Research
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Stop motion script ：
Naked25
2021
By Li Jiaxing
（ Click to view）
The Origin
The vast majority of my paintings are in the form of nude self-portraits, a choice that comes from a complete honesty of intent. As a 'slice' of my life state, I try to project the entirety of my creative moment, both physical and psychological. My parents, when viewing the work, could not understand why I always chose to paint nudes and often warned me not to be too naive.
In my social interactions, I was once very resistant to the "packaging" that individuals put on themselves and others, as if they were wearing different character costumes ，with no end to the layers. After a few memorable events, I suddenly realised that being completely honest was one of the many character costumes. So I threw a few questions at myself: Is the naked me the real me? Was I simply wearing the right clothes at the right time and mistakenly thinking that was who I was? Is my body also a piece of clothing?
So I wrote a play in the genre of stop-motion animation and opera from my own experiences and problems, in which I wanted to discuss the theme of the disguise and the truth of the self.
（After I finished the script, I showed it to my father, and he said: I wear a T-shirt when I should wear a down jacket, and I wear a down jacket when I should wear a T-shirt, so my business is like it is now. It's so embarrassing.）
"Naked 25" stop-motion animation storyboard ,2021
By Li Jiaxing
But when I started to make it, I gradually felt that I seemed to be too focused on telling a complete story, and I didn't make a deeper transformation.
The Development
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Ideas about installation
Later on, using the key words 'clothes' and 'nakedness', I researched and reflected on 'social norms, 'identity/selfidentity' and so on. "I became aware of the community identity that surrounds my self-identity and observed the process of forming a deep bond between myself and the community.
For myself, there was a time in my life when I insisted on showing my true self, refusing any form of self-concealment when dealing with people, standing as a naked person among them, and believing that if I was persistent and sure enough, others would gradually choose to be honest too. Facts and lessons have made me realise that my notion of 'nudity' is not as 'timeless' as I thought it would be. It is true that becoming one's self as a modern individual requires a process of detachment from the social environment, but identity is subject to change through history, culture and politics. This is how identity crises become a common phase in human life - and the act of classifying identity can be both positive and destructive.
Is the "naked me" just an illusion, a case of me wearing the right clothes at the right time and being mistaken for it? This is the first question I ask. If I continue to follow this question, is my skin - and the subject of the life it extends - also clothing? And furthermore, are my muscles a second layer of clothing that I wear, either physically or psychologically? What about the internal organs? And so on, is what constitutes what I am simply layer after layer of structures nested within each other? Is there any real content present in the gaps of the structure, or is it a void?
"Is 'Naked Me' just me wearing the right clothes at the right time, making me think that's the real me?"' This is the first question I ask my messed up self. If you follow this question to follow "Then is my skin also clothing? ""If skin is clothing, are my muscles the second layer of clothing I wear? ""Is the offal a third layer of clothing? Are the "same" bones, viscera, and nerves the fourth, fifth, and sixth layers? "
As these questions arose, my faith seemed to collapse, and it seemed that even my self-portraits were no longer valid.
The first edition sketches of the installation
"If I take off all these clothes, where is the ''I''?" This question is caught in a self-perpetuating loop.
In order to free myself from the self-perpetuating cycle of entanglement, I decided to break the linear logic that comes with the genre of the play, to deconstruct it anew, to step outside the act of narrative and confront the issue itself.
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Ideas about installation
The second edition sketch of the installation
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Ideas about installation
The third edition sketch of the installation
Reading the German philosopher Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophie has helped to alleviate my identity crisis. The common experience of the transformation of will, the experience of perception and the destiny of the times, which provides the mind with a direction of consciousness, i.e. gives a 'Sophia', hits the spot for me.
Steiner's theory deals with the idea of the human mind's ability to perceive the world. He divided the human body into three facets: will, emotion and thought, which correspond to body, mind and spirit respectively; his anthroposophy is usually expressed in a 'triangular behavioural architecture', where the energy of will is stored at the bottom (the foot), emotion is moved and transmitted through the body between the foot and the head, and above the head is the centre of the metaphysical idea.
This notion of the 'cosmopolitanization of the body' leads me to the inspiration and resonance of the 'symbolization of things' and relates to my own creative tendency of preferring to mine metaphors from material/biological materials.
Is the "naked me" just a case of mistaken identity because I was wearing the right clothes at the right time? I am now inclined to answer in the affirmative. But at the same time, my focus shifts from the establishment of the structure to the reasons why it is established, i.e. what constitutes these "clothes"?
The term 'identity' is defined in cognitive psychology as the capacity for self-reflection and self-awareness (Leary & Tangney 2003, p. 3). The concept of 'identity negotiation' is expressed in sociology as 'the process by which a person engages in a broad discussion with society at large about the meaning of his or her identity'.
Inspired by these ideas, I decided to deconstruct the original script into material art that confronts the composition of self-identity. In choosing the materials, I found a subtle material that combines the concept of individual life with that of a community - a colony of fungi. I decided to find a suitable vehicle to complete the work from biological materials such as fungi, bacteria and moulds.
As presented in the relevant research section, several concepts,methodologies and theories always influeced my creation and thinking。I have found resonance in their works, and it is not limited to creation, but also affects me in life attitude.
