Mask
Yue Minjun has experienced the process of China’s reform, which causes him to use a large number of exaggerated self-portrait figures in candy colors in his artworks. These figures bear wide smiles with gaping mouths, but behind the smiles hide Yue’s serious political criticism and social commentary.
I wanted to create a homage to pay respect to the notion of wearing the mask that hides the emotion. More specifically, Yue used images to bring out the inner world of the workers, while I wanted people to hear their inner cries. Hence, I created a soundtrack and a motion video to respond to his artwork "Pyramid" (2001).
I wanted to create a homage to pay respect to the notion of wearing the mask that hides the emotion. More specifically, Yue used images to bring out the inner world of the workers, while I wanted people to hear their inner cries. Hence, I created a soundtrack and a motion video to respond to his artwork "Pyramid" (2001).
Artwork: Pyramid, Yue Minjun, 2001
In his oil paintings “Pyramid, 2001”, Yue drew a character with a grin and closed eyes who was kneeling on the ground and repeated it 15 times. These characters wore white clothes and their faces are red. They are arranged in the shape of a pyramid. This is a classic triangular geometric composition, using a repeating method of the same basic character, and gradually decreasing from bottom to top, giving a stable feeling. From the character's kneeling position, we can feel that they are humble in their hearts and that they are bowing to reality. Additionally, the composition arrangement from bottom to top reflects the social reality of people pressing people, crowding people and relying on people. The reason why Yue used repetition is to show the homogenization tendency of pasting and copy in the information age.
The most obvious symbol of this artwork is the grin. In order to conform to the mainstream trend in society, workers usually need to keep a positive and good attitude during working hours, while in fact they are painful and feel tired due to the imperfect localization of capitalism in the Chinese corporations. This is the reason why workers still feel depressed though China uses Marxism as the guiding ideology of the political system. Therefore, this type of contradiction can be seen as a virtual mask of workers, which is reflected in the expression of characters that they are grinning but frowning. This artwork “Pyramid” is to show the depression of the workers which hidden behind the mask of the smiling faces.
I recorded my laugh and repeated it 15 times with some plus-in and some effects, making it more artistic and tridimensional. The approach I repeated the laugh responds to the structure of the artwork, especially with the emphasis of gradual decrease from bottom to top. The crying at the end highlighted what workers are hiding behind their smiling faces. The same methodology was applied to the motion video which emphasized the feeling behind the mask and the structure of the printing.
