Hugo Glendinning says:

"[I was] Surprised to find that this image I made for Candoco Dance Company has been deemed offensive and unpleasant. I am happy to defend it and the company love it."

More Hugo here.

Momentum Biennial

The following was posted on www.wooloo.org:

"We [Wooloo] just returned from the opening weekend of the Momentum Biennial, held in Moss, Norway. Wooloo was presenting our work "Two Years' Untouched Garden" - a proposal to leave the garden outside one of the main exhibition venues fallow for two years, from this biennial until the opening of the next in 2013.

However, the very thought of this experiment has caused intense debate and protests in local Norwegian media, which has now resulted in a political decision to ban our work."

The grass outside the historical villa at Gallery F15 will continue to be cut each Friday.

Deleuze on interviews.

Hello Everyone,

I have been looking at Deleuze's Dialogues II and it is interesting, because it was supposed to be part of a series of interviews, but he refused to be interviewed and looked at a situation of a dialogue instead. Here is what he has to say:

"The art of constructing a problem is very important: you invent a problem, a problem position, before finding a solution. None of this happens in an interview, a conversation, a discussion. Even reflection, whether it's alone, between two or more is not enough. Above all, not reflection. Objections are even worse. every time someone someone puts an objection I want to say 'OK, OK, let's go on to something else'. Objections have never contributed anything. It is the same when I am asked a general question. The aim is not to answer the question, it's to get out, to get out of it."

I look forward to seeing Xinyi's and Susanne's texts on the blog. Me and Xinyihad a very inspiring talk in London and he's project is super interesting!!!

best/p

An interview with the artist Gao Fuyan

Time: 11:30am, December, 22, 2010,

Location: one café near the West Lake, Hangzhou

Wang Dan: I remember that your initial plan was to shoot a series of photos, and it was about people queuing up to entrance of the Expo site. The theme of the works was ‘Waiting’. Purely by chance, the plan was changed into paying attention to a dwelling slum on Tai Xing Road in Shanghai. Why did you choose that slum as your reference?

Gao Fuyan: My proposal was based on the situation, and that is why it changed completely. I used to come up with a plan first and then carry it out. But I don’t think it works well. For an example, when we play chess, we make a move and then we change our strategy before making another one. In any case, there would be a result. Though I was not sure of how my proposal would end up with, the environment and the situation where I had made the direction of my practice. I even forgot why I went to Tai Xing Road. Everything was out of my expectation.

Wang Dan: It is said that you met a peddler who sold fake Haibao near the Expo site. Then he showed you his home located in that slum.

Gao: Yes. at the beginning, I cancelled the plan Waiting because I found it quite hard to realize. The queues formed at the Expo site were far from my expectation. So I wondered around on the street and tried to find new subjects. Then I met the peddler who sold mascot Haibao, and we began to talk. Through conversations with him, I realized that not everyone was willing to support the Expo.

Dan: You mentioned in your article that people there and the whole living environment were waiting, waiting to be changed. In a sense, this went back to your initial plan again.

Gao: The first time I went there, people asked me whether I was from the Relocation Office. This implied that they had been waiting to move out for ages. In terms of general context, people are always in the position of waiting, probably for an opportunity or for a change.

Dan: When I went to Hangzhou to see your draft this summer. One photo was about a vacant room without any dwellers. This impressed me deeply. I could imagine how the house-owners’ life would look like and how anxious they might be to some extent. It is full of a sense of anxiety in the quiet atmosphere. Later, considering the censorship in the process of the works, you changed your plan. If there was no censorship, what would you do?

Gao: I would like to decorate residents’ rooms on Tai Xing Road with neon light tubes. I saw one small and extremely dirty room with all the stuffs piled up on the bed. When I saw that scene, I felt quite bitter. The owner of the room was a middle-aged bachelor in his late forties. If there was no change of my proposal, I would decorate his room. I’d like to insist on looking for other similar rooms.

Dan: Your proposal was to outline the rooms of residents living in Hangzhou by neon light tubes. Why did you change the city? Why was Hangzhou?

Gao: Actually, the difference of territory didn’t seem to be important. Using the neon light tubes to decorate the rooms was just a process that you cannot recognize directly from the works.

Dan: Was each room decorated on purpose?

Gao: Yes, some of them. Though the owners were not in the pictures, there were some objects implying the clues of their identities.

Dan: I saw the two completely different titles in your descriptions, one is Violence of Light and the other is The City Light burns me. When I saw your samples, I found that the room with the colorful neon light tubes as its decoration looked pretty stunning. However, when I saw your real works which were displayed in the light boxes, I felt another way, and my first impression was lifeless. As you said, that modern urban construction has affected people’s everyday life, and even private spaces were intervened by urban symbol, neon light. Personally, I think ‘Violence of Light’ is more appropriate for the works.

Gao: The title Violence of Light as urbanization is a kind of ‘violence’. For instance, the bachelor we mentioned before. Without fast speed urban construction, I assumed that his life wouldn’t change and have less psychological distance between society. He could not compare his situation to others who had better quality of lives. This directly caused his psychological distortion. In the series of Violence of Light, there are two pieces of works, one using red for the background while the other blue. Red and blue are actually the two most violent colors, making other colors in the room unrecognizable and vague. But they are totally different for the other two pieces of works such as yellow and orange as its background color. By looking at the two pieces, we can tell the outlook of the room to some extent. The art works have another name that is The City Light Burns me. I decided to use ‘burn‘instead of ‘lighten’ after I thought it over. ‘Burn’ gives people the image of ignition caused by human performance.

Dan: You have been talking about ‘what should artists do for the society and their related attitude? Have you ever thought about that the metro station is a closed space with constant moving people, where any eye-catching message could sink into people’s heart because of the highly concentration both on visibility and psychology. It is banal for pedestrians to wait for their trains or pass through the metro stations. So it is crucial to consider what kind of art can be presented in the particular space. And another key point is what kind of attitude can artists take. What role should an artist play?

Gao: Now I find the question ‘what could artists do for the society’ a little bit serious. Artists are actually powerless. How powerful a piece of picture could be? The audience may be touched by your works, but what can be changed after that?

Dan: What do you think that artists could use the transiting public space like metro stations. What can they do for the public? Or could something improve the environment?

Gao: There are advertisements everywhere in the metro stations. When passengers have nothing to do in their short itineraries, they will stare at these advertisements. And then they might accept advertisement actively or passively and resonate in some way. For instance, we see a set of tableware in an advertisement, it leaves an impression on us if we like it and later this impression will lead us to buy it. There was one of my colleague who didn’t know that I made an exhibition in that corridor. When he saw my works, he called me immediately and exclaimed, ‘I couldn’t believe that advertisements on the light boxes now have such effects!’ When he saw my rainbow works, he even started to take pictures. Naturally, he considered them as commercial advertisements, and that was exactly the way he treated them. Later, he did not realize the art works until he saw my name on the label.

Dan: I have talked to Lorenzo Fusi, the curator of Liverpool Biennale, about labeling the public art works. He thought that we should not urge to label art works. Instead, we can introduce the works through media, such as the internet, newspaper and etc.

Gao: I couldn’t agree more. When art works are displayed in the public space, they do not exist for an exhibition any more. Art just like statues in cities actually play some role in the public space.

Dan: While interviewing other artists, you have also mentioned something about the method of contemporary art practices. It was said that a process of experiencing, observing and researching. Then it goes back to the issue when art take place in the public space, there exist three kinds of relationships: artists’ works, the government’s requirements and the aesthetic demands of ordinary people. How do you order three relationships?

Gao: In my opinion, the first and foremost thing is to focus on the audiences. Take an inappropriate example, how can public toilet be categorized? It is extremely private, but also in the public space. In the public realm, artists should take many issues into consideration.

Dan: There is a mediating process. Artists should not make art only serving for audience’s preferences. Instead, they should keep their own ideas at the same time.

Gao: I think it demands a great deal of intelligence. For example, when an artist wants to criticize something, he may use ‘compliment’ in place of the critical language in order to make itself ‘ashamed’.

Dan: So what kind of artistic context do you think is appropriate for public space?

Gao: This is also the toughest part in my own practice. I am always thinking about non-gallery institutional context. Some artists never think about this, their approach is more random. But for me, I would consider how to accord with this kind of context. Actually, I am still focusing on people from other provinces. For instance, there’s one blue colored piece of works, photographing an out-comer who made steamed bread, and another red colored one, picturing the room of a fortune teller.

Dan: If it not for censoring, would your approach still go that slum?

Gao: Yes, I would use my original plan-outlining their rooms with light tubes and making the works rainbow colored.

Dan: Personally, I do not think that public art works as city ornaments or displays near the buildings. They have their own meaning, which can arouse the audiences’ resonance towards society.

艺术家高芙雁的访谈

时间：上午11点30分，12月22日 2010

地点：西子湖畔的一家咖啡馆内

汪单：我记得你最初的方案是拍一组世博会排队的场景，作品的主题是关于“等待”，后来因为一次偶然机会，方案变成了关注上海泰兴路上的一个贫民居住区。当时是什么让你决定将贫民区的生活作为创作根源的呢？

高芙雁：我是根据当时的状态来决定方案的，所以变化就比较大。以前我是先想好一个方案，然后再实施。但我觉得这样不太好，就像下棋一样，每下一子，就要改变对策，但最终还是会有一个结果。虽然我不知道我的方案最后会是什么样子，但是当时所处的环境和我自身的状态决定了作品的方向。我甚至都不记得因为什么原因去了泰兴路，所有的一切都在我的意料之外。

汪单：据说你在世博会附近遇到过一个卖假海宝的小贩，是他带你去泰兴路（小贩的住所位于泰兴路）的吗？

高：对。当初我把“等待”的方案取消是因为我觉得这个方案很难实现。世博现场的长队和我想象中的根本不一样，所以我就去街上寻找灵感，后来就碰到了那个卖海宝的人。在和他交流的过程中，我发现不是每一个人都支持世博会的。

单：你在文章中谈到贫民区那里的环境和人都处于一种等待的状态，等待着被改变，这又回到你最初的设想上去了。

高：我第一次到那里去的时候，那里的人问我是不是拆迁办的工作人员？原来他们一直在等待着拆迁。其实人永远是处于一种等待的状态，可能是在等待一个机会，也可能是在等待一次改变。

单：今年夏天我到杭州来看你的小稿，看到了一间间空无一人的房间。当时给我的印象就很深刻，我可以想象主人们的生活和内心的焦虑。在那样安静的环境下，有一种不安的情绪在扩散着。但是后来考虑到作品的审核问题，你改变了方案。如果不是因为审核，你会怎么做？

高：我会用霓虹灯去布置泰兴路居民的房间。但霓虹灯不会像之前那样布置。我看到过一间特别脏的小房间，房间里所有的东西都堆在了床上。这样的场景，让我感觉很辛酸。房间的主人是一位近五十岁的单身中年男子。如果没有改变方案，我想我应该会去布置像他那样的房间，我还会去找类似这样的房间。

单：你之前的方案是用霓虹灯管勾勒房间，而且房间是杭州百姓家的，你当时是怎么想的，为什么选择杭州的房子？

高：其实地域性已经没有那么重要了。我用霓虹灯去布置一个个房间，这是一个过程。但你从作品里面，是看不到这个过程的。

单：每一个房间是不是都精心布置过？

高：有一些是的。我在想虽然房子的主人不在，但是有一些物件可以是线索，代表了主人的身份。

单：我看到你作品的阐述里有两个题目，一个是《光的暴力》，还有一个是《都市之光点燃了我》，两个题目大相径庭。当我看到你的小稿时，觉得五颜六色的霓虹灯装点了房间，很漂亮。但是看到了放大的作品，感觉就不同了。特别是一些冷色调的作品，我感到了一种毫无生机的无力感。就像你提到现代化的城市建设影响到人的生活，就连私人的空间也被带有城市符号的霓虹灯所介入。我个人觉得主题更接近于《光的暴力》。

高：我的题目叫《光的暴力》，因为城市化是一种“暴力”。比如说，我们前面谈到的那个单身男人，如果没有城市化，他可能就没有心理落差。但是因为高速的城市化，别人的生活飞速提高，而他的生活依然在原地踏步，这造成了他心理上的扭曲。《光的暴力》这一系列中有两件作品，一件背景是红色的，另一件是蓝色的。红和蓝这两种颜色其实是最暴力的，它们把房间里其它的颜色都“吃掉”了。但是黄色和橙色背景的两件作品就不一样了，这两件作品相对还是可以看出房间原来的样子。这一系列还有一个名字叫做《都市之光点燃了我》，我当时考虑是用“点燃”而不是“点亮”，这也是经过反复推敲的。“点燃”是燃烧的感觉，是人为的作用！

单：你一直在故事里谈到“艺术家如何关注社会，持什么样的态度？”你有没有想到，地铁是一个人流汇集，封闭的场所。在这样的场所，任何醒目的信息都会渗入人心。因为人们的精神和视觉更集中，长时间的等车、行走都是很无聊的。所以在地铁里放什么样的艺术作品就得很慎重，艺术家持什么样的态度就很关键。你认为艺术家应该担当什么样的角色？

高：我现在觉得“艺术家能为社会做什么？”这个问题有点较劲。艺术家的力量实在是太弱了。一张照片的力量能有多少？观众被你的作品感动过后，又能怎么样呢？

单：像地铁这样一个信息快速流动的场所，你觉得艺术家是否可以借助这样的平台，为百姓做点什么？或许是在文化的提升上？

高：地铁里都是广告。当行人在地铁里无事可做时，眼睛就盯着广告看。看着看着，可能会觉得这个广告自己挺喜欢。无论是主动或是被动地接受，这个时候多少会有一点共鸣。比如说，在广告中看到一件餐具，如果喜欢就在心里面会烙下了一个印记，暗示自己去买。我有一个同事，不知道我在地铁换乘通道里做展览。他当时打电话给我时感叹道：“现在的灯箱广告竟然可以做成这样的一个效果！”他看到我七色彩虹的作品时，就开始拍照。当他脑海里还是装着广告的观念来看这一批作品时，他还是把它们当做广告，因为大家都有一种约定俗成的观念。后来他看着看着，发现我的名字在作品上边时，才意识到这不是宣传或是公益广告，而是艺术作品。

单：我就公共艺术作品标签化的问题和利物浦双年展的策展人Lorenzo Fusi谈过。他觉得作品不应该急于贴上标签。应该以其他的方式去介绍作品，比如网络宣传，或是报纸，或是其他的媒体。

高：我也这么认为。艺术作品在公共空间时，它不是一个展览。就像城市雕塑，它的目的不是展示艺术作品，而是在这个空间里起的作用。

单：你在采访其他艺术家时，也谈到了当代艺术的创作论，里面说到了艺术创作是一个体验，观察和研究的过程。然后问题就回到了当代艺术走进公共空间，里面存在三种关系：艺术家的创作，政府的要求和百姓的审美需求。你觉得这三者的顺序应该怎样摆放？

高：我觉得在公共空间里，首先要关注观众。举个不恰当的例子，比如公共厕所，它是一个什么样的空间？它既是非常隐私，又是在一个公共场所里。在公共空间，艺术家要考虑很多问题。

单：应该有一个协调的过程吧。艺术家不能只为观众的喜好做作品，还是要保留艺术家的想法。

高： 我觉得这需要智慧。比如艺术家要批评某一件事，不是用批判的语言去批判它，可能是用赞美的手法，反过来让它自己感到“羞愧”。

单：那你觉得什么样的艺术语境适合放到公共空间？

高：这个问题也是我自己在创作过程中最纠结的地方。我一直反复思考的就是一个在非美术馆体系下的语境。有些艺术家不会考虑这些问题，他们比较随性。但是我会考虑自己的作品怎样在这个语境下可以和谐。其实我当时还是想去关注外乡人。比如有一张蓝色调的作品，是拍一个做馒头的外地人。又如拍红色的那一家人，是一位外地的算命先生的房间。

单：如果不是审核的问题，你作品还是会回到泰兴路的平民窟吗？

高：对，我还是用原来的手法：去用灯管勾勒他们的房间，作品也是用七色彩虹的背景。

单：我个人觉得公共艺术绝对不是装点城市的摆设，不是配合建筑的装饰品。它们有自己的态度，可以引起观众对社会的共鸣。