Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Yu Na and Xu Yong: Solution Scheme

Solution Scheme consists of a series of large color photographs that talk about artist Yu Na’s experience as a prostitute.  Each scene is constructed and show Yu Na as the central figure.  Her gaze is directed towards the viewer, expressing the fact that she is self-aware and in conversation with the external world.  As the piece description describes, Yu Na “holds a button that controls the camera shutter; she is the one with her finger on the button, the one in control of each scene.  Thus is her identity and status transformed from prostitute to artist.”  The personal content and the artist’s desire for control are especially touching and revealing.  This series becomes less about the world of prostitution than about an individuals struggle to find herself.

The space where these pieces are hung is also notable.  The works are at the very end of an old warehouse in the 798 Art District, hung on the top section of a café, that requires the viewer to climb up a set of stairs and duck under a dividing beam to see each individual photo.  The space is inconvenient and out of the way, but inviting to those that dare to take the initiative and dive into its racy content.





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