GAO, Yang

• Program: Master’s Program
• Enrollment in: September 2024
• Directed Research: Visual Culture

Message

 For a period in my Bachelor of Fine Arts, I made paintings of maps. I was intrigued by how places come into being through mark making, and how an individual or an object lands at its various points. This interest in space and topography led me to investigate the use of blank space in manga for my undergraduate research project, tracing such practices by looking at the histories and theories in image making. I argued for a non-temporal reading of manga, focusing instead on its materiality in texture and sound-making. 

I entered GSICCS with a plan to carry out this investigation into blank space, this time with a focus on public space in Japan. However, participating in seminars and having conversations with professors and peers, alongside the sheer fascination of my everyday experience living in Tokyo, have led me to think of space in a more theoretical manner. My MA thesis aims to make sense of urban space as a spatial phenomenon, or at least to capture its occurrence, with a hope of outlining the mechanism for such occurrence. Specifically, I focus on the notion of semblance, or the reappearance of certain elements in the urban cityscape, tracing its emergence to Victorian Aestheticism and its contemporary lineage in televised sports. The discourse around Aestheticism often revolves around an investigation into the socio-historical relations of Britain at the time of industrialization and colonization, where trade with other countries, especially those in East Asian, informed domestic artistic practices. My research participates in this conversation by examining selected Aestheticist works, namely the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley, with the hope of tracing and re-theorizing how certain visual strategies come to inform a spatial sensibility. In other words, I hope to frame Aestheticism as a spatial practice, one which continues to resurge at various moments in history. 

My experience at GSICCS is largely shaped by seminars, where students share their research interests and related readings. I was often surprised and inspired not only by the materials, but more so by the conversations between our research supervisor, professors, and peers, who come from diverse academic backgrounds. Sharing my thoughts with them and hearing their feedback have helped me refine my own research, allowing me to situate my interests and questions within an intersecting network of research. The seminars have also familiarized me with academic papers in my field of study, for which I am grateful, coming from another discipline. 

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