Vivians Verden: September 2016

Interview with John Yuyi

She wears instant noodles as accessories and posts Internet photos on her body. She ties iPhone charger as shoelaces and sticks voice message on of her tongue: say hello to John Yuyi. Yuyi has the Mida’s touch for making magic out of the daily grind, with the Internet as her chocolate factory, she was nicknamed the Willy Wonka of the art world. After several solo exhibitions in New York, we talked to her at the opening of < Why Didn’t You Like My Pic? >, her first collaborated show in her hometown Taipei.

Please introduce your works showcased at <Why Didn’t You Like My Pic?>.

These are earlier projects of mine, including Face Post and Body Post. They originated from campaigns for my clay swimsuits collection. A year after the campaign, I played with the same concept and put posts by my friends and me on our bodies just for fun. It went viral. So I continued to work on this theme with many more girls and their social media. The one exhibited in <Why Didn’t You Like My Pic?> is called Messenger.

《messanger》by John Yuyi & Tom Galle, Tokyo, 2016

The work in the middle is Skin On Skin, which I shot in Japan. I went to Japan to shoot Japanese culture, and pornography is one of its most distinguished. So I shot the male version of Face Post and stuck female pornstar tattoos on a male model’s face. What's funny is that at first, several models are greatly interested in collaborating. But after acknowledging what it’s about, they all exclaimed voluntarily, “ きつい！” ( English: This is too intense! ). Eventually yet, unfortunately, I found a gay friend who was willing to do the job.

I also display one of my works from Tape Tape Furby. I stuck Furby on the wall with different shapes of tape.

《SKIN ON SKIN》, 2016

《TAPE TAPE FURBY》. Model/ Olivia Furby Cobra

The title of this exhibition is <Why Didn’t You Like My Pic?>. Have you ever had similar worries when sharing your works on the Internet?

Not at all. After graduation, I got immune from others’ hates and contempt. Others’ appeals during my creating process don't bother me at all. Moreover, some haters are really funny! Once there was a hater who messaged me: “ I’m not your fan”, but after a day or two sent me another: “ I’m your daddy”.

We were very competitive at school, especially during fashion weeks. I used to be a pessimist and a perfectionist, but now perfection isn’t an achievable full score. Furthermore, I’m only so grateful with my recent prosperous business.

2. You graduated with a fashion design degree. As an artist, how did you figure out creative mediums that suit you best?

Only until recently was I called an artist. Before that, this title had never really crossed my mind. In New York, I met a Belgique artist, who’s also my creative pal, called Tom Galle. We’ve been Internet friends for a while, and when we finally met, we spent nearly every day in the studio experimenting and creating stuff. Back in Taiwan, I accidentally got into clay and slowly grew to love it. Eventually, I made a small collection out of it. But my goal in Taiwan is to accumulate more projects, so I experimented with many more other mediums. Despite my background in fashion design, making clothes for others seasonally really isn’t my thing.

The clay swimsuit collection is one of your earliest works that received recognition. Why did you choose to create with swimsuits?

The structure of swimsuits is simple without complicated cut nor sophisticated design. I can easily put patterns and images on them, plus they look cute. Regard of its production cost, the clay swimsuit collection was then made from artworks into commodities.

You once said that so far, your own favourite work is Skin On Skin. Why is it?

I love anything related to skins and bodies — my artworks are all somehow linked to this idea. I printed my skin on pig’s skin, therefore naming this project Skin On Skin. It’s my favourite because the others are a bit too girly or childishly colourful. This series is presented relatively more thorough than my other collections.

《SKIN ON SKIN》, 2016

《AV女優》, 2016

There are plenty of human bodies throughout your several projects. Does photographing human bodies mean something special to you?

For me, the human body is the most intriguing and interactive topic. I often scale in for micro shots on body details. People are different in so many details it’s fascinating! Some people have many freckles while some have more moles. Some have lots of acnes. These small features are all very compelling to me. Each and every person has different skin tones. Some artworks may not stand out on dark tones, but they may work on lighter ones. But then again, I’m not professional in photography. My skills still need sharpening.

《BACK POST》, 2014

What’s your relationship with your social media?

Social media are my source of inspiration but also an emotional outlet. Some emotional release later developed into art projects. I printed Faye Wang’s Way Out lyrics on one of the body posts, for instance. Another example is the Ice Cube From Heart series.

《Ice cube from heart》, 2016

As for my relationship with social media, I think social media are beneficial for creating self -images. A strong and distinctive personality is more impressive and recognisable. For example, there are three collaborators for our Macbook Selfie Stick project, but people often forget the third person, because he doesn’t invest in building his Internet image. I think this is the main difference. For now, Instagram is my main platform.

You’ve mentioned that one of your motivation for doing art is to soothe your anxieties. Have your anxieties changed within your creative process?

Yes of course. My conditions are pretty bad when I first arrived in New York. I’m often anxious and restless. I have to keep on working and visiting many cities because I can’t be doing nothing. I’m afraid to stop. This is one of the reasons why I create art.

Apart from Taipei, you’ve stayed in New York and Tokyo to produce art. From a young artist’s point of view, how are these cities different?

I found New York a great place when I first arrived as an intern. I encountered amazing people and opportunities, such as the chance to model for New York Fashion Week and photography shoots for high-end clothing brands. I also met Grace Miceli, the curator of <Why Didn't You Like My Pic>, in New York. In the Big Apple, you have the potential to do many things, but the cost is relatively much higher than in Taiwan.

Tokyo surprised me the most! I had only been to Tokyo for traveling, but as an artist, Tokyo took my arrival by storm. I worked on my projects every two to three days, other than that, I was flooded with unexpected invitations and opportunities. When I announced my Tokyo trip on Instagram, several familiar magazines contacted me at once. For instance, Nylon Magazine invited me to their street snaps, further introduced me an It Girl issue they were working on. Before that they even offered a six-page presentation of my works. It was so flattering.

I think in New York, artists can gradually build themselves. As I accumulated my works in New York, media in Tokyo noticed what I’ve been up to and decided to contact me. Japanese treats me like an honourable guest, while Taiwanese can’t care less. Even Chinese media contacted me. It’s pretty sad actually. Taiwanese media would wait until foreign media’s acknowledgments to decide what to report on. I have a friend who wanted to present my works to the press, but his superior didn’t approve his pitch until media like Dazed and i-D did a coverage of my works.

How do you feel about finally exhibiting in your hometown Taipei?

I am so touched! Finally, there are some Taiwanese who noticed me! I love Taiwan so much but only foreigners care about my works. The same works received different responses on Facebook and Instagram — the latter from more international viewers.

Maybe my almost all-English social media accounts attribute to the attention gap. I’m still very local, though, I’m made in Taiwan! There are lots of talented young Taiwanese creatives on Instagram, however not all have the chance to go abroad and campaign their works like me. I think it’s due to the lack of diversity in Taiwanese’s media culture, which results to poor exposure chances for young artists.

I used to work as a freelance styling assistant for a Taiwanese magazine and experienced the conservative atmosphere led by superiors. They believe the things that haven’t gotten attention are uninteresting to people. So they add more flame to those already very acceptable and popular. Taiwanese are still pretty conservative and traditional, I guess. This timid attitude worsens the lack of art diversity.

Do you have any future projects in mind?

I’ll be making projects in London like I did in Tokyo. Currently, I have a collaboration with London-based Japanese singer Rina. She had a social media tattoo similar to my FacePost as her album cover, way before FacePost made its hit. Later she told me that it was inspired by me. I'm so utterly flattered! Besides that, I’ll be collaborating with a Hong Kong fashion designer Robin Wun.