A spontaneous moment becomes an action figure too
John Yuyi is a Taiwanese digital visual artist who combines intimacy and sensuality with digital iconography trying to find a connection between the human and the digital world through herself and our times.
However, she stood out for an odd circumstance that happened in 2018 during a 16 hour-long flight from New York to Taipei. After leaving her seat, she went to the bathroom and took a selfie. So far nothing unusual. So many people take photos of themselves in front of the mirror, no matter if it’s in a plane bathroom. Nevertheless, what distinguishes Yuyi from the others is that she stripped off her clothes while in the toilet, and then she started to take photos of herself almost entirely nude.
“It was definitely a bit of a lightning flash moment”, she revealed. “I couldn’t sleep, so I went to wash my face and clean up a bit, and just decided to do it. After I left the toilet, I just walked back to my seat. It felt really weird like you’ve told yourself an inside joke, and you’re the only one that knows”.
In the 3 years since that spontaneous moment, the idea has evolved into a real series of shots.
“I try to take one every time I go on a plane, but sometimes I look really shitty and tired, so I don’t post those”, she confessed. “The ones people see are the good takes”. During mid-long flights, Yuyi slips into the bathroom, takes off her clothes, and uses the items she finds in the cubicle to create transgressive and ironic ‘looks’.
In one shot she looks like a mummy wrapped in toilet tissue, while in others, a paper seat protector becomes a frame for her face or her bum. In another shot, Yuyi uses paper cups on her head that appears like animal ears or horns, depending on your outlook.
“There’s only a thin plastic door between me and the other people on the plane, and when I come out (after doing it) I sit back in my seat and pretend like nothing ever happened. It’s like a joke that only I’m in on”, said John Yuyi.
Yuyi’s nude selfies have inspired a ten-inch tall action figure she designed in collaboration with artist hardleveltaro. The figure is encased in a box depicting the original selfie she was inspired by with her holding her phone while she’s naked with the paper seat protector on her bum.
“I came back to Taipei due to the pandemic and met hardleveltaro through a friend”, Yuyi said. “He’d made some weird concept action figures in the past and liked the concept of ‘Naked Selfie On Airplane’. My friend actually reminded me recently that I’d been asking where to find a manufacturer to make action figures since 2018, so I’ve had the idea in my head for a while”. And where the selfies are ephemeral and easy to delete, this new form of art etched Yuyi’s work in the physical world.
Beyond Yuyi’s selfie-taking miniature, her idea about the series has also evolved. Born out of impulse and maybe boredom, it’s now become an exploration into the relationship between space and what’s actually happening within it. The resulting images are a window into what is usually a private moment and depict the human desire to know what happens behind closed doors.
“My number one policy is to make it as quick as the time you pee, wear as little as possible to make it quicker, and don’t occupy the toilet so people have to queue!”, explained she.
Nowadays, the digital world allows us to connect people worldwide and see things from every place and perspective making it possible to break the barriers between private and the public, allowing us to even see our favorite actor or singer sitting on the toilet, including our neighbor. So, Yuyi’s toilet selfies are a good depiction of the private world (the toilet) and the desire to look into it expressed by the selfie.
Source dazeddigital.com
