Ren Hang's 'abject' photography : 'queer' bodies beyond boundaries

Abstract

This thesis studies Ren Hang’s photographs created between 2010 and 2016. Ren Hang (1987–2017) was a Chinese poet and photographer who is recognised for his explicit, provocative photography featuring youthful, naked figures in unique and fantastical compositions. His works are performatively staged with models interacting with each other, objects or animals in various urban and natural environments. Such interactions explore the intricate interrelationships between human bodies and the mutating surroundings stemming from rapid urbanisation and development. Ren Hang’s works reveal a tangible form of embodiment and affective connections with the viewers, gravitating to forging an ‘abject’ aesthetics that reinvestigates multi-faceted interconnections spanning bodily, social, species, urban and natural boundaries. The notion of ‘queer’ in this thesis explores identities and relationships beyond the strictures of sexuality and gender. It helps to expand and uncover multiple forms of (dis)identifications that reconsider the power relations between the photographic subjects in Ren Hang’s artistic practice and the dominant socio-political power in China. This study considers ways in which Ren Hang’s oeuvre provides distinctive insights into the complex power relations that revolve around individual bodies in contemporary Chinese society and how his photographic practice negotiates with the disciplinary power of the authorities amid stringent regulations and censorship.