2013.09.03 Tue, by Translated by: Fei Wu & 梁舒涵
The Amazing Yan Xing!

Yan Xing was born in 1986 in Chongqing, and studied oil painting at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts. He now lives in Beijing, where he produces work in a variety of media but focused more recently on video and performance, for which he is often both the initiator and a participant. Yan counts Andre Gide among his role models, and has exhibited his work in China, the UK, Switzerland, Italy, the Ukraine, the USA and Russia. Here, Yan speaks modestly about his artistic practice.

On inspiration….
Inspiration is at least eight hours of work per day.

On self-belief….
As soon as I developed self-initiative, I concluded I could become an excellent artist.

On distinguishing his works….
My creations have complex distinctions – you can’t separate them into “pieces” or “series” – of course there is a thread, but it’s really quite difficult to organize these threads.

Yan Xing

On performance….
I feel I’m long past the point where we need to apply this manner of definition to media – I’m surprised this is even a question.

On alternative careers….
I’ve never thought about it. Such a possibility does not exist.

On his audience….
I genuinely understand how difficult it is to understand my work. Once in a while, I’m pained by this.

On autobiography….
You can find the answer to these kinds of questions on Google.

On working with others…
I don’t exclude them, but what does this question have to do with me?

On fellow artists of his generation….
The similarities we share are those you can find on Google. Most of their work is not good enough; this is the absolute difference between them and me in this profession.

On responsibility…
I’m not tolerant enough – my tolerance is in direct proportion to my magnified sense of responsibility.

Yan Xing, “The History of Reception” (detail), performance, video installation, dimensions variable, 2012

On the effects of multiple means of communication on art…

My answer is pretty much the same as what you’d get if you Google-d this question.

On satisfaction…

I’m satisfied with all my works to date, always have been. I hope I’ll be able to do better work – that my works will sell better. It would be great to exceed my expectations.