玖百贰拾公斤—展览计划 (8月19)

宇文光

我去看了，小苏给我讲讲你的灯箱。。。。

MisterWood

终于听到了不同的声音。这是一个年青人的展览，当然也不会是一个很成熟的展览，大家才刚刚开始。有好的作品，也有很烂的作品。
看过现场的人能不能来谈论这些作品，批评这些作品？

苏文祥

以下是引用宇文光在2005-8-29 14:11:15的发言：
我去看了，小苏给我讲讲你的灯箱。。。。

我讲不出个啥[em21]，呵呵，你看出什么来没有？

宇文光

“艳俗”或许是关键词？我觉得有点意思。
你再讲讲吧，或者只能停留在“有点意思”这个状态？我对视觉艺术不太懂。

赵松

以下是引用宇文光在2005-8-30 15:23:09的发言：
“艳俗”或许是关键词？我觉得有点意思。
你再讲讲吧，或者只能停留在“有点意思”这个状态？我对视觉艺术不太懂。

其实也无所谓懂与不懂，只要在你的角度上说就好。那样说出来，可能比搞艺术的人更有意思也说不定。

宇文光

对作品非有必要（如评论、推荐）我也不想多说。并不是说不了，而是很费神。
我想说的是，就一个展览的标题可以说很多，对具体作品不愿多说（这我完全理解！），这是否是某种策略？

fcuk

策略我猜没那么严重，但之所以就标题说那么多，肯定是个借口吧

火嘲

柔软的温度  那中间是个什么的投影啊?

苏文祥

下面是一个蜡做的立方体，上面有强热光，透过人型的遮挡板，因此，蜡上出现一个人型的融化的一块。

苏文祥

Don’t expect warm and fuzzy feelings at curator Su Wenxiang’s ‘920 Kilograms’ exhibit, presently showing at the Doland Modern Art Museum. In fact, prepare for just the opposite. A heap of angst, a healthy degree of patience, and much, much ambiguity will undoubtedly arise during this beguiling 17-piece tour. The show’s sixteen young artists have all worked on previous projects together, with ‘920 Kilograms’ marking the third exhibit curated by twenty-six year old Su. The gentle Anhui native is pleased with the public’s perception of his work, but is also quick to deny any paltry explanations for his or any of the other collaborators’ provocative pieces.

SH Magazine: The title of the exhibit refers to the cumulative body weight of each artist. Who is the heaviest?
Su Wenxiang: Li Mu weighs the most. He’s the guy who did the ‘paranoia of a perfectionist’ video installation. He weighed in at 85 kg. Maybe he’s not such a perfectionist about regular exercise.

SH: Who came up with the ‘920 Kilograms’ concept? Why draw attention to weight?
SW: It’s funny, because it’s supposed to be a name that indicates nothing. We spent so much time trying to come up with the ‘right’ name, but realized this venture was too concrete. We were wasting energy on something meaningless when really we preferred to spend more time on our exhibits. I don’t want the audience to focus on our name, but rather on our names as artists and our pieces as art. I want to avoid a situation where people pay too much attention needlessly.

SH: Your lightbox piece, ‘How come you don’t care about my grief,’ is a photo series of a girl in various stages of intense emotion. What’s going on here? Is she in pain, grief, ecstasy, or love?
SW: Well, I love photography. I love the beauty of this model and the beauty of each picture. It is ambiguous, because I want you to interpret it as you like. Misunderstandings and reactions are intermingled. To be honest, I got the idea from an illegal pornographic website. I wanted to show how something illegal can be turned into something legal simply by labeling it as ‘art.’

SH: There seem to be quite a few pieces in this exhibit that broach controversial or potentially illegal topics, like rape, violence, and death. What message are you sending by compiling so many potentially disturbing works together?
SW: Again, I want the audience to figure out the meanings themselves. The message is in the art. Just like in theatre, the photographs of the girl tied up with blood around her leg, or the video of the girl and boyfriend fighting are both portraying theatrical atmospheres. The questions lie between what makes something real or surreal. What is the difference and who decides how we draw the line when viewing these differences?

SH: ‘920 Kilograms’ includes such a wide variety of mediums, from video and lightbox, to photography and film, even a progressively melting wax exhibit. What is your favorite material to work with?
SW: Personally, I have no favorite medium, because I don’t want to be restricted in my work. It depends on the subject. I have to choose whatever is most suitable for my project. You can see how each piece in this show is altered or affected by the materials used to create them.

SH: Like your interactive pieces, where the viewer is temporarily drawn into becoming part of the art?
SW: Exactly. In this one you become an actor involved. You break the boundary between art and viewer. I want it to challenge how my audience thinks about art. It’s not from a distance, it’s from inside.

SH: Do you have a particular favorite among the works displayed here?
SW: It’s hard to say. I like them all– that’s why I picked them. That was the easy part. I think the public really likes Ma Qiusha’s ‘Stop Motion.’ It took a lot of work for her to make. Each figure in the piece made of plastercine, making it a very intricate and impressive piece.

SH: You’re relatively young in the art world. How do you see the art scene progressing in China?
SW: I worked in Nanjing for two years at an arts center, but that city wasn’t near the caliber of Shanghai. This is a city rich with resources and capital, resulting in an art atmosphere that’s better than almost everywhere else. There are opportunities. Many young artists share a similar idea in their art and creation. We are much more opinionated here than elsewhere. I believe Shanghai is the most promising art center in the country.

SH: Has your work been shown outside China?
SW: Yes. I was in Poznan, Poland and Hanover, Germany in the spring. I was participating in this show called ‘Back into the Future.’

SH: What’s next on tap for you after the exhibit closes in mid-September?
SW: There is a show in Zendai’s MoMA called ‘Asian Traffic’ coming up very soon. I’m ready to start working on it – the Zendai is an amazing space with so much potential.