「生成主义 · 专访」艺术家云峰

Every individual possesses a physical body, an integral part of our physiological organization that safeguards the necessary organicity of our carbon-based life. But does the physical body have a will independent of the mind? With this timeless philosophical proposition in mind, Yunfeng embarked on his exploration. In his case, the body is not just a body but becomes a "body as a video camera". In terms of the creative subject, Yun Feng tries to merge the "body" with the "silver halide photosensitive paper", creating a cooperative "double subject". In Yunfeng's work, the body is both the subject of perception and action. Photographic technology, as an auxiliary mechanism, presents the thin, fuzzy, mixed, and indecipherable "speech" hidden in the body's "darkroom".

In terms of creative structure, Yunfeng integrates the body with darkroom techniques. This approach stems from his experience of living and studying in Xinjiang. Influenced by the local photographer Tian Lin, Yunfeng has acquired more sophisticated darkroom techniques, but he doesn’t limit himself to traditional photography to develop his creative thinking, instead, he has shifted his focus to the mechanism of photographic imaging. In his series of works on shadow imaging, Yunfeng opts for natural materials over conventional darkroom equipment. For example, he sinks 10x12 inch photosensitive paper into the Chaobai River near his home and retrieves it after 24 hours (Salvaging the Night on the Chaobai River); and the location is no longer a simple darkroom. Yunfeng sinks the photographic paper into the center of the Chaobai River at night, retrieves it after a few hours, and uses a large developing basin as a boat, mixing the developing solution with river water to produce the final image. For Yunfeng, photography should not be limited to equipment and technology. He believes that we are in a world of images and materials have the potential to create images. Most of Yun Feng's images are collected and produced from social scenes and everyday objects, such as the old Beijing sprinklers and water guns used in works such as The Second Skin - Sprinkler and Shooooooooooot. In Yunfeng's practice, photosensitive paper becomes an intermediary between social space and everyday materials and tools. By taking outdoor and nighttime environments of traditional photographic image production as the space and time of his image production, Yunfeng awakens his photographs' perception of and immersion in social scenes, rather than merely reproducing social objects. In Yunfeng's creative context, the "image" exists in an open and ever-generating way. When the body, as a container and a place, becomes a darkroom that can be imaged, what kind of "visibility" will be realized? Will it differ from the images in our sphere of experience? Of course, as Simone Weil pointed out, the sacredness of the human body lies not in its core as a person, but in its impersonal core." If one eliminates the "response" of the corporeal will (with certain preconceptions and calculations) controlled by consciousness, Yunfeng turns to the body’s spontaneous order. In his work, the body can be observed and can record the external world, and even present its emotional responses. For example, in his 2020 work Silence, Yun Feng uses the body as an action, treating his mouth as a darkroom; the photo paper is cut into small pieces and held in his mouth after breakfast. The artist remains silent for the rest of the day with his mouth shut until he retrieves and rinses them in the darkroom after nightfall. Thus, the body/material - photosensitive paper – and time constitute Yunfeng's complete creative structure.

What about from a generative perspective? Speaking of generation or enactivism, Yunfeng believes that the body is continuously producing every day. Bodily functions like producing "feces, urine, farts, sweat, saliva, and other substances" are the most direct and powerful expressions of the physical autonomous labor. Moreover, the body undergoes different states in various contexts: hunger, cold, trembling, excitement, and so on. Based on different circumstances, the body will bring about different "generative" results. This implies that the body must first be alive, have the action potential, and the desire to express itself. Generation is a manifestation of vitality, changing the environment and legitimacy of image creation. The body snatches the darkroom that is traditionally used to produce images. Therefore, every moment of the body becomes an observation of the world and itself. Time is no longer the cold, frozen time captured by machines but a time of life when the body records and extends. As a result, these images become life images.