Jun Li's Thesis Book 2020 by Li, Jun

“Bests” and what I want to grasp

Emmy Bright Cooper Holoweski Heads, Print Media Department Artist-in-Residence

This Master’s Statement is respectfully submitted to Cranbrook Academy of Art as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts.

Jun Li May 4, 2020

Jun Li I am an interdisciplinary artist who likes to explore and discover. My practice engages a complex range of human values, relationships, and aspirations, and is carried out in a variety of media -- print, performance, and video installation. I am intrigued by how the intimacy of self- consciousness varies in complex ways and how it functions with the outside world.

www.junli.me

Bests, 2020 We all have many wishes. Some we decide to make a wish for, and other ones we choose to bury. I made this project called “The Wishing Well” to try to address longing in the time of COVID. We make wishes, and we keep on going. We try to remember, to keep wishing, to hang onto our beloved, to diagnose, to figure out connections, to bond with the world. This level of awareness reveals a small authenticity as we launch and dispatch the wishes. We are looking into the pool of holy water, wishing for our wishes to be realized. Despite the appearance of the ordinary objective order, we recognize our desire in the reflecting pool of water. The physical symptoms of the world that run us over every minute, every second. The action of Making, creating the world, avoiding the physical laws of the world situates us in a hierarchy of awareness. Is that when we realize we are closer to ourselves? “Bests,” is an online wishing well that I performed via live stream on different platforms. I made a wishing well behind the camera by projecting the word “许愿池” (wishing well) onto a liquid surface. The live streaming session ran for an hour. In that period, I collected the wishes from an online audience and one by one. I tossed a coin for each wish after reading it out loud. Every coin that splashed into the water smeared the words on the surface of the water. It took it some time after each wish for the word “许愿池” (wishing well) to appear clearly again. The first time I started, it was on Instagram live- streaming. Then I opened the wishing well twice on the Chinese live-streaming platform, Inke. I started thinking about this piece a very long time ago when I had many wishes buried inside of me. The behavior of the longing soul always in such a sacred approach always strikes me and makes me realize the powerlessness of the individual. A human carrier of wishes, can it conduct the same scarcity and capacity of hope? Can it be the tentacle of public consciousness? During this project, China was being overrun by the COVID-19 Virus, and the world was mourning the death of Kobe Bryant and Gigi. I wanted to make wishes for suffering people. I wanted to devote myself to the virtual object online. I crave being consumed by the contemporary platform. Before the wishing well, I never realized the possibilities for me on social media. It was a particular time, and I began to understand the position of ourselves, the powerlessness of being human, and being both in a physical body while revealing the spiritual transcendence of humans. I admire the expansive scale of the internet. Everybody is leaning into the internet, we are building ourselves as part of the database, yet we still have an existing body, at least for now. I feel the possibility of realization in my work. It’s a leakage, a break, like Coronavirus, like death, like artifact.

Bests, 2020, Online Wishing Well

In a hyper-developed world, when technology is unable to separate itself from the human body, human consciousness melts down. Within the open database. “Bests” carries a forbidden whisper of humanity during its moment of time. I would like to generate it many more times on different platforms and for it to be experienced by more people. We yet have the strength to discover how real it feels to be a human when in the feature we no longer are. Let’s wait until 2045 and then see about the world. After reading a few books by Ray Kurzweil, I think he is earnest, he has many predictions, and the accuracy is quite high. The relationship between man and machine is a big problem. In detail, humans invent technology; on the whole, technology has its direction. Technology surpasses humanity, sooner or later. He said: “I have also set the date 2045 for singularity — which is when humans will multiply our effective intelligence a billion fold, by merging with the intelligence we have created.”

Below the intuition lies an emotionally charged and formless matter. Because it is a pure substance, it is difficult for the soul to recognize it. For the mind to acknowledge it, it needs to give it form. Matter, when it takes form, is only mechanical and passive. It is detected by the mind, not the material of creation. Without matter, there would be no human social activity, knowledge. Matter can only produce all the impulses that are close to animal nature. It cannot provide the domination of the soul. We often glimpse vaguely, but we are not transformed into objects before the soul. Material influences our external needs and affects us. The form is the inner receiving mode. It is the activity of the mind. But in this era, the mind’s adherence to human nature is often overlooked.

Modern society is highly fragmented, and social life is inseparable from mobile Internet phones. We can even say that we have another virtual organ that is linked to a more extensive information base. Through electricity, networks, algorithms, and the world of mobile phones, the system has a relationship all the time. The necessary format to create this work is broadcast live over the web, also asking questions about humanness in real life. In such a system, we participate in virtual sustenance and spontaneously decide, think, engage, choose, and see ourselves in false realities and faith above our heads. Only for a second, I believed that it was true. My works are seeking the tissue that brings humanity into the realization of ourselves despite the environment which we are exposed in. Whether we are in reality or not, we are unable to depend on the form of the world we are experiencing. I like to use digital media because I see it as a mirror to life. We are riding on the play button, but we cannot go back. Performance is a suitable way to reflect my mind and contents. I like the work of the Chinese artist, Xu Bing. In his work, “The Book from the Sky,” A transcendent sensation passes to the viewers in a hierarchy based on our culture and deformation. Einstein said: “We cannot solve problems with the same level of thinking that makes them.” In his work, I noticed the philosophy that speculates about our society. The framework of Xu Bing’s work is impressive because it is beyond the level of any maker. I doubt what I can grasp and what slips away.

Bests, 2020, Online Wishing Well

Dream, Lucid, with Dream The Zen teacher Chuang Tzu dreamed he was a butterfly. When he woke, he wondered, “Am I a man who dreamt about being a butterfly? Or am I a butterfly who now dreams about being a man?” Waking up is a parachute jump from dreams, Free of the suffocating turbulence/ the traveler Sinks toward the green zone of morning. Things flare up. From the viewpoint of the quivering lark He is aware of the huge root systems of the trees. Their swaying underground lamps. But aboveground There’s greenery— a tropical flood of it—with Lifted arms, listening To the beat of an invisible pump. And he Sinks toward summer, is lowered In its dazzling crater, down Through shafts of green damp ages Trembling under the sun’s turbine. Then it’s checked, This straight-down journey through the moment, and the wings spread To the osprey’s repose above rushing waters. The Bronze Age Trumpet’s Outlawed note Hovers above the bottomless depths. In day’s first hours consciousness can grasp the world As the hand grips a sun-warmed stone, The traveler is standing under the tree. After The crash through death’s turbulence, shall A great light unfolds above his head? — Prelude Poetry by Tomas Tranströmer Translated from Swedish by Robin Fulton

My performance of Yu Me; w/dream; 与梦 is a mix blend of video and performance I started the performance subtly the night before the audience arrives. I had moved my bed into a public space of the gallery. One side was exposed to a bay window, overlooking grass and forest. The other side of the bed was in the gallery, facing the public in a judgmental and manipulated site. The video looped three times in the space I live in. Every time it starts and ends, it motivates me to start and end my mundane life routine, but the desire to be out of the preferred space is always happening. A glass of Coke accompanies me with each round. An aligned horizon of the liquid in transparent cups ends next to each other. The third cup was not set with the other two until the third loop of video ended, and I texted the audience a group text to please turn the sound on and please wake me up. The audience responds to me by texting back and knocking on the door of my space, so I was able to walk out of the space and carry the third glass of Coke back to sit with the other two. And I, myself, laid back onto my bed to end the performance. I developed this piece with multiple-perspective narratives. For example, there is an interaction with the larger community who can see me in my bed through the window as they walk to class outside of the building. Outside my realm, the actions of the audience vary based on their own personal consideration and background. This piece, in particular, also deals with the community issues of mental health issues. A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in one’s mind during certain stages of sleep.[1] The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, although they have been a topic of scientific, philosophical, and religious interest throughout re8

corded history. Dream interpretation is the attempt to draw meaning from dreams and searching for an underlying message. Most people spend 50 years of their lives sleeping. A massive flow of information is recorded by the brain, even if it is not remembered. Dreams are the process and representation of the brain. The brain’s reviewing process is more efficient than thinking when we are awake. The preset recreations done in dreams are likely to be compensating for unattained emotions. Types of dreams: daydreams, normal dreams, false awakenings, nightmares, and lucid dreams. Daydream : Deeper worries or concerns can surface from the unconscious mind by acting themselves out in the daydream. Normal dreams: Everybody has normal dreams every single night. These dreams arise mostly out of REM sleep and are essential to our survival. False awakening: You wake up as normal and plod into the bathroom, get dressed, eat breakfast, and maybe even get halfway to work before you realize, “oh my god, I’m still dreaming!” And then you wake up. False awakenings are basically very vivid types of dreams. Nightmares: In nightmares, you don’t know you’re dreaming. So the unconscious mind processes everything as if it were happening. Night-

mares fulfill wishes. The influence of values will form an audit mechanism. The human ethics review mechanism not only exists in reality but also functions in dreams. If your wishes violate your moral system or your values, the taboo subject will not be recognized. Instead, your dreams will become in line with the audit mechanism, and wishes will be transformed into nightmares to avoid the audit mechanism while still achieving the satisfaction of the wishes. according to Freud. Then there are lucid dreams: Although we are not usually explicitly aware of the fact that we are dreaming while we are dreaming, at times, a remarkable exception occurs. We become conscious enough to realize that we are dreaming. “Lucid” dreamers (the term derives from van Eeden, 1913) report being able to freely remember the circumstances of waking life, to think clearly, and to act deliberately upon reflection, all while experiencing a dream world that seems vividly real. Green, 1968; LaBerge, 1985; Gackenbach & LaBerge, 1988. In Lucid Dreaming, we are aware that we are in a dream. Due to strong psychological hints In the dream, the senses work the same as in waking life. We can enter it by looking into the ways of consciousness formation and the appearance of reality 9

Yu Me; W/Dream; 与梦, 2019, Video + Performance

and dreams. Being in a sleep state is a part of our regular routine. I always try to analyze my dreams, using Freud’s theory to analyze? My dreams and understand them with rational thinking? Sometimes bizarre sources can be found, and most are still difficult to establish. But I am still obsessed with dreaming. The reality in dreams is no different from the reality in “reality.” From the perspective of strict neuropsychology, people cannot distinguish between dreams and reality, because human consciousness is only the result of the interaction of a pair of neurofilament proteins or NFP. Our brain weaves scenes for us to experience in dreams. For example, people spend time faster in dreams. A Coma feels short, even if it lasts for many days. The speed of time is determined by consciousness. Individual consciousness thinks that subjective time is the same as objective time. Our perception of the outside world and our perception of ourselves is radically different from what our brains imagine. Whether most of the cognition becomes a reality Unconscious fantasy forms part of the world. In Jacque Lacan’s view, man is a narcissistic animal. Huang Zuo explained: “Once formed, self and others constitute an imaginary world; this world is 10

the so-called external world.” For Lacan there, the people’s external world is not “hard” and “objective” but has an inseparable connection with people’s subjective desires. It is only because of some kind of depression that people cannot see the subjectivity of the external world. It is also in this sense that Lacan believes that the “symptoms” of the spirit can reflect the real existence. He said: “Symptoms can only be explained in the signifier’s jurisdiction. Signifiers have meaning only in their relationship with another signifier. The real existence of symptoms is in this connection, and the signs remain faithful to the cause. Some kind of ambiguity erupts. It is the truth, and it is the same as the truth. If we materialistically propose that the truth is something composed on the signifier chain.” “If we can stand in this position of Lacan, . In this way, it is easier to understand the confusion between reality and the dream. Because in Lacan’s view, the reality is nothing more than the signifier and the relationship between signs. Maybe the external world in people’s eyes is not “solid” and “objective”. In a dream or the so-called reality, our perception is woven by our consciousness. Consciousness processes information—for example, 1995 MIT checkerboard Illusion. Consciousness tampers with what you see. Illusions

Yu Me; W/Dream; 与梦, 2019, Video + Performance

are found in various senses. Consciousness determines the world we know. Human consciousness is higher than objective reality. Objective reality does not exist. I don’t think the world is absolutely real. Everything we feel is shaped by consciousness. The boundary between dreams and reality is only the difference in experience. So, when is it valid for humans? We have countless restrictions. Only 20-20k Hz can be heard. The range of visible light we can see is also limited, the world’s resources are limited, and the computing power determines our ability to see, name, and sense. We, the cowardly animals, easily affected, arranged, abandoned, easily drift with the current, and easily forget why we are standing on the soil of this world while confronting profit. We are a social group of living animals. We need material saturation and social approval to maintain our communities. But what about human nature? But what about human nature? Human nature is hidden in a corner. Most of the time, we are not human, and instead are simply gears of society. For our own sake, to save ourselves in the eyes of others, people bury their humanity in their hearts. And from time to time, people let humanity come out for some air. Everyone desires integrity, even those deeply buried seeds — those parts of ourselves that run counter to the rules. Even if we forget who we are, we will be there somewhere. What I do is very simple. I seize that moment when people take a deep breath of free air. This is the meaning of art’s choice; whether it is true or false, it is the world. Is this thinking the closest to “our true humanity” when we actively choose, invest, give up, and show mercy? Only you, yourself, are the world. You are the most real wealth on earth. Even if this world no longer exists, I am still here.

Edward H.Adelson “Checkershadow Illusion”, 1995

Performance I have a Jellycat elephant named BOBO, who accompanies me to sleep every night. Each morning I wake up and notice him in a different position; this has become one of my highlights every day in the pandemic quarantine period. The action of a toy can carry so much anticipation from those who observe. I think that’s the fascination with performance. It’s so rooted in everyone’s lives; everybody is involved in a performance industry. The format of performance art is so relevant to our mundane life. The boundary between performance art and daily performance can be very blurry. I believe it’s easier for performance art to have the opportunity to trigger the deepest part of humanity. The real-time performance is never going to appear the same a second time; we can only remember it, remember the weight, the gesture, the facial expression on audiences members’ faces, the sweat, the temperature, the motion, the residue, the artifact of the performance. When experiencing performance, it has this immediacy. We can only view it, pull it out again from memories. We transform it to be part of our past; without process it’s converted into part of us. When a performance is happening, the audience can be anywhere. When a performance is happening. All of the surroundings are is involved in the observation and isolation of an isolated the movement. Same with the performer. While one is moving and doing performance art, the performers themselves are also part of the audience, also having an experience of the moment.. The variation is the difference is only that of in perception. The relationship between the performer and observers stimulates our mundane situations in the society.

Set free, 2018, Performance

To be a Genius

天 Sky 才 Talent

Genius Da Capo, 2018, Installation

(Pinyin): tiāncái 1. talent; gift; genius 2. talented or gifted person; genius

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. ————Ludwig Wittgenstein

How does a word’s definition of something relate to its potential? Into a flat word? Love long last before the word was invented, but if there is not a word to describe it, does it lose the function of the descriptive characteristic?, Is it still meaningful? The Human mind produces, and creates language to express <what? Feelings? Thoughts?> thoughts and interchange with others ( in our case, human) to fulfill the ideal way of expression. Never ending loop for the presentation of human mind, language serves the prior essence in our species, which is the mind.

Languages and the value systems which we adhere are lively expressions of the nature and development of a given human community, and by no means do they exist transcendent of the context in which they are used.

Genius Fine, 2018, Installation

Language restricts them so much . Two religions that may actually be speaking about the same God cannot recognize each other as being translations of the same thing. In the reflection, we can see more than words,. The definition varies, but it contains ourselves and everything that makes us who we are today. If my world is in my eyes, from what am I restrained from? 16

Genius Fine, 2018, Installation

Relationships, Politics and Community Those three keywords are very subtle. Take relationships, for example. The relationship is the unit for my work and practice. If relationships fade, all my artworks no longer exist. They are only a shell with form. Relationships, strata narratives, and intimacy are constantly changing. These changing relationships connect us to community. Community is a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society, but the number is less meaningful than the common spirit that people share. The mental agreement is greater than the numerical or figurative agreement. When there is a spiritual resonance, considerations, and issues revolve more consistently and can include multiple perspectives. Understanding and respecting the community and ourselves allows us to collaborate and exchange equally. Art is not about beauty or ugliness, not about appearance. Working with a community and actually being within a community seems radical but it’s not. Relationships, feelings and perceptions are what most people remember. Creating a moment, an experience that is not replicable is art’s essence. Understanding and merging art from the field where they cross together can evoke the most authentic touch to a piece of artwork, Not to mention all the tangles and complexities that build up a community. The existence and the capability to embrace is what makes art with community.

Round 1-1 Ep1, 2019, Video Installation

Round 1-1 Ep2, 2019, Video Installation

Politics is irresistible as long as we live in a so-called society that we consume and produce. All the materials we use to create our work have their own background and political references. I don’t think it is possible for art to detach its relationship with society. We are always connected to and related to the society we live in. While many artists use materials to express strong and direct opinions, I like to use multi-perspective narratives to reveal the dynamic status of human beings. Relationships are often discussed in my works, while the political aspects are hidden in daily mundane components. The three words together open a wider discussion around the relationships between humans and art. I am very fascinated by the topics and the possibility of exchange, collaboration and connections between people, places, and events within a matrix of local and global influences. 19

Round 1-1, 2019, Video Installation

花開的哪一天 Which Day The Flower Blossomed

花開的那一天，是你決定開始休假的那一天海誓山盟的條約，被雨淋濕了水啊水不僅僅可以滅火還可以把你的過去，現在和未來都包裹在裡面張嘴吐泡泡咂嘴醃人舌頭的靈丹妙藥成群結隊的患者把這個奇蹟圍得水泄不通當了看門狗圍睹住了就能抓的住了的確是很押韻又是那麼平行鬆開你的圈兒師傅早就得道成仙了他沒有辜負你的擔憂你也沒有辜負他的期待只是再見的時候维度的偏差是我們掌握不了的胡鬧也開心苦惱也開心放縱也開心那就幹吧這這裡開始幹總這裡為圓心擴大直徑澆灌那些花即使我們看不到但他們還在那裡

Which Day The Flower Blossomed The day the flower blossom Is the day that you decided to take off The vows of eternal pledge were soaked wet by the rain Oh water You can do more that putting out flame Can toss your past, present and future in To be coated in… Open mouth to vomit bubbles I smacked my lips Pickled human tongue is an elixir cure Crowds of patients gathered around the miracle tightly Can be a watchdog to grasp a little Trying to rhyme a story Yet still parallel Let go of the circle Your mentor is already up there immortal He lived up to your fear You too, have not fail his expectations It’s only, the next time when we see each other Dimension’s deviation is something We can’t, see Mischief is happy Distressed is happy Indulgence is happy Let’s start from here set here as the center and enlarge the diameter To water those flower buds If we can not see them They are still there

Works cited Adelson, E. H., 2000, ‘Lightness Perception and Lightness Illusions’, in The New Cognitive Neurosciences, M. Gazzaniga (Ed), 2nd ed. pp. 339-351, MIT Press: Cambridge MA. Adelson, E. H., 2005, ‘Checkers Shadow Illusion’, http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelson/Checkers Shadow_description.html MIT Website. 黄作·不思之说——拉康主体理论研究 [M]．浙江：人民出版社，2005 Slavoj Zizek , How to Read Lacan (How to Read), Simon Critchley (Series Editor), January 17, 2007 LaBerge S, Levitan L, Dement WC. Lucid dreaming: Physiological correlates of consciousness during REM sleep. J Mind Behav. 1986;7:251–58. LaBerge S. (1988) The Psychophysiology of Lucid Dreaming. In: Gackenbach J., LaBerge S. (eds) Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain. Springer, Boston, MA Holzinger B, LaBerge S, Levitan L. Psychophysiological correlates of lucid dreaming. Dreaming. 2006;6:88– 95 Tore A. Nielsen, Antonio Zadra, Dreaming Disorders, Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine Third Edition (2000) Kryger MH, Roth T, Dement WC (Eds) W.B. Saunders Company Prelude, Poetry by Tomas Tranströmer, The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems, Translated from Swedish by Robin Fulton, October 17, 2006 Sigmund Freud , The Interpretation of Dreams: The Complete and Definitive Text, James Strachey (Translator) February 23, 2010 Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near, Viking, 2005 Donna Haraway, A cyborg manifesto, Socialist Review,1985