Conversations with Tianqi Liao
image courtesy of the artist
aaan: Please introduce yourself with 3 keywords.
Tianqi:
Determined/Organized
If it’s a definite goal, I will usually be able to do it in a very timely fashion; However, on a higher, macro level, this exhibition talks about one’s desire to achieve a utopia, which may not always be feasible. Personally, it’s also a reflection of my perfectionist tendencies. At certain times, I can’t always achieve that and I have to find ways to mediate and adjust my expectations.
Observant
I mentioned I would look at something and think about why it’s there. I’m always curious about why these behaviors are considered normal. I wonder if this would be considered normal in a different setting with a different group of people. I think the question comes from my cultural background. Having studied abroad at a very young age and being accustomed to different cultures, sometimes what's normal in one culture can be very different in another. This has sort of led me to believe that norms are subjective and not absolute.
Pessimistic
I think I tend to think about the worst-case scenario and I like to question every possible scenario. I imagine myself walking on pillows that I built for myself so that I don't fall into unforeseen situations.
aaan: Please share with us the exhibition topic.
Tianqi:
Utopian Visions initially came to mind when I was walking down the street in Las Vegas in 2020. Anyone who's been there would know that the appearance of wealth is very concentrated in that city. The majority of resources, including electricity and water usage, are funneled into creating this façade of opulence and extravagance. This juxtaposition between the glittering exterior and the reality of resource allocation sparked a deeper reflection on the concept of utopia.
It just dawned on me how much energy they're pouring into one aspect of living. When I came across a section where it was like microcosms of world-famous monuments, I saw the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building. On top of the fake Empire State Building, it said “New York”.
It also reminded me of one place in Hangzhou, where I come from. It was also built to resemble a replica of Paris where people can visit and imagine themselves in Europe. It’s surreal to me that people would go to such lengths to recreate an illusive experience, just to live in an alternate reality and pretend something is true.
When I was experimenting with my telephoto lens, which allows you to take pictures from a distance, the resulting images you render appear as though they were taken up close. It creates an illusion of proximity. For example, the image titled Façade of Fortune looks as if I was standing right in front of the building, even though I was actually quite far away. That image is also photoshopped in a way that I cut a strip off and reflected another aspect of the building so that it would be symmetrical.
While I was in Sacramento, I visited a neighborhood that epitomized the middle-class suburban ideal. It had easy access to good schools and seemed to offer a peaceful life. I wondered if that's what everyone wants to aspire to, or if that's just a standard that certain individuals have. In their understanding, it’s their vision of a utopia, their ideal living condition. And that was the title that came to be at that time. But I didn't have a full body of work back then, so I just had that title in mind and worked on it.
aaan: Please introduce one of your favorite works in this exhibition, does it express the exhibition concept most?
Tianqi:
I think in this series, one of the first couple of images that was included was the Opening, which I took before a circus performance. Using a telephoto lens I made it appear as though I was close to my subject. As soon as I captured the photo, I realized immediately, “This is it”. The unspoken allure of what lies ahead in this composition fueled my inspiration. Even by the end of the performance, I never saw what he looked like. Yet, I've developed a certain familiarity with the back of his head.
In this exhibition, I also really like the New World because it effectively conveys the concept of the exhibition. To me, the saturated green of the grass turf looks even more artificial in print. New World also reminds me of a point I mentioned during our curatorial meeting: how real estate agents, when they're trying to sell your property, use these models with buildings set on artificial grass to symbolize the ideal living environment they’re selling. I was so drawn to this idea. And I think the way you curated it to let it face the middle-class house that I mentioned when I was in Sacramento creates a compelling dialogue, echoing a reciprocal illusion. This conversation also highlights how architecturally, buildings symbolize dwellings and provide shelters, themes that are prominently featured in several iterations of this series. The architectural elements serve as metaphors for our aspirations and ideals, grounding the utopian vision in tangible forms. By juxtaposing these artificial constructs with real-world images, this positioning presents an interplay between reality and illusion in our conception of ideal living environments.
aaan: Your work is often characterized by highly saturated pure colors, focused light sources, or almost dramatic effects that are often considered to be an expression of "perfection" or "surreal". Why would these features in the Utopian Visions on the contrary embody a utopian symbol of fragility?
Tianqi:
This is a really big question that maybe I might not be able to answer directly.
However, it connects to our earlier discussion about the third question: when someone examines something and questions its reality, the issue of authenticity comes into play. It’s this attitude of scrutiny that I want people to adopt when considering the idea of a utopia. I want them to explore and develop their own concepts of what a utopia could be.
I wanted to use very pure colors because I wanted to depict utopia as something that's very saturated, and resplendent. However, I also wanted to show the eerie quality that comes with such intense saturation. I believe that anything in excess can be detrimental, and I just wanted to convey that idea pictorially.
If I were to pursue a new project, I would probably do some kind of staged photography instead of capturing real-life scenes. I'm always very drawn to people who recreate scenes through staged photography to depict a certain idea because that practice further blurs the line between reality and artifice.
aaan: Your favorite/recent books and movies?
Tianqi:
Movie: Inside Out (2024), May December (2023)
Book: Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion (Jia Tolentino, 2019)
The author writes for The New Yorker and is a very satirical, critical, yet down-to-earth writer. It's a series of short stories that blend personal experiences with social commentary. In one chapter, she talks about being in a reality TV show when she was a child, where she had to behave in a certain way to be liked and win the prize. This experience highlights the performative nature of reality television and the pressures it places on participants to conform to certain expectations. Another essay discusses the need to consume culture voraciously to remain socially conversant. Throughout the book, she addresses the broader societal implications of these personal anecdotes. She probes into the impact of social media on self-perception, the complexities of modern feminism, the influence of the internet on our identities, and the challenges of navigating truth in an era of constant information. I think it’s aptly titled Trick Mirror because it hints at a certain amount of self-deception and the ways we trick ourselves into believing certain narratives and our lives.