Dive into the captivating world of digital puppetry and screen culture with artist Li-Yi Fan. Explore how his unique practice blurs the lines between painting, cinema, and technology, creating art that's both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Discover the fascinating origins of "Scream Melancholy," a title born from the curator's keen observation of Fan's work exploring the anxieties of our connected world. Learn how his self-developed game engine puppetry system allows him to explore his own artistic identity through digital avatars.
See how Fan's background in Western Painting infuses his video art with a distinct visual sensibility, evident in his masterful compositions and image-making. Experience his innovative approach to exhibition design, where he crafts immersive spaces that invite the audience into the scale and narrative of his work.
Uncover the serendipitous journey of collaboration, from a random Instagram message to a shared artistic vision brought to life. Understand the intricate, often solitary, process of digital creation, where the artist spends as much time building tools as he does crafting films.
#DigitalArt #VideoArt #Machinima #ScreenCulture
Discover the fascinating origins of "Scream Melancholy," a title born from the curator's keen observation of Fan's work exploring the anxieties of our connected world. Learn how his self-developed game engine puppetry system allows him to explore his own artistic identity through digital avatars.
See how Fan's background in Western Painting infuses his video art with a distinct visual sensibility, evident in his masterful compositions and image-making. Experience his innovative approach to exhibition design, where he crafts immersive spaces that invite the audience into the scale and narrative of his work.
Uncover the serendipitous journey of collaboration, from a random Instagram message to a shared artistic vision brought to life. Understand the intricate, often solitary, process of digital creation, where the artist spends as much time building tools as he does crafting films.
#DigitalArt #VideoArt #Machinima #ScreenCulture
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CreativityTranscript
00:00.
00:41The title is called String Mancoli.
00:43Actually, the title came from Raphael, the curator.
00:47After we looked through all my works, my practice, he found out, I think, most of my practice
00:54are related to screens, to screen culture, image, video culture.
00:59And he thinks most of my work is kind of like melancholy in a way, and always have this
01:04kind of anxious about all the knowledge, all of the relationship between individual and
01:11the world.
01:11So he came up with this idea of having a title called Scream Melancholy.
01:16And mostly I do digital puppetry inside of film.
01:22So if you watch my film, you can notice there's a hidden shadow behind a figure, always do
01:27this kind of puppetry, because I developed my own puppetry system in the game engine.
01:33So kind of like became a, how to say, like avatar of me, like playing with myself.
01:43I think Yifan is a very interesting case, because first of all, he didn't study computer graphics,
01:50or he didn't study cinema.
01:51He studied painting.
01:53Actually, he went to a school in Taipei and had a course that's called Western Painting,
01:58which I think is very interesting.
02:00And then during this process, I started getting more and more addicted to cinema.
02:03And then I figured from his big interest in cinema, from his own cinephilia, then he started
02:09doing works in video and in moving images in general.
02:13So I think in a certain way that explains a bit the complexity of the narratives, and at
02:19the same time that also explains why the whole image making process, the composition, all of
02:25this is something very important to him.
02:27I think the certainty comes from him experiencing painting.
02:34I'm a video artist, so in the beginning, I'm thinking about, I'm going to make a longer
02:38film, like something around an hour or something.
02:40And like in Venice, people walk so long, so they need sits.
02:44So they came up with this idea, like, I'm also building sits for the audience.
02:48And since the video is about scale, you can notice, like, they're a bigger figure playing
02:55with a small figure.
02:56So I came up with this idea, like, building a bigger figure in the venue.
03:01So the audience sometimes feels like they're a small puppet of the bigger figure or something.
03:07And at the same time, it's like, every time I visit Venice, my phone dies.
03:10So it could be smart, like, having a phone charger for an audience to rest there.
03:19We got to know each other in a very random way, I would say, because I was doing a biennial
03:25in Brazil called the Mercosur Biennial that happened last year, but actually was supposed
03:29to happen in 24 in Porto Alegre, a city in the south of Brazil.
03:35And then in 2023, I was researching artists for the biennial, so it was basically Googling
03:39names that were, you know, listed in other biennials.
03:41Then I saw the list of Taipei Biennial.
03:43I mean, the biennial was not open yet, but it was like researching all the names there.
03:47Then I researched his name, fell in love with the practice.
03:50I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I dropped him a message or via Instagram or
03:56sent him an email, I don't remember exactly.
03:58I had a studio visit that was amazing, they invited him for the biennial.
04:02And then when he got invited to work here and to the Taipei, sorry, the Taiwan exhibition
04:07here in Venice, it was a very interesting process because we didn't know each other in person.
04:13So we only got to know each other in person when we came together here to Venice to get
04:17to know the venue.
04:22I think for the past few years, I've been working on this kind of like machinima practice, which
04:30means like creating videos inside of game.
04:33This is like movement from the 90s, but actually I tried to like recreate this movement using
04:37the more modern tools.
04:39So the way I produce videos actually start with like developing my own tools.
04:44In this case, it was like the puppetry system in the game engine, you know, so I always,
04:50like during my practice, I would say like half of my time was actually very boring developing,
04:54like solving like a coding problem or something.
04:58And after I finished developing, I started to like make films with a tool I built myself.
05:02And that's when the time, like everything comes very fast actually.
05:06So I don't work with scripts or storyboard.
05:09For me, like video creation is very intuitive process, more like a writing or something.
05:14And for me, it's like, how do I make this writing more intuitive, more like fast forward?
05:20And you can only achieve by like technology.
05:24So at the same time, I think my practice is a lot, has a lot to do with like the
05:29relationship
05:30between like artists and technology.
05:33Because if you work with technology, you never start from scratch.
05:37You always have to work with some kind of framework.
05:39And for me, that's the most interesting part is you can recognize how this framework frame
05:44our world and how this framework recognize our world.
05:48Yes.
05:52Yifan does most of the work by himself.
05:55So the text, most of the compositions, it's his voice, it's his body, it's Ken and using
06:03the work also.
06:04So in lots of moments, even though he collaborates with some people doing the rendering, he collaborates
06:09some people doing the sound and the music also.
06:12But most of the time, it's like a one man show.
06:15So it was a type of collaboration where I was like, okay, let's try to have talks and meetings
06:20or like WhatsApp messages, like every week or every month or every moment you want to
06:24update me with something.
06:25I think the process, I wouldn't say it started slow, but it wouldn't, but I would say it started
06:30into his own rhythm.
06:32And I feel that especially in the last six months, things got more intense because of course,
06:37first to know each other already personally.
06:40Second, besides getting to know each other, I went to Taipei and we spent like some days
06:46together and finally got to know Taiwan.
06:48I think that changed everything.
06:50And then of course there was a pressure to define the things for the exhibition here.
06:54So in the last six months, especially regarding the space, the sculptures, details of the work,
07:01of the three videos.
07:02I mean, some details are even very unperceptible, I think, to most of the audience, I think.
07:07So I feel the last months have been like a more like a ping pong game.
07:13And the beginning of the collaboration, he went in a slower pace.
07:20So given the cases around Taiwan, I think that seems very few people to talk, and the Catchaway
07:42Oh, that's so good.
07:43Oh, that's so good.
08:44I've been trained as a painter, but I wouldn't say realistic because I'm so bad.
08:49I thought I was good, but eventually I was not so good.
08:52So I started painting when I was at university, but after that, I shipped to media art or something.
08:59Obviously, I learned most of my skill in YouTube, like how to edit video, how to make animation,
09:06like VFX.
09:09I think I'm like the first YouTube learning generation.
09:13So in my video work, you always found this kind of tutorial style, like try to teach the
09:18audience something.
09:20Because I think this kind of vibe came from the process I learned from YouTube.
09:24And this is also interesting because like I've been learning things on YouTube for decades
09:28and you can start to feel the awkwardness changing because 10 years ago, you can find like hour
09:36long video teaching you something.
09:37But now it's like everything should be in 30 seconds.
09:43I mean, I think what impresses me the most, not only about his work, but about himself is this
09:50contrast between his appearance, apparent like calmness and what he's able to transpose to
10:00moving image.
10:01I think I would love to understand how the hell his brain works in the sense that I think it's
10:09very difficult to create narratives that are so fragmented and so full of details, not only
10:15regarding words, but also regarding image, regarding editing.
10:19editing.
10:20So you feel in a certain way it's a work by someone that seems to have lots of sense of
10:26control in the tools he's using, I think that's absolutely fascinating.
10:34I think learning is a very important part of my work because I learn new technology and start
10:40to think about the situation of new technology between artists and their creation.
10:46You know, so like one thing I really feel during 2020, 2021 or something is like when the subscription
10:53system came, like Adobe subscription or something, like you really feel like this change of software
10:59like kind of like influenced the creation of artists because like you used to own your software,
11:05but now you can really like rent your software and sometimes the software will like reject your
11:09request and this is like really weird moment, you know.
11:12So I think in my practice doing like the whole process was kind of like try to figuring out
11:19what's going on, like on current technology, especially like image, image making technology.
11:29I knew slash thought that would happen, but really beautiful to see happening for real.
11:34Like people stay here and watch the whole thing, like 55 minutes.
11:38And I think it has to do not only with how an amazing narrative maker your phone is, but
11:43also the structure, like the furniture, the space to charge the phones, all of this thing.
11:48I think that people feel cozy in the space.
11:51I feel the work to really echo, especially with our generation, because I think we were raised a bit,
11:57you know, before the internet came and we saw how everything changed with internet and to,
12:02you know, lens and smartphones, et cetera.
12:05I felt especially that these guys from our generation, they were watching the film yesterday,
12:11they get especially excited with it.
12:16I think I've been using this same kind of, I want to say same, like similar methods as digital puppetry
12:23for a while.
12:25And like during the process of making this work, I started to feel something strange.
12:31It's like I'm getting older and the character is actually staying like in the same age.
12:36It's kind of like sad for me.
12:37So I think I'll keep this character for like, I have to say, freezing for a while and start another
12:44chapter.
12:45But definitely it will still have like some relationship with image making and technologies or something.
12:55Not only this exhibition, but all the previous exhibitions that Taiwan organized here,
13:00by the way, in this space, in Palacio de Perigioni, help people to get to know artists from there.
13:04I remember, for example, what show I saw a few years ago.
13:08I don't remember exactly the year, but it was the Teixinxê exhibition here.
13:11And really, I really remember the show always.
13:14I mean, and I think it was beautiful.
13:15Lots of people that came here to see Ifang's work also reminded that exhibition precisely.
13:19So anyway, I think being here in Venice and being special in a place like San Marco,
13:25where you don't need to pay a ticket to enter, simply cross by, see our crazy banner and come in.
13:31I think it's been literally in the eye of the hurricane.
13:33So I think it's really nice for him.
13:36It's nice for everybody that work in the project.
13:38It's nice for the nation of Taiwan also.
13:43So I think it's a really interesting way to make the, I don't know, the art scene there more and
13:49more known internationally.
13:54Yeah, I think it's an amazing opportunity because I often describe myself like a very intuitive artist.
14:01And I think like doing Venice, it's kind of like giving an opportunity to think like what is behind this
14:08intuitive matter.
14:09Like because my work is like very dark humor, sometimes even nonsense.
14:13And what is really behind this nonsense is this humor.
14:18And for me, it's kind of like fears and desire.
14:21And I think in certain parts of like most of Taiwanese can feel this kind of like fears and desire.
14:27Or most of us try to change or like convert this kind of fear into like a very humorous.
14:37And I think it's really important because any coding won't be able to let you know that.
14:41Three bad things.
14:44What is it?
14:45But then it's not a rule.
14:48Is this a real rule?
14:50It's a rule!
14:52You're talking now to a real rule.
15:06Oh!
15:09That's a real!
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