is the answer. All the people in the world are together, and on these birthdates, we are closely connected to each other. There is no difference between people; it’s just that you came a bit earlier, and I arrived a bit later—nothing more.
The first date is the birthday of the oldest living person in the world today. Marianne was born on March 4, 1907. After that, it’s all of us. Every day, the date of that day will be added to the last page, so this work is a living piece, updated and loaded every day. This work is not an object; it is a living being. At the same time, it is also a refuge, offering a bit of solace to every person who feels confused.
Someone
3 minutes’ loop video
Dimensions variable
Yang Liu, 2024
“Where does ‘I’ exist? How many states can simultaneously occur in a person at this moment? We are divided by language, sliced by time, and confused by consciousness. Existence is something so difficult to comprehend. I am looking at these words in front of me, while speaking them in my mind, and at the same time, hearing myself recite them in my mind. Among these three, which one is the true ‘I’? We exist in this moment, yet we often forget this moment. We are doing something at hand, but our consciousness is elsewhere. If consciousness is elsewhere, then who is controlling the tool in my hand? We believe we possess subjectivity, that every choice is made autonomously. We fear being observed and manipulated because this would cause our subjectivity to lose its foundation. We need evidence to prove our existence, but when that evidence disappears, how can we be sure of our existence?
In this work, each one of us is ‘someone,’ living in such a massive program. We have no names; we are merely indefinite pronouns because this program doesn’t care about any individual.”
Window
Four-screen video, 2:00mins
Dimensions variable
Yang Liu, 2024
Here is the English translation of the text:—This narrow window seems to possess a strange power. We look outside to observe others, but when passersby walk by this narrow window, the fleeting moment of less than a second is not enough for us to complete this gaze. The window loses its function of allowing those inside the room to observe; the motivation behind our gaze cannot be fulfilled. This passive dysfunction compels us to reflect on the motive behind the act of “looking.”
Each person outside the window is allocated only a quarter of a second, and in an instant, they disappear from view. They hurriedly move in the same direction. Where are they going? Why are they in such a rush? Their continuous steps are interrupted by the gaps in the screen, so when they disappear into these gaps, where are they then?
We know this video has been edited, but we can’t help but wish for things to unfold as they would in the real world. People should walk continuously from one end to the other. People should appear where they are supposed to appear. If they appear in any other place, it makes us feel both fearful and intrigued. This is an unfamiliar game where things don’t follow the usual logic, constantly shattering our expectations.
The overlap of reality and surrealism in this work creates a world of confusion. Here, our eyes cannot be trusted, our brains cannot be trusted, our senses cannot be trusted. So, can they be trusted in the real world outside of this one?— Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to add or modify!