Yeren: A Counter Figure

​本项目将以当代艺术实践为基础，采用跨学科的方法，结合科学和神话的描述，研究湖北省的叶伦形象。至关重要的是，该项目寻求在现有的西方非殖民化框架之外建立对非殖民化方法的细致探索。虽然特定于湖北/中国的背景，但《叶仁》是对未言明的殖民暴力的情感和交叉反应。叶人是一种生活在湖北圣农架林区的类人猿。甚至可以追溯到古代中国。它成为了一个现代传奇，后来在毛的文化大革命期间被压制。它的当代复兴与该地区最近的森林砍伐相一致。随着时间的推移，叶伦与关于人类起源的科学辩论以及当地少数民族部落的种族主义代表交织在一起。因此，叶伦可以作为一个棱镜，同时解决围绕文化和种族认同、生态和意识形态的纠缠问题。这项以实践为基础的研究以动态图像、声音和多媒体叙事为重点，旨在重新想象耶伦的生态存在、社会组织、与当地民族部落的互动，以及从内部拆除政治/心理压抑的方式。借鉴Apichatpong Weerasethakul和Patty Chang等非殖民艺术实践，该项目将查阅英国和国外的各种档案，包括实体和在线档案，以及民间传说、轶事和口述历史，作为表达不同知识的手段。因此，我的研究将跨媒体进行，利用运动图像、声音和实验评分模式的具体特征，重新校准围绕耶伦的充满活力的历史和当代叙事。

This practice-based research looks at the notion of "mutated species" as an exiled figure to challenge repressed political, environmental and ethnic issues in both Mao-era and contemporary China. Predicated on contemporary art practices, this project will examine the figure of Yeren in Hubei province, drawing on an interdisciplinary approach that embraces scientific and mythological accounts. Crucially, the project seeks to establish a nuanced exploration of decolonial methods outside of the existing Western decolonial framework.Although specific to the context of Hubei/China, Yeren is an emotional and intersectional response to unspoken colonial violence. Yeren is an apeman species reported to live in the Shengnonjia Forestry Region in Hubei. The sightings ofYeren date back to ancient China. It became a modern legend which was subsequently repressed during Mao's Cultural Revolution period. Its contemporary resurgence aligns with recent deforestation in the area. Over time, Yeren has become intertwined with scientific debates over human origin, as well as racist representation of local ethnic tribes. Yeren thus may function as a prism to simultaneously address entangled questions around cultural and ethnic identity, ecologies and ideologies.With a focus on moving-image, sound and multimedia storytelling, this practice-based research aims to re-imagine Yeren's ecological presence, social organisation, interaction with local ethnic tribes, and ways of dismantling political/psychological repressions from within. Drawing on decolonial art practices such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Patty Chang, the project will consult a variety of archives - both physical and online, in the UK and abroad - as well as embrace folklore, anecdotes and oral histories as means to articulated divergent knowledge. As such, my research will be conducted across media, drawing on the specific characteristics of moving image, sound and experimental modes of scoring to recalibrate the charged historical and contemporary narratives around Yeren.