Yuqiang Chen

When I turn on the tap and place an apple underneath the rushing water, the waxy structure on the surface slowly dissipates. I then place the apple on a wooden chopping board and press the knife so hard that the apple is split into two parts under the tension. I take one half and put it in my mouth. The juice containing fructose flowed out of the broken cells, reaching my taste buds. Then the current moves through my brain, and I smile with satisfaction. I feel surprised that the world is perpetually moving under the shapeless laws, stretching and changing over an endless period of time. Everything flows on a molecular level or even on smaller structures, just like the gentle thoughts of you that are flowing through my brain at the moment.

https://yuqiangchen.com/Coupling

Solid Liquid

You get dressed, glance at your watch, pick up your kit and walk out the door. You start going through the things your neighbours have thrown away. These items are generally useless, worn out, older than you, or from small Chinese factories. You try to transform them, to give them meaning, and as you walk, you think: my actions are often in vain because there is no difference between these used objects, apart from the sweat stains and hairs of their former owners. They no longer fit into the community in any way, stubborn like the impurities that sank to the bottom of the mug.

Through the dim daylight and silent neighbourhood, you pass a junction. It then occurs to you: repairing and remodelling these objects incidentally seem to map your life, integrating unfamiliar memories and objects into your life is impossible. You feel a twinge of confusion and then blank out at the intersection. At that moment, your confused thoughts are interrupted by an old woman passing by who asks you kindly: Do you know how to fix things? My iron is broken. You respond with a smile and an apology and leave.

Live Performance

• RCA 2023

It crouches lightly on a branch, the breeze crossing its upright, closed wings as it adjusts its stance, shifting its feet gently for balance, while high above a black raven watches the satyrinae’s(eye butterfly) every move.

Suddenly the raven takes aim and swoops down.

The satyrinae tries to influence the psychology of the observer by performing. Instead of trying to beat its wings to escape the string, the butterfly takes the opportunity to flap its wings and display a disorienting illusion that, in using this fictional context, it must indirectly influence reality through superficial mechanics. At this point, they have to resort to exaggerated expressions to embody the claim of matter to spirit. The performance becomes a connection to each other beyond the materialisation of spirit. And it is presented to the public as a spectacle.

The intense rhetoric and exaggerated flourishes make it impossible for the eye butterflies to predict what will happen next and to forget the past, the moment that has become inaccessible becomes an eternal moment. The raven stirs its wings to hover over that branch and slowly gulps down the butterfly. Afterwards, the satyrinae reassumes the form of greedy, lustful, lazy gods, wandering in the deep forest in search of pleasure.

https://yuqiangchen.com/Satyrinae

This project is an ASMR performance that focuses on monologues and uses the sounds of living objects. By establishing avocados growing in glass jars and describing fragile and shifting ecosystems for urban living and immigration, it explores the state of millennial life, the hostage of consumerism, and the need for spiritual lives for modern people.https://yuqiangchen.com/Performance-How-to-Plant-an-Avocado-in-Your-Home

Live Performance

• RCA Work-in-progress Show 2023
• Home away from Home 2023