Juntao Yang is a scholar, critic, and artist.
Yang's critical writings and artistic practices focus on the traces of micro-power operations within visual and material culture, the visible and invisible conflicts of daily existence, and the organization and fluidity of power proxies. Yang is committed to mobilizing Speech—at times hysterically—to counteract the silent power of ideology and pervasive political apathy. Current research focuses on planetary cinema and geological thinking, as well as the media of toxicity and catastrophe. Yang is based in Brooklyn and Nanjing.
Yang's critical writings and artistic practices focus on the traces of micro-power operations within visual and material culture, the visible and invisible conflicts of daily existence, and the organization and fluidity of power proxies. Yang is committed to mobilizing Speech—at times hysterically—to counteract the silent power of ideology and pervasive political apathy. Current research focuses on planetary cinema and geological thinking, as well as the media of toxicity and catastrophe. Yang is based in Brooklyn and Nanjing.
Education
PhD in Film and Media Studies, California University, Berkeley, United States, Present
MA in Film and Media Studies ( Emergent Media Studies ), Columbia University, United States, 2024-2026
BA in Drama and Film-and-Television Literature, Wuhan University, China, 2020-2024
Institutes
Summer Institute, "Media Aesthetics VII: Excluded Media", Northwestern University, School of Communication, 2025
With: Michael B. Gillespie, Cait McKinney, Kartik Nair, Genevieve Yue, Michael Metzger, Dilip Gaonkar
Summer Institute, "Chinese Cinema: Histories, Methods and Ecologies", Xiamen University, School of Film, 2024
With: Peggy Chiao, Law Kar, Daoxin Li, Gang Luo, Kenny Ng, Yng-ruey Jiing, Wai Siam Hee, Chong Keat Aun
Creative Camp, "Inspiration Booster" (8th Edition), XLY MoMA, 2024
With: Xu liaoyuan
Awards & Honors
Urbanism/Geography/Architecture SIG Travel Award, Society for Cinema and Media Studies, 2026
PAMLA Graduate Student Scholarship, Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association 2025 Conference, 2025
Best Short Film Award & Best Editing Award for Light and Cold Conversations: Atlantic, Algorithms and Visibility, Perfect Tense Short Film Festival in 20th Anniversary Celebration of the School of Communication, Fujian Normal University, 2024
First Prize for Paper, The 1st "Outstanding Academic Paper Award for China Eastern Media Art", 2024
Third Prize for Paper, The 6th 'Wang Guangqi Cup' National College Student Paper Competition in Art Disciplines, 2024
Third Prize for Conference Paper, The 5th China-ASEAN University Postgraduate Forum on Art, 2024
Film & Media Studies Program Scholarship, School of the Arts, Columbia University, 2024
Honor for Outstanding Participants, "Chinese Cinema: Histories, Methods and Ecologies" Summer School, School of Film, Xiamen University, 2024
Accommodation Scholarship, Duemila30 International Film Festival, 2024
Best Experimental Film (Kurt Kren’s Scratched Glasses) for Light and Cold Conversations: Atlantic, Algorithms and Visibility, International Film Festival of Audiovisual Theory Students, 2023
Best Experimental Short Film Nomination for Light and Cold Conversations: Atlantic, Algorithms and Visibility, Ningbo Short Film Festival, 2023
Honourable Mention for Light and Cold Conversations: Atlantic, Algorithms and Visibility, Varsity Film Expo, 2023
Exhibitions (selection)
The Great Rupture: Archaeology of the Apocalyptic Future, Central Art Museum, Hangzhou, 2025
City in the Mirror: The Creative Narratives of AIGC's Future Imagery, Center for Digital Innovation and Humanities Education, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, 2025
Notes, solitude or the canceled, Blanchot airdrops through the wavy lines that advance in parallel, Cooling Gallery, Nanjing, China, 2024
Perceiving: The Body of Group Ritual, and the Resonant Memories, Acute Angle Gallery, Guangzhou, China, 2024
Synthetic Wilderness, John Molly Gallery, New York, USA, 2024
Parallel and Intersection, In Gallery, Taiyuan, China, 2024
Random Inspection, Tang Museum · Project Z, Dongguan, China, 2024
Beyond System, Arbre Art Centre, Shenzhen, China, 2024
Unclaasifiable, New Bridge Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2024
Self, as the Narrated, as the Others, Assorted Objects Experimental Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2024
Flow Landscape, H&Art Gallery, Shenyang, China, 2024
Conflicts Within and Without, SNAP, Shanghai, China, 2024
Mending Nature, Kongshan Art Gallery, Hangzhou, China, 2024
2024 Nanjing D9Lock Art Festival: Fusion, Harmony, Coexistence, Growth, D9Lock, Nanjing, China, 2024
Within Iceless Age, theBlanc, New York, USA, 2024
Immersion, Lockwood Annexe 5, Goldsmiths, London, UK, 2024
Silent Field, Dongshengli NO.13, Suzhou, China, 2024
GOOGOL, Online ( Powerer by New Art City ), 2024
The Logic of Sensation, Ivory Gate Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2024
Language Babel, Art Lift Art Space, Shenyang, China, 2024
Together For Future, Atom Space, SeeDliNG Fair, Shenzhen, China, 2024
The Realm of Time and Space, Qingdao Art Museum, Qingdao, China, 2024
Wuer · Fun · Concept Exhibition, InnovArt Space, Pazhou, China, 2024
Code Reconstruction: Artistic Exploration in the Age of AIGC, Art Museum of Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, Shenyang, China, 2024
Wonde Room: Art Exploration in the Web3, Metaverse, and AIGC Era, Advance Art Museum, Changsha, China, 2023
Migratory Bird 300, Zone out Space 2.0, Aranya Theatre Festival, Qinhuangdao, China, 2023
The Atmosphere of Growing Art, Line Stones Gallery, Jingdezhen, China, 2023
De wereld Wat Met Handvat getembi Ik? – Rituals, Oracles, and Artistic spirit mediums
, 798CUBE, Beijing, China, 2023
Luohu Shenzhen-Hongkong Culture Festival, Line Stones Gallery, Jingdezhen, 2023
Cold and Light Conversation: Agency and Technology, Imaginary Z, Hangzhou, China, 2023
Plant-generated Images, Wuhan Photography Art Centre, Wuhan, China, 2023
Under the Current: The Hidden World in the Surface Water, HEZUO SPACE, Shenyang, China, 2023
Doves and Magpies Sharing a Nest, The Forge Art Gallery, London, UK, 2023
AI & NI, 4C Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 2023
Film Festivals (selection)
FESTIVAL ANGAELICA, USA, 2025 - Official Selection
Kuala Lumpur International Film Awards, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2025 - Official Selection
Unfolding Dreams Cinema Showcase, Chengdu, China, 2024 - Official Selection
Perfect Tense Short Film Festival in 20th Anniversary Celebration of the School of Communication, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China, 2024 - Best Short Film Award & Best Editing Award
MUST Chinese Youth Film Festival and Golden Rooster Film Exhibition (Macao), Macao, China, 2024 - Official Selection
British University International Students Film Festival, New Cairo, Egypt, 2024 - Official Selection
La Sur Real Film Festival, Berlin, German, 2024 - Official Selection
Origin Western Film Festival, Xi'an, China, 2024 - Official Selection
Beijing International Film Festival · Beijing College Student Film Festival, Beijing, China, 2024 - Official Selection
Duemila30 International Film Festival, Milan, Italy, 2024 - Official Selection
Frome International Climate Film Festival, Frome, UK, 2024 - Official Selection
International Film Festival of Audiovisual Theory Students, Prague, Czech, 2023 - Best Experimental Film (Kurt Kren’s Scratched Glasses)
Varsity Film Expo, Nairobi, Kenya, 2023 - Honourable Mention
International Alternative Media Film Festival, Mexico City, Mexico, 2023 - Official Selection
AIU Kuwait International Film Festival, Jahra, Kuwait, 2023 - Official Selection
Ningbo Short Film Festival, Ningbo, China, 2023 - Best Experimental Short Film Nomination
Xi Ying Light My Fire Young Film Festival, Xi'an, China, 2023 - Official Selection
HiShorts! Film Festival, Xiamen, China, 2023 - Official Selection
Screenings
Cinema Town No.56 Screening Event "System Inertia", @411, Hangzhou, China, 2025
Curated Short Film Program, La Sur Real: Edition IV, Lakeside Film Festival, Berlin, German, 2025
"Memorias ocultas: territorios y cuerpos que gritan", "Entre los seres y la tierra, fuego"Seis cortometrajes, Faculty of Arts of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia, 2025
"Multi-screen Images" Short Film Theme Screening, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China, 2025
Wuhan University Graduate Student Academic Science and Technology Festival “Distorted Imagination: Technological Rethinking under the Annotation of Cinema”, School of Arts, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, 2024
Experimental Film Night, The Delta INST + GODOWN, Hangzhou, China, 2024
ONED Film Festival China Touring Screening Program, Lanzhou / Suzhou / Shanghai / Tianjin / Yangshuo / Yichang / Chengdu, China, 2024
The 8th abC Art Book Fair, OōEli, Hangzhou, China, 2a023
Jetty Screening, Dali, China, 2023
C-POP Theatre, Beijing, China, 2023
Residencies
East Coast Asian Americans Student Union (ECAASU), remote, United States | 2025/09 - 2026/05
Nanshan Artist Community, Chongqing, China | 2024/5/25 - 2024/6/14
Migratory Bird 300, Aranya Theatre Festival, Qinhuangdao, China | 2023/6/8 - 2023/6/21
Teaching Experience
All Rights Reserved © Juntao Yang
Instructor (Self-Designed Course), Introduction to Media Theory, Ferryman Education, 2026
Instructor (Self-Designed Course), Texture of the Earth and Skin We're In: Geological Thinking, Anthropocene Cinema, and the Imaginations Beyond Humanbeing, Radiance Academy, 2024 (High School & Undergraduate Levels, Syllabus)
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Cultural Studies (Instructor: Prof. Song Li), Wuhan University, 2023
Coverage
"Fracture Nodes of Circular Narrative: A Curator's Note on 'The Great Rupture' and the First Anniversary of Fredric Jameson's Passing", Dongkun Lyu, Central Art Museum, 2025
"Independent Artists, in Nanjing", Nanjing Cultural Life Guide, 2023
"AI & NI", 4C Gallery, 2023
"A Cry from Western China: Light My Fire", UCFC, 2023
"Experiment and Creativity: A Conversation with Three Young Filmmakers", Lang Move Movies, 2023
"Plant-generated Images", Qianhao Shao, Wuhan Photography Art Centre, 2023
All Rights Reserved © Juntao Yang