THE HORIZONTAL MODE OF A WAKING LIFE

THE HORIZONTAL MODE OF A WAKING LIFE


CREDITS

GUP Author

GUP TEAM


Artist

Jiaxi Yang

Artist Website

jiaxiyang.com

Theatrical and often absurd still-lifes of arranged food and everyday objects, like a quail’s egg, octopus, coffee sleeves, aluminium foil and toilet paper, are the subjects of Jiaxi Yang’s (1989, China) series The Horizontal Mode of a Waking Life. After being placed in an unfamiliar environment when moving to New York, Yang was made aware of her cultural relationship to food – prompting her to explore the lives of food and objects and the possible ways in which they interact with each other.

Her playful images place the subjects out of context, and call attention to the unremarkable, everyday things that we surround ourselves and interact with on a daily basis. By defamiliarising the ordinary and exposing the barely recognised traces of desire and absurdity in the objects, Yang gives the viewer a new way of perceiving the objects in their daily routine.