We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anli Ding. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anli below.
Alright, Anli thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Born and raised in an ancient land with a distinctive dialect and Buddhist-Taoist customs in southeastern China, I have grown up in awe of natural and supernatural forces, just like everyone else around me. As I left my hometown and moved into modern cities, I become aware of a series of problems arising from the alienation of the individual by industrialization and the omnipresent penetration of the capitalist system into our lives, which are forcing us to collectively seek solutions to survive in the so-called Anthropocene. Recognizing that we have never been more dependent on each other, yet at the same time are in danger of being ignorant of things beyond human beings and of the principles by which everything works, I feel the urge to learn more about non-human intelligences, to see things from a non-anthropocentric perspective, and to acknowledge the significance of interspecies cooperation in the post-human era, which has already revealed itself by indicating possibilities of a new order (or disorder) of resistance that has been noticed in the social movements taking place all around the recent world. By committing myself to the study of creatures distinct from me, I’m also able to be temporarily free from the world full of metaphors and interpretations, from the phantoms projected by human narcissism and blind arrogance, which makes me progressively turn to the field of bio-art.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My work focuses on exploring transient phenomena in fluid, electricity and fire, in cryptogams and microorganisms, as well as the intertransformation between different states of matter in physical and metaphysical ways. I usually experiment with analog techniques and organic materials on films (super 8mm, 16mm and 35mm) or other media, to create meditative experiences of perception in optic, sonic and haptic spaces, while looking into temporal and spatial properties inherent in things. In terms of my working method, I investigate radical and alternative processes of developing images concerning the ecological environment. Rather than artificial control, design and construction, it interests me more to set an initial condition and observe how the subject generates, evolves and organizes itself, and how new things emerge from chaos in this process. For me, artwork is evaluated by its ability to create an effect that relies mostly on intuition and instinct rather than logos and intellect, that transcends linear cultural and historical accumulation, and whether the dimension and scope of the effect is limited to a particular class, society, civilization, or even species.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
In Eastern cultures, I am greatly inspired by Junichiro Tanizaki’s aesthetics of shadows and Hiroshi Sugimoto’s study of the nature of things. Tadao Ando and Ryuichi Sakamoto, on the other hand, changed my understanding of light and sound respectively. All of them are very important in the transcendental and spiritual aspects of my work.
As for the Western, I’m influenced by Félix Guattari’s theory of ‘ecosophy’, Bergson’s notions of space-time, as well as Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception. All of their theories are transformed to my research of biochemistry and geoarchaeology. Maurice Blanchot’s novel The Last Man has also in a sense shaped the way I make art today.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being appreciated and seen by artists you admire, having conversations, connections and getting feedback with each other through your works, is one of the best things in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vimeo.com/user108886511
- Instagram: an1i.en
