Likeness of the Otherness

Likeness of the Otherness

Gu Zhenqing
 

Professionals see the essence while nonprofessionals see the appearance. All appearances may resemble one another; each essence is different in its own way.

Contemporary art aims at independent innovation. Homoplasy used to be one internal injury or flaw to many artists and they have been relentlessly trying their best to avoid it. However nowadays, it transforms into a lion in the way and origin of frequent traffic accident at many global art exchange live scenes. Indeed, in the international context of today, the similarity between art works and the so called "traffic collisions" are very often seen. However, China and Europe are of different historical background, ideology, as well as mode of thinking, thus, their grammar system of art ought to be diverse. Therefore, the duplication and collision of art works are often regarded as pure imitation, copycat-like culture trick or business for material gain. One argument says that under the condition of globalization, Chinese and European artists are forced to face up to the increasingly similar daily life. Although people of this contemporary time are categorized into different nations and nationalities, their ways of sensing the outside world are of no big distinction. In this case, the similarity appeared in their art works should be no longer surprising.

The tendency of cultural globalization is developing at the same time as the wave of multi-culture concept. The battle between these two has never stopped. The duplication or collision between artists' works and works of their predecessors are understandable for the similarities are merely in the form or appearance. However, if the similarities shift to grammar constructions, tones and mood, it then becomes weird and abnormal. Such artists are artists who lost their real selves. During the life of an artist, he/she has to confront with various traditions and regulations. Being constrained by the rules can only lead to mannerism. When compared with predecessors or their peers, duplication in appearance is merely of minute difference to duplication in essence for that the charm and soul of predecessors' works can never be copied.

The value of artists lies in their uniqueness. The different approach and understanding of Chinese and European artists towards the same object are necessary and obligatory. By others faults wise men correct their own. Borrowing from others is the foreplay of artists' innovation. However, it can never be taken seriously. To judge a piece of art work, we need to emphasis on artist's self innovation and the development of his/her uniqueness and his/her courage to walk out of their personal track and whether they have built up their own grammar system. Artists are people of independent nature and spirit, their works are bound to be distinct from one another.

Our friend the polish artist Katarzyna has embodied in her works a sense of delicacy and genuineness which underlines the good qualities of a European female artist. To seek for uniqueness and independent mind and her great ability of action is her logic clue for art creation. Katarzyna's miniature type of usage of paper material has shown to us her attention to details and persistent quest for the purity of language. The relatively private living room furniture of daily life are piled up, though the work of Katarzyna, to be a giant matrix of miniatures. Her arrangement of object gives us an ordered and systematic visual experience and a sense of dialectical relationship. Her unique combination of things allows us to discover spontaneously the minutest detail in everything and at the same time, to recognize the whole through observation of the part. The works of Katarzyna manifests her abstract attitude of reconstructing the world. Her grammar system is a narration which doesn't belong to any specified social context. Her mini models are elements of her individual language of this installation. Obviously, the works of Katarzyna is of great difference from the works of Chinese artists who usually seek for grand dialogue within their works but hide their language while presenting the works.

Likeness is one contemporary flaw while the seeking for otherness should be the right direction. Arts may start from between the likeness and the otherness but never lives in between. More often, arts stand up in distinct small groups and grow afterwards in general public. The whole book of art history is full of stories like this.
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Weng Fen’s Beautiful New World

By Gu Zhengqing, curator

With the rising of China, the issue of modernity has become the top priority across the country. It is, I believe, also one of the key issues the Chinese contemporary art community has to address. Nevertheless, despite a huge number of artists who like to advocate their Chinese identity, few have made any attempt to express their thoughts on this special phenomenon. Weng Fen is one of the few artists who have created many series of work to depict the changes of urban residents’ mentality as well as the discrepancy between their expectation and the reality of the society, both caused by the nation’s rapid economic development in a global setting. His works include “On the Wall” photo series (2001), “Bird’s Eye” photo series (2002), installation “Viewing Stand” (2003) and “Staring at the Sea” photo series. The photos taken by Weng Fen always leave the viewers with a complicated sensation that recedes slowly. In his works, issues of traditional and modern life, economic globalization and China’s own path, as well as the unbalanced development in the urban consumer society are intertwined in the common background of modernity. Therefore, his work brings out subtle emotions that used to hide deep in our minds, leading to strong and irresistible emotional fluctuations. We also get the feeling of becoming an integral part of the pictures: standing right behind the girls in his “On The Wall” and “Bird’s Eye” series, we are looking in the same direction at the gigantic modern cities. Instead of being in an ecstasy of delight, we, as a part of the development process toward modernization, inevitably experience a timeless solitude and great mental burden. Compared with the thin girls in the pictures, it is us that appear to be lost more deeply in a state of helplessness.

Weng Fen continues his exploration of the modernity issue by turning out new pieces of work, hoping to find a solution. His work in 2005, “Building with Eggs”, is one such attempt. This project was started at the end of 2004 and has been widely known to the Chinese art community since then. Due to the huge amount of work it requires, it was finished only recently in August, 2005. Around ten thousand chicken eggs and slightly fewer duck and quail eggs with their contents removed were used in the project to constitute an 8X4X1m miniature model city. Viewing from above, people see a complete picture taken from the image on a 50-yuan banknote. The green banknote, still in circulation now in China, shows the profiles of a worker, a peasant and an intellect in the middle of it. Like a concrete forest growing out of the banknote, the model vividly represents a typical Chinese city developing in a competitive international environment. Problems occurred frequently during the process of creation, which almost led to a complete failure several times. I believe this experience reflects the similarly unstable state of the nation’s economic and political environment. Shortly after the project started, the Chinese government was urged by the US and Europe to revaluate its RMB, triggering heated debates around the globe. In July 21, 2005, after months of pressure from the US and Europe, China scrapped the Yuan's peg to the US dollar and raised its exchange rate with the US dollar by two percent, which attracted the attention of the entire world. The project of Weng Fen, therefore, seems to be a mystical prophesy on this event in the ever-changing world. The eggs building high on top of each other are a sign of the present appreciation of RMB and the potential of further appreciation. The whole modern city in Weng’s installation finds its foundation in a banknote that symbolizes the economic basis for development. Of course, the artist did not create the project to show his anticipation of the appreciation of the currency. It is the essential relationship between the country’s rapid shift to modernization and the political and economic situation home and abroad that he is emphasizing on. The current environment is obviously the best for artists to express their ideas about the issues they are concerned with through their work. The title of the project, “Building with eggs”, has its origin from an ancient Chinese idiom that date back to the Chunqiu Period (770-476 BC), “as precarious as a pile of eggs”, meaning “in an extremely dangerous situation.” It clearly indicates the artist’s concern over the reality. Maybe he intends to imply the possible crisis caused by the appreciation of the currency in his work, as uncertainty remains throughout the whole process of creation, but we don’t know the exact answer. China’s adoption of a more flexible exchange rate regime is a proof that the interaction between art and reality, both political and economical, is not only possible, but also practical, though the artists’ understanding of the reality usually tend to be perceptual.

In spite of the coincidence with the reality, “Building with Eggs” focuses on the fast-developing city model which features the picture on a 50-yuan note. This installation, together with his other works, demonstrates his keen insight into the problems arising from China’s modernization process. Ever since the 1990s, cities across the nation have been going through large-scale construction work in order to realize modernization. City reconstruction movement has become one of the most distinctive features of the country. As large parts of old cities are being torn down, the government has to relocate a large number of city dwellers. Unfortunately, many sites of historical and cultural importance have been wiped out while people are trying to build their cities into metropolitans. After excessive reconstruction, cities lose their own features and start to look the same. Up until now, the modernization process has influenced practically every city around the country and become a part of urban life and culture. All the changes are integrated into people’s daily life and they damage the once stable social structure, leading to problems such as the widening gap between the rich and the poor as well as between the western and eastern regions. Common people, who are content with the status quo, tend to believe what the propaganda system wants them to: that they are enjoying carefree prosperity. Only when their interests are affected by city reconstruction can they realize that problems are deep-rooted in this transforming society. In fact, many problems are overshadowed by China’s long-lasting economic growth. As the price level remains stable for years, relocation has become the key issue that disturbs people’s normal life, which makes them realize all of a sudden that social changes can not be avoided, nor neglected. On the other hand, artists are sensitive enough to grasp the core of these problems and are able to stay ahead of time. Weng Fen expresses his anticipation of possible problems and his worries about modernization in his “Building with Eggs”. Every egg was first sprayed with shiny, high-luster gum to keep them from deterioration. Then they were glued on a piece of board by the gum to form models of city architecture with different shapes. The city model looks as cool and glistening as the eggs themselves under the spotlight. All the decorative eggshell “buildings” have the style of a future city conceived by the artist. It is obvious that a sacred spiritual home in a bright future is what “Building with Eggs” is trying to display. Interesting enough, this magnificent installation can be seen as a visual demonstration of the world created in “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley. Written in 1932, the novel depicted an anti-utopian World State in which residents suffered greatly. In that globalized world, babies were produced by the cloning technology and segregated into various castes once they were born. Through the use of science, babies were also conditioned to guarantee they would be happy members of the advanced society, the motto of which was “Community, Identity, Stability.” Even people of lower castes were trained to be content with their lives. After seven hours of light work, they could take drugs, indulge themselves in promiscuity and enjoy "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Each person's “happiness” was maximized as a result of their social conditioning and stunted development. Now many European scholars still believe that the prognostication made by Huxley is coming true as we can recognize so many contemporary parallels there are to the World State. Economic globalization has brought about a large number of identical modern cities where people have the same life style. Diversified and rich human culture has been seriously damaged in the “cloning” of metropolitan cities. Weng Fen’s “Building with Eggs” is the representation of a modern and globalized Chinese city desperate for economic growth and is an excellent satire of the identical urban planning of cities in China and other developing countries. As a symbol of the ever- expanding cities, the installation warns people to stay clear of blind optimism. If we don’t refrain from excessive urban construction and expansion and stop being indulged in the superficial prosperity of the “metropolises”, cities will be deprived of their culture and spirit and become as hollow as eggshells. We have to protect the tangible and intangible cultural heritage and maintain a balance between the consumption of resources and the protection of environment. Otherwise, the modernized cities we crave for will turn out to be another “Brave New World”.

The life of contemporary art lies in experimenting. “Building with Eggs” is the latest “experiment” carried out by Weng Fen’s “modern art lab”. Like a model built with toy bricks by a child, the simple yet meaningful installation reflects the unique viewpoint of the artist and his insight into social and cultural issues. As modernization is, to some extent, the origin of many economic, social and cultural problems in China. The courage Weng Fen shows when he addresses these problems through his works is an example of the artist’s rational criticism of the society and his active participation into the current social life, which is quite rare in China’s art scene now.