i am Kiam

In Oriental Flavor, the artist takes a bath in 44 packs of the popular brand of Maruchan 'Oriental Flavor' instant ramen noodles. Visitors who need to use the restroom are confronted with the performance, and are invited to participate by pouring a variety of condiments (ramen noodle flavor packs, sesame oil, sriracha sauce, and garlic-ginger oil) into the bath or onto the artist. 

Lee Yongbaek, Angel Soldier, and other works. 2011

DAMN IT! He's doing what I'm trying to do with my Camouflage pieces, but bigger and already established. 

Back to recontextualizing my work.

Grrrrrrr. 

Most time I photograph people in their own environments because it is personal, familiar, and comfortable for them. For me as a photographer, the situation becomes rather peculiar, intimate, and doubtful. Once I achieve the trust of the model, I can feel their energy and their desire to be seen and be explored but at the same time still reserve some for themselves. It is in those Almost Naked moments that my subjects are the most exquisite, when things occur, and what generally is not displayed initially in public is exposed. - SHEN WEI in conversation with JOERG COLBERG

SHEN WEI is a Chinese photographer who explores the intimate life of his subject through portraiture, landscape and still life. By intertwining the three genresWEI produces a unique and sensitive perspective of his homeland.

Born and raised in Shanghai, SHEN WEI currently lives and works in New York City. His first monograph titled Chinese Sentiment has been released by Charles Lane Press in New York last year.

Save the date: his new solo exhibition will be on view at Light Work, an artist-run, non-profit photography and digital media center in Syracuse, NY from November 05 to December 14, 2012 (opening: Thursday, November 8, 5-7pm).

via We Find Wildness

Nikki S. Lee

(born Lee Seung-Hee, 1970, Korea) in her Projects, in which she spent several weeks assimilating into a cultural group and has someone take her photo within the group.  Her identities in these projects traverses age, race, and social classes.

pictured here: The Ohio Project, The Stripper Project, The Lesbian Project, The Tourist Project, The Hispanic Project, The Hip Hop Project.

Tseng Kwong Chi

Tseng's self-portraiture skirst along the border between serious and humorous.  His cheap Mao outfit was bought from a thrift store to wear to a dinner with his sister and mother. 

In his portrait series, he poses in front of famous Western tourist spots. He also impersonated a foreign dignitary and was able to weasel himself to rub shoulders among rich and famous figures.  

In his later work, arguably more contemplative and perhaps influenced by his HIV+ diagnosis, his human figure begins to fall away from the frame, taking up less space and attention, making room for the natural scenery and landscape. 

Tseng Kwong Chi, photographer, performance artist, Keith Harring's main photographer.  Born in Hong Kong and lived in Canada and studied in Paris, died of AIDS complications in 1990.

Kwong Chi developed an artistic persona in the late 1970's as a kind of Chinese Communist dignitary complete with the classic Mao Tse-Tung suite, dark eyeglasses and a tag stamped "SlutforArt" (first user of hashtag, perhaps?)

Many of his photographs are deliberately composed in the heroic Maoist Cultural Revolution style.  His hand is stuck cavalierly in his pocket, and deliberately includes the camera's cable release in the frame...