It is not unexpected for YANG Zhenzhong’s video art to contain manipulated images and motions of the famous Shanghai cityscape. This theme is most apparent in his works Let’s Puff and Light and Easy. In Na Xiong Na Er, YANG has not only once again manipulated our perception of city space, but also rid it of its innocence. In the video one follows a camera as it moves, at varying paces, up and down popular Shanghai skyscrapers. The camera is natural and unfocused, relevant to the overall theme of intercourse. The motion of the camera is juxtaposed to the sound of a woman moaning in the process of sex. As the woman’s voice gets faster and slower so does the motion of the camera on each building. The film finishes and the woman’s climax is illustrated with fireworks. Na Xiong Na Er, while admittedly humorous, is much more than simply a metaphor for sex or even male and female roles, as we saw in his 922 Rice Corns. Instead, this film accentuates the overpoweringly masculine traits of the modern skyline. The title itself translates to mean “that masculine power there”; that is to say that each building is, while also a blatant phallic symbol, also a form of masculine power.
Richelle Simon in July 2013
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