Yi examines such subjects in his Truthful Fictions Series (2001-2002), a fascinating set of digitally manipulated photographs narrating a childhood he never had, deliberately revising his history. Not one to hide the artifice of his conceptual exercises, Yi chooses to cast present-day versions of his family: himself a full grown man beside one or both stony-faced elders, their combined and stately presence overfilling the roles of the staged scenario: boy reared on American rites of initiation. Providing no more than the requisite props, he depicts birthday parties, Fourth of July barbecues, Christmas festivities. He throws and catches a football out in the yard, with dad, or engrossed in discussion in the family den, tosses back cold cans of beer. He cuts birthday cake in the dining room, or receives presents wrapped in red and green, parents watching intently in both. In the latter, all three figures sit cross-legged on the floor, anchoring the sides and dominating the foreground, living room backdrop featuring a festive tree and fireplace mantle decked with greeting cards.

Characteristic of Yi’s style, the photographed details of the Truthful Fictions Series appear seamlessly blended in each image while nevertheless revealing the chasms between people, on account of their respectively separate realities both literally and figuratively constituted. Jarring disjunctions, however, rather than manifest themselves in collapses of depth, or through abrupt fissures in the fabric of the illusion, appear instead as potential discordance of expression or demeanor in relation to each scene. No celebratory joy beside the Christmas tree, for example, despite the sparkle and glitter; instead, the atmosphere remains understated, solemn, severe, or even undeveloped. On the right, parents present mute faces, while on the left, head bowed, Yi accepts a gift, his posture eternally thankful to "Santa Claus" without need of embrace. No matter how strong the family affection, each sits apart in monumental stoicism, conveying (when visible -- not always in the case of Yi) neutral features and deeply reserved emotions. Or perhaps each face simply remains blank, unable to reveal a history never experienced.

Mysoon Rizk

 

 

- Mysoon Rizk is a critic and an assitant professor of art history at University of Toledo -

 

READ a review of "Truthful Fiction" by James Auer / Art Critic at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel