Critical Writing Index

Practical Dreamers: Conversations with Movie Artists

by Mike Hoolboom

Coach House Books, 2008

ISBN 1 55245 200 X

Mike Hoolboom interviews Canadian-born video artist Wayne Yung about how he became an artist, what brought him to leave Canada, and what kind of responsibilities he feels towards representing gay Asian subjectivities in his work. In response, Yung discusses the history of representations of gay Asian men on screen and the role it plays in the politics of his work today.

Yung speaks of his shift away from this topic since his relocation to Germany and an intentional focus on the production of dialogue between artist and audience through video art.

Hoolboom and Yung discuss the latter's emergence into the art scene by tackling topics of HIV and queer relationships in his work from his native Vancouver and how the interaction between these two issues has changed globally since the 1990s.

Yung talks about how languages (Cantonese, English, French, German) and non-linguistic thought processes play a large role in his artistic practice by discussing various works.

Hoolboom inquires about Yung's continuous engagement with the intersections between art, politics, the personal, and the private, and the ways in which these are productive for the artist's developing practice.

ITEM 2008.194 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Lotus SistersWayne Yung

Peter Fucking Wayne Fucking PeterWayne Yung

My German BoyfriendWayne Yung

One Night in HeavenWayne Yung

Search EngineWayne Yung

The Queen's CantoneseWayne Yung

Davie Street BluesWayne Yung

Miss PopularityWayne Yung

Field Guide to Western WildflowersWayne Yung