“The Misfits” is a photograph project with AR component that explores issues of gender and culture in Chinese mythical creatures: dragon and phoenix. Deeply rooted in Chinese tradition, the dragon and phoenix have been interconnected symbols: Yan and Yin, male and female, masculine and feminine. The two are often used together as a representation of auspiciousness and blissful relations between husband and wife and happy marriage. The phoenix and the dragon were two powerful creatures. In early Chinese myth, the phoenix was a union of male and female called Feng Huang, Feng was male bird, and Huang was female bird. However, as the dragon became associated with ancient Chinese emperors as an imperial symbol, ( in fact, emperors themselves claimed to be the incarnation of a divine dragon), the phoenix was made into representing a female-only identity to pair with the dragon.
Gender is understood as socially constructed. At the beginning, many mythical creatures in western and eastern societies didn’t have a gender, or gender ambiguous. Same to the Chinese phoenix. From a powerful independent creature to a subordinate to the emperor, from plural to singular, from fluid to static, the phoenix’s gender transformation demonstrates how gender is socially produced and shaped by political power and culture, and how it is manipulated, imposed, and naturalized through history.
“The Misfits” is inspired by Chinese textile. In this work, the phoenix and the dragon are depicted not as opposites but as mirrors of each other. Adding my own twist to a traditional medium by placing these symbols within the rainbow sea and mountain patterns, I intend to re-interpret the Chinese mythical creatures from a feminist perspective, offering a contemporary reading on Chinese tradition.
Each photograph has a one-minute animated graphics that is accessed through AR. AR is used to enhance viewers’ experience of photograph and makes static photographs alive and architectural. This new form of photograph merges still images/moving images, virtual/actual, creating a performative way for audiences to engage with photographs. Everyone can access the AR component as long as one has a cellphone and downloads a free app on one’s phone, when one opens the app and points toward a photograph, an animated video will appear on one’s phone screen, sound will be activated too. Please see the AR at 2:03 in the video above, or visit the a link here to see a demo.
This work is part of Capture Photography Festival in Vancouver 2021, presented by Richmond Art Gallery and Richmond Public Art Program. For more info at Capture Photography Festival, please visit here
Animation: Chun Hua Catherine Dong
Sound: Shane Turner