Bio:
江峰 Jiang Feng is a non-gendered contemporary Taoist and multi-disciplinary artist working across genres in movement/dance, theatre, performance art, voice, text, modeling, film, photography, theory, pedagogy, and criticism. They attained their B.A. in English and Chinese literature from National Taiwan University in 2016. In 2019, they graduated with an M.F.A. degree in Performance and Performance Studies from Pratt Institute. They are now pursuing an M.A. in Cross-Disciplinary Corporeal Theories and Practice in the Department of Dance at Taipei National University of the Arts. They are the receiver of the R.O.C. Government Fellowship to study and research dance abroad, “20-40-Year-Old Writers,” "Creation and Application of Native Languages," and "Fostering Young Artists' Development" grants from the Ministry of Culture, and "Performing Art Critics" grant from the National Culture and Arts Foundation in Taiwan. Furthermore, their works have been shown in Asia, America, and Europe, including Taiwan, the U.S., Germany, Ireland, Singapore, Bulgaria, Hungary, the UK, Italy, Korea, and Mexico in various artistic scenarios. In September 2019, their new work "臺彎 Bent-Tai(www)" won the "Genuinely Fringe" award, the third prize, at Taipei Fringe Festival, and in 2018, they were selected to be the performer of the work “Wall-Floor Positions” in the MoMA retrospective "Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts."
Artist Statement:
Currently, I am developing my system called "The Life Praxis," which calls for the concurrent exploration and synthesis of (1) Academic Research: Structured methodologies for knowledge (2) Social Practice: Dialogues for (self-)reflection and change (3) Somatic and Spirituality: Individual comfort and strength.
First of all, academic research has taught me about the preciousness of proof and validation. As an artist, while feelings and sentiments are more than important, it is usually the systemic knowledge that will create changes in one's self and society. Since undergrad, I have been bathed in the realm of Feminism, Performance Studies, Dance Studies, and Somatics. Secondly, social practice, art included, creates a platform for exchange and mutual understanding. Last but not least, we all have to return to our life, which is the source and ultimate goal.
Viewing the body as the base and the social issues, gender, sex, sexuality, and race, as the lens to examine the status of life, I am interested in liberating myself and merging with the world. The fundamental inspiration for my work is love, its beauty and complexity, while being a contemporary Taoist, the pursuit of the philosophy of life is my priority.
For artistic creation, as an interdisciplinary artist, I turn to the tools offered by multi-media to find the right way to tell the stories. Media is the channel for the meaning and messages to pass through instead of being the dedication itself. Hence, I do not cling to any particular medium except for the body and can morph and become any kind of artist. Setting out to disrupt, I create things to challenge social norms and our perceptions of them. I create artwork as a process for questioning and healing, gathering energy to create a space for people who endure discrimination. My process as an artist and creator is to wait to be inspired in/by life. Moreover, I draw on theory from academic and non-academic works and think hard because I expect myself to be not only an artist but also a thinker.
Art is a force of disruption of social injustice and also existential fixation. The ideology of my work is "family-unfriendly" (if that family happens to be the epitome of the patriarchy).
