Our inaugural publication spans a decade of resilient artists and collectives in, around, and about China and the greater Sinosphere. Composed of essays, images, conversations, and projects, Shifting the Angle of Shine documents innovative tactics of artists and collectives as they weave relationships of mutuality and solidarity to thrive through the cracks.

Shifting the Angle of Shine explores how artists experiment with practices ranging from idiosyncratic business models to counterfeit and mimicry as tools for cultural change, from DIY collectives searching for stability to artists developing new ways to dance around the restrictive pressures of a capitalistic mainstream, and much more. In bringing these artists together to speak and lay compiled in this book, we ask ourselves: what kind of spaces are necessary to incubate productive conversations in an art world prone to creating destabilizing conditions?

Spanning our art nonprofit's decade of existence, a lot of our work has been documented in fragmented ways over the internet, on social media accounts, and in the memories of those there in person. Through materializing this project, we hope to not only shine light on the work of some artists and collectives we admire, but also to archive their stories, processes, and methodologies that should be passed on.

This limited edition is an exclusive launch with no planned reprints! Check out our Kickstarter for updates!

What is the Sinosphere?

We understand that "Chinese" is a continuously contested category with vast geographical, linguistic, ethnic, religious, class, and ideological differences under this unwieldy umbrella. We all have varied and complex personal and familial migration stories, and we believe that in making room multiplicity the most fruitful conversations and connections are made. By using the term “Sinosphere” we hope to spark discussions that are border and nation state critical.

We are very excited to announce that our book can now be purchased online HERE

You can also find copies of the book at these places:
(Limited copies, availability subject to change)

CCA (Montreal, Canada)
Giselle (Marseilles, France)
Bungee Space (New York)
Room of Ones Own Books (Madison, Wisconsin)
Postpost (Beijing, China)
Wujin (Beijing, China)
dv (Suzhou, China)

Shifting the Angle of Shine is built from the brilliant work of many artists and researchers. At yáo collaborative we are W.A.G.E certified and committed to compensating artists fairly for their labor, including paying our contributors for this book.

Some of our contributors include:

The research duo Shanzhai Lyric on counterfeit fashion, mimicry, and the poetic world of experimental English

Images from the queer sewing collective NZTT Sewing Co-op 女子天团

Shanghai Community Radio and Hong Kong Community Radio in exchange about the development of DIY music scenes

Johann Diedrick, Viola He and Roslyn Orlando Moir on computer ears, white ears, and who wants to be heard

Artist Amy Suo Wu on the art of secret messages in steganography

Gendai and Rania Ho on storefronts as idiosyncratic business models and the slippery slope of institutionalization

Solveig Suess with a poetic essay and film stills on the slippery sinews of Chinese infrastructure

Black Window Collective and Clarissa Lim Kye Lee on friendship and third spaces

Artist duo Image Acts on surveillance, sousveillance, and the documentary form

Vishal Kumaraswamy on access to tools of emancipation within Dalit communities

Peng Zuqiang on the traces of Chinese migration following agriculture and 5-G technology

Archival interviews with the collectives Soeng Joeng Toi and HB Station Contemporary Art Research Centre

Our Designers:
Designed and produced by the incredible design duo Pianpian He and Max Harvey who have been creating beautiful, attentive work since 2015.

Pianpian and Max sail against usual patterns of promotion and fast consumption, making modest but long-lasting design works and collectibles. By designing books they create spaces for narratives that can be exchanged by hand and carried far and wide.

Thank you to all of our Kickstarter backers that brought this project to life!

Tiffany Yau
Nicolette Robichaud-Carew
Joy
Yuehao Jiang
Jiayu Yang
Siyu Chen
Jonathan Ling Pan
Cindy Hu
Alisa Yang
Nevin Liu
Jessie
Katelyn Bauer
Beck L
Emily Chao
Tamiko Beyer
Alison M. Friedman
Xiaowei Wang
Addy Latifulina
Grace En-yi Ting
Yutong Lin
Christiana Chae
Charis P
Zara Arshad
Ivan Contreras
Edward Sanderson
Hung Tseng & Reimin Kwauk
Caroline Rothstein
Asia Art Archive in America
Ren Su
Christian Hansen
Jennifer Jin
Joe Tokumasu Field
Roopa Vasudevan
Cindy Gao
Richelle
Heidi Ratanavanich
Maya Rudolph
Maian
Ariel Herman