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Yi Xin Tong: Award Speeches from the Anglers

I caught the biggest fish in the world.
I caught the smallest fish in the world.
I caught the longest fish in the world.
I caught the shortest fish in the world.
I caught the coolest fish in the world.
I caught the roundest fish in the world.
I caught the most ruthless fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the best flying ability in the world.
I caught the fish that enjoys life the most in the world.
I caught the ugliest fish in the world.
I caught the most beautiful fish in the world.
I caught the whitest fish in the world.
I caught the greenest fish in the world.
I caught the most colorful fish in the world.
I caught the fish that swims the fastest in the world.
I caught the fish that swims the slowest in the world.
I caught the most straightforward fish in the world.
I caught the softest fish in the world.
I caught the hardest fish in the world.
I caught the angriest fish in the world.
I caught the most common fish in the world.
I caught the rarest fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the biggest head in the world.
I caught the fish with the widest fin in the world.
I caught the fish with the most scales in the world.
I caught the fish with the sharpest teeth in the world.
I caught the fish with the most eyes in the world.
I caught the fish with the best eyesight in the world.
I caught the fish with the longest ears in the world.
I caught the fish with the most frequent excretions in the world.
I caught the fish that needs the most love in the world.
I caught the most palatable fish in the world.
I caught the most unpalatable fish in the world.
I caught the most expensive fish in the world.
I caught the cheapest fish in the world.
I caught the most diligent fish in the world.
I caught the most hardworking fish in the world.
I caught the smartest fish in the world.
I caught the most awful fish in the world.
I caught the most artistic fish in the world.
I caught the most philosophical fish in the world.
I caught the most political fish in the world.
I caught the most boring fish in the world.
I caught the funniest fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the highest moral standards in the world.
I caught the most awkward fish in the world.
I caught the most righteous fish in the world.
I caught the fish that likes music the most in the world.
I caught the fish that makes the most ripples in the world.
I caught the most perverted fish in the world.
I caught the stupidest fish in the world.
I caught the most shameful fish in the world.
I caught the kindest fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the freshest meat in the world.
I caught the fish that is the freshest meat in the world.
I caught the fish with the thickest skin in the world.
I caught the shrewdest fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the wildest imagination in the world.
I caught the most erotic fish in the world.
I caught the fish most skilled at courtship in the world.
I caught the most talented fish in the world.
I caught the fish that is the slickest talker in the world.
I caught the fish that is the best socializer in the world.
I caught the fish with the best memory in the world.
I caught the laziest fish in the world.
I caught the most tired fish in the world.
I caught the deepest fish in the world.
I caught the most outgoing fish in the world.
I caught the most deadly silent fish in the world.
I caught the bluest fish in the world.
I caught the flattest fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the most bones in the world.
I caught the most loving fish in the world.
I caught the most lovable fish in the world.
I caught the warmest fish in the world.
I caught the coldest fish in the world.
I caught the most focused fish in the world.
I caught the craziest fish in the world.
I caught the most ignorant fish in the world.
I caught the most exhausted fish in the world.
I caught the most environmentally friendly fish in the world.
I caught the happiest fish in the world.
I caught the fish of greatest suffering in the world.
I caught the most techy fish in the world.
I caught the most rational fish in the world.
I caught the most resilient fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the most complex mind in the world.
I caught the fish that can jump the highest in the world.
I caught the noblest fish in the world.
I caught the most gluttonous fish in the world.
I caught the most self-disciplined fish in the world.
I caught the fish that gets up the earliest in the world.
I caught the fish that stays up the latest in the world.
I caught the fish that looks most like a cat in the world.
I caught the fish that likes plants the most in the world.
I caught the most slippery fish in the world.
I caught the most obsessed fish in the world.
I caught the most idealistic fish in the world.
I caught the evilest fish in the world.
I caught the most elegant fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the weakest reproductive capacity in the world.
I caught the fish with the greatest diversity of genders in the world.
I caught the fish with the most pointed mouth in the world.
I caught the fish that spits out the most bubbles in the world.
I caught the most aggressive fish in the world.
I caught the most gentle fish in the world.
I caught the most agile fish in the world.
I caught the fish with the strongest curiosity in the world.
I caught the most amazing fish in the world.
I caught the heaviest fish in the world.
I caught the lightest fish in the world.
I caught the most vindictive fish in the world.
I caught the most innocent fish in the world.
I caught the thirstiest fish in the world.
I caught the most aromatic fish in the world.
I caught the most stinky fish in the world.
I caught the loneliest fish in the world.
I caught the fish most free of worldly desires in the world.
I caught the most ancient fish in the world.
I caught the most playful fish in the world.
I caught the most pathetic fish in the world.
I caught the most transparent fish in the world.
I caught the most defeated fish in the world.
I caught the most desperate fish in the world.
I caught the most helpless fish in the world.
I caught the most perfect fish in the world.
I caught the most sincere fish in the world.
I caught the most abstract fish in the world.
I caught the best fish in the world.
I caught the hardest fish to catch in the world.

*Pictures/Courtesy of Yi Xin Tong、Angler Feng Jingfan (picture 18) and Angler Guy Yoon(picture 20)

Translated from the Chinese by Sixing Xu.

Yi Xin Tong has been mediocre at sports since childhood. It was painful to not be able to run fast in elementary school, but he won championships in sit-ups and picking ping-pong balls with chopsticks. In middle school, he was still not doing well in track and field. However, he coincidentally won a runner-up in pull-ups, because a stick was installed on the pine trees in front of his house. At the time, Tong was interested in pool, but regrettably pool rooms belonged to the "three rooms and one hall" banned for students, so he didn't dare to go often. Tong was consistently not good at running in high school, vomiting after abusive long-distance runs. Thus, he was not eligible to participate in campus sports. Tong also once liked football and basketball, but vulgar sports as such required excessive physical display and competition, which he found embarrassing. In college, it was hard to pass the mandatory tai chi course, and thinking back on it still brings him a cold sweat—perhaps he has gained the essence. After graduate school, Tong went to the gym for a while to escape society. After every session, he ate good amounts of fried chicken and burgers, with the excuse of gaining mass. Unfortunately, the effect was not bad. Later, he started fishing and stopped working out. Now with fishing categorized as a sport, the tables have turned, and Tong is finally a person who is good at sports. 

Sixing Xu is an artist working with sculpture and text. She graduated from Vassar College and is currently based in Beijing.

 

平行奥运 Olympic Reveries

In tandem with the Tokyo Olympics, Heichi Magazine is hosting a parallel assembly of artist essays. Olympic Reveries emphasizes the cultural spaces opened up by sports and the illusion of spatiotemporal unity created by live broadcasts. We invited artists to extend the ideas of athleticism and national culture into their practices and speculate on real or imagined games that present values different from those of mainstream sporting events.

Published: 2021.08.01