ArtAsiaPacific: Recent pages

Live Art Hk

Debbie Poon — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:42:30 -0400

Blog/LiveArtHK

The day began with a brunch at the Pawn, co-hosted with Chambers Fine Arts of New York/Beijing. AAP’s managing editor Olivier Krischer chatted with four young Chinese artists: Guo Hongwei from China, Yu Cheng-ta from Taiwan, with Magdalen Wong and Silas Fong from Hong Kong. The artists introduced their recent projects, as well as issues such as responding to the everyday and the importance of location in their work.

Art Asia Pacific Presents Guerilla Talks At Art Hk12

Olivier Krischer — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:13:13 -0400

Blog/ArtAsiaPacificPresentsGuerillaTalksAtArtHK12

For the second year running ArtAsiaPacific presents “Guerrilla Talks” for the duration of Art HK 12 (May 17–20). Join us at the AAP booth (Z9) each afternoon between 1–4 pm for a series of back-to-back, unscripted conversations with a variety of artists, curators, museum directors, collectors and architects.

From art-world veterans to emerging talents, this year’s “Guerrilla Talks” program includes New Delhi-based sculptor Bharti Kher, Hong Kong conceptualist Lee Kit, Indonesian painter Jumaldi Alfi, Seoul-based media art duo Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries, Shanghai painter Yan Pei Ming, Indonesian performance artist Arahmaiani, and Turkish installation and video artist Vahap Avşar. Also speaking will be curators such as Shihoko Iida, who will oversee the 2013 Aichi Triennale, and museum directors, including Lars Nittve, who heads Hong Kong’s M+ Museum and Elizabeth Ann MacGregor, from the Museum of Contempoary Art, Sydney, as well as local non-profit Para/Site’s new director, Cosmin Costinas. Adding to the lineup are a new generation of collectors, such as Teho Kang from Seoul and Tetsuyuki Oishi from Tokyo.

The AAP booth has been designed by Singaporean conceptual artist Heman Chong, who has contributed 550 snapshots taken on the streets, which document the way Chong has ritualized the act of walking in his daily life. And this year we are hosting a special display of independent zines and artist publications from all over Asia for visitors to come and peruse at their leisure.

We look forward to seeing you at Art HK!

Home

Olivier Krischer — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:36:37 -0400

Field Trip New York

Olivier Krischer — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:44:25 -0400

Blog/FieldTripNewYork

April in New York was a period of transition: for museums, between the heady shows of the winter season and the summer blockbusters; for galleries between exhibitions timed to open during the Armory art fair in March, and the first edition of Frieze New York in early May. Despite what some have seen as a creeping provincialism in recent years, New York institutions are increasingly attune to—or, according to others, desperately scrambling to keep pace with—developments on the international art scene. Here’s a tour some of the artists from across Asia and the Middle East whose work was spotted at institutions big and small.

Untitled Selection Pradeep Dalal

Kathy Zhang — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:49:38 -0400

Blog/UntitledSelectionPradeepDalal

See more of Pradeep Dalal’s works here.

Staff

Elaine Ng — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:12:13 -0400

About/Staff

Editor & Publisher Elaine W. Ng

Senior Editor Don J. Cohn
Editor At Large HG Masters
Managing Editor Olivier Krischer
Reviews Editor Hanae Ko
Copy Editor Michael Lacoy, Eti Bonn-Muller
Assistant Editors Kathy Zhang, Ashley Lee
Arabic Translator Omar Khalifah
Chinese Translator Cecilia Tong
Arabic Proofreader Raeda Daboul

Art Director Danielle Huthart
Photo Editor Ann Woo
Designer Debbie Poon

EDITORIAL DESKS
Australia George Alexander
Cambodia Erin Gleeson
China (Beijing) Xenia Piëch
Hong Kong Julia Tanski-Gilbert
India (Mumbai) Ranjit Hoskote
India (New Delhi) Deeksha Nath
Indonesia Hendro Wiyanto
Japan Kenichi Kondo
Korea Jayoon Choi
Lebanon (Beirut) Nadia al-Issa
Malaysia Lena Ng
New Zealand John DiStefano
Pakistan Durriya Kazi
Philippines Marlyne Sahakian
Singapore Ho Tzu Nyen
Taiwan David Frazier
Thailand Brian Mertens
UAE (Abu Dhabi) Jessica Au
UAE (Dubai) Isabella Ellaheh Hughes
Western & Central Asia Sara Raza

Americas
Canada Lisa Cupolo
Latin America (Mexico City) Larisa Escobedo
USA (New York) Jamie Kulhanek, Paul Laster, Christopher Y. Lew
USA (Los Angeles) Jennifer S. Li
USA (San Francisco)Jessica Kraft

Europe
France (Paris) Deepak Ananth
Germany (Berlin) Astrid Mania
Spain (Madrid) Rebecca Close
Switzerland Ro King
United Kingdom (London) John Jervis

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Fatima Bhutto, Caroline Chiu, Doryun Chong, Shinyoung Chung, Andrew Cohen, Jyoti Dhar, Donald Dinwiddie, Rifky Effendy, Britta Erickson, Felicity Fenner, Gregory Galligan, Eliza Gluckman, Jonathan Goodman, Hou Hanru, Ken Johnson, Joan Kee, Cecelia Levin, Marisa Mazria-Katz, Charles Merewether, Ashley Rawlings, Hemant Sareen, Eric C. Shiner, Eugenie Tsai, Reiko Tomii, Murtaza Vali, Philippe Vergne, Farah Wardani, Chin-Chin Yap, Michael Young

Almanac Editor HG Masters

Almanac 2012 Contributors
Nadia Al-Issa, Angie Baecker, Xhingyu Chen, Heman Chong, Duygu Demir, Jyoti Dhar, Emily Eldridge, Eliskha Fialova, David Frazier, Susan Gibb, Juliana Irene-Smith, Lisa Ito, Kristine Khouri, Don Mak, Narawan Pathomvat, Ashley Rawlings, Zameene Shah, Maayan Sheleff, Ana Vukadin, Darryl Wee, Catherine Wilson

Business Manager Linda Da Cruz

Fulfillment Manager Sophie Purdy

Sculpture By Other Means

Olivier Krischer — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:40:01 -0400

Magazine/WebExclusives/SculptureByOtherMeans

This group exhibition, curated by Gabriel Ritter and featuring the artists Koki Tanaka, Masaya Chiba, Teppei Kaneuji and Yuki Kimura, examined “the ways in which a sculptural practice might be realized through various other mediums—whether it be painting, collage, photography, or video.” Building an aesthetic conversation around the boundaries of sculpture seemed applicable to any group of contemporary artworks, and I could not help wondering, “why these four artists?” Though “Sculpture By Other Means” did present an opportunity to contemplate the notion of sculpture as a medium, the exhibition was most successful in encouraging a reexamination and rediscovery of practices of four young Japanese artists.

On the ground floor were five paintings by Chiba. He paints a montage of ordinary objects such as a cantaloupe, bike, turtle, t-shirt, spoons, plants, or blocks of wood into surreal tableaus. Depictions of formless white figurines that the artist sculpted out of papier-mâché make repeated, and rather mysterious appearances throughout the works. In Chiba’s world, inanimate objects are somehow animated: a sketch of two women chatting is imposed upon a meticulously rendered still-life in Gossip (2012), and an irregular slice cut out of a whole cantaloupe in Linear Notes (2011) leaves the fruit with an odd toothless grin. In the same room were Kaneuji’s two-dimensional collages from the “Games, Dance and the Constructions” series (2011-2012), his sculptures from the “White Discharge” series (2009-2012) and Hakuchizu (2012). The vibrant and colorful stacked ready-mades of Kaneuji’s sculptures were a stark contrast to the subdued palette of Chiba’s paintings. Covered in white resin or powder, the objects in Kaneuji’s sculptures seemed almost fossilized.

Upstairs, Tanaka’s eight-channel video installation Everything is Everything (2006) shows unidentifiable figures stacking toilet paper, throwing mattresses, spanking kettles, lifting tables, and so on, intermittently interrupted by video stills of food. Humorous and playful (though at the expense of the manipulated objects), Tanaka offers a second look at the relationship between actions and objects, dismissing our preconceived boundaries between sculpture, video and even performance.

Also on the second floor, the “Post-disembodiment” series (2006) by Yuki Kimura presented an elegant counterpoint to Tanaka’s cacophonous installation. In Post-disembodiment (grain), a door-like shape has been excised from the wood-mounted, plexiglass-encased photograph of weathered patio slats. Nearby, the various layers of the excised photographic image, including the wooden base, the image itself and the plexiglass cover, have been broken down and are presented on the floor side by side. Each layer is aptly named; for example, the wood cutout is titled alter ego (door) and the plexiglass shadow (door). By doing so, Kimura’s work blurs the line between sculpture and photography, and challenges traditional notions of what photography is meant to be.

The aesthetic dialogue proposed by “Sculpture By Other Means” was ambitious, and in the hands of Ritter could have been successful as a large-scale sprawling exhibition spanning continents and decades. Yet with just four artists, the exhibition was an interesting prelude of what could be. Though the context fell short as a rigorous investigation of sculpture as a medium in contemporary art, it built curiosity and anticipation for these four artists who are somewhat new to the Korean public. And in an environment where there is still a lack of galleries dedicated to taking on the task of presenting emerging artists in a thoughtful way, “Sculpture By Other Means” was an inspiring undertaking by One and J. Gallery and a positive reminder that galleries play a crucial role in expanding the discourse and conception of contemporary art.

Naked Tour By Stuart Ringholt Mca Sydney

Elaine Ng — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:51:21 -0400

Blog/NakedTourByStuartRingholtMCASydney

I was wearing two days of stubble on my chin, a squirt of cologne and nothing else. My wife was wearing hot red lipstick, magenta nail polish on her toenails and around her neck, a pink pearl pendant suspended from a fine gold chain. It glowed against her honey-colored skin. We stood side-by-side, holding hands, naked, along with 60 other souls who had signed up for an after-hours tour of the new galleries at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). Curiously, neither of us felt any embarrassment.

Five minutes earlier we had all been standing together in the foyer of the MCA, fully clothed. Now after a mixed and frantic disrobing in a room on the second floor we shuffled unselfconsciously around Katie Peterson’s 2007 installation, Earth-Moon-Earth—a pianola playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata—in a scene that made me think of photographer Helmut Newton’s erotically charged images from the 1980s. It was a chain of thought rapidly dismissed. The evening was cool and a fearsome draft swept up the stairway from the main gallery entrance.

Field Trip Magelang

Elaine Ng — Mon, 07 May 2012 06:17:30 -0400

Blog/FieldTripMagelang

Simon Fujiwara At Tate St Ives

Olivier Krischer — Sun, 06 May 2012 00:47:16 -0400

Magazine/WebExclusives/SimonFujiwaraAtTateStIves

In one of Simon Fujiwara’s numerous autobiographical accounts, the artist recalled an encounter he had as a child with Patrick Heron’s Horizontal Stripe Painting (2012) at the opening of the Tate St Ives in 1993. He remembered being immediately transfixed by the painting’s rich colors. The experience eventually led him to make two life-changing revelations about himself: first, that he wanted to become an artist, and second, that he was gay. Almost 20 years later, Fujiwara returns to the site that was one of both afflatus and trauma to stage his first major show in the UK, titled “Since 1982”—referring to the year he was born. Comprising six new installations that feature the artist’s trademark interweaving of biography and mythology, the show is as much a glorious homecoming paean as it is a playful rearticulation of the mythologies that connect the figure of the artist to his hometown.

Autobiography of a Museum (2012), the opening work, sets the tone. Exhibited before the massive stained glass window made for the building by artist Patrick Heron, the work features an architectural model of the museum half-embedded in the sand and surrounded by framed photographs from Fujiwara’s childhood in Cornwall. The display is kitsch and deliberately contrived, but the work, like much of the artist’s attempts at self-mythologization, does not simply rest at the level of parody. The careful selection and curation of the materials, for one, suggest an earnest commitment towards a narrativization of the self. For Fujiwara, the arbitrary nature of an artist’s identity only serves to reinforce the need for him to take control of his biography, to posit a self that is as much a performance as a mode of practice and agency.

In the monumental installation, Selective Memory (2012), the artist recreates the lighthouses depicted in the paintings of Alfred Wallis, in the form of four gargantuan, clumsy-looking sculptures. It is a tribute to the amateur painter whose paintings of St Ives’ seascapes led to the migration of a number of Modernist artists to the seaside town, and eventually the founding of the St Ives school. The presence of Fujiwara’s crudely constructed sculptures within the white wall gallery appear almost accidental, mirroring the serendipitous conditions through which Wallis became the unwitting predecessor to a veritable Modernist school. Yet the tenderness of Fujiwara’s gesture is undeniable, and with that he puts forth a radical claim: as fictive as they can be, myths are part of our human condition, demanding both our investment and skepticism, to be loved and unloved.

Also memorable are Welcome to the Hotel Munber (2008–10) and The Mirror Stage (2009–12) both presented here as installations that involve reimagining the artist’s personal history. The former is a recreation of a bar that Fujiwara’s parents ran in Franco’s Spain during the 1970s. Here, the artist irreverently restages the familial space as a site of his father’s (imagined) repressed homosexuality, as evident from the abundance of homoerotic innuendo within the space, serving to reclaim the narratives of homosexuality suppressed during Franco’s regime. The Mirror Stage, on the other hand, originated from a play of the same name by Fujiwara that reenacts the artist’s formative encounter with Heron’s painting, framed through Lacan’s psychoanalytic theories. The work is re-presented here as a theatrical set consisting of Heron-inspired furnishings that dominated the artist’s bedroom as a teenager, along with the painting itself and a video of a rehearsal between Fujiwara and the child actor who plays him. This is the most fascinating piece in the show, compellingly conveying the complexities involved in the performance of identity through the artist’s negotiations with the bewildered child.

However, the show falls short whenever it deviates from its theatrical aesthetic. Rehearsal for a Reunion (with the Father of Pottery), after Bernard Leach (2011), for instance, an installation that recreates a glass-paneled display of Bernard Leach’s pottery that was once exhibited at the museum, appears strangely mute. Included in the display is a video of a conversation between Fujiwara and an actor playing his father, talking about the pots that Fujiwara and his father collaboratively made as replicas of Leach’s original wares during pottery classes taken in Japan. However, the tensions of the father-son relationship are missing from the rather clinical display. Mothers, of Invention (2012), in which Fujiwara cobbles together objects from Barbara Hepworth’s studio to create what appears like a mini-shrine to the artist, also seems weak. The assembled statue of Hepworth posing as the Virgin Mary comes across as nothing more than a deadpan spectacle, while the incorporation of works by contemporary artists Sarah Lucas and Andrea Fraser appears misplaced.

Nevertheless, on the whole, “Since 1982” lives up to its ambition to reinvigorate the discourse of identity. At a time when “performativity” has already been exhausted as a contemporary buzzword, Fujiwara’s peculiar blend of self-mythologization that at once critiques and celebrates itself offers provocative propositions on the demystified subject.

Since1982 Simon Fujiwara

Kathy Zhang — Thu, 03 May 2012 04:33:53 -0400

Magazine/WebExclusives/Since1982SimonFujiwara

In one of Simon Fujiwara’s numerous autobiographical accounts, the artist recalls an encounter he had as a child with Patrick Heron’s Horizontal Stripe Painting (2012) at the opening of the Tate St Ives in 1993. He remembers being immediately transfixed by the painting’s rich colors. The experience eventually led him to make two life-changing revelations about himself: first, that he wanted to become an artist, and second, that he was gay. Almost twenty years later, Fujiwara returns to the site that was one of both afflatus and trauma to stage his first major show in the UK, titled “Since 1982”—referring to the year he was born. Comprising six new installations that feature the artist’s trademark interweaving of biography and mythology, the show is as much a glorious homecoming paean as it is a playful rearticulation of the mythologies that connect the figure of the artist to his hometown.

Autobiography of a Museum (2012), the opening work, sets the tone. Exhibited before the massive stained glass window made for the building by artist Patrick Heron, the work features an architectural model of the museum half-embedded in the sand and surrounded by framed photographs from Fujiwara’s childhood in Cornwall. The display is kitsch and deliberately contrived, but the work, like much of the artist’s attempts at self-mythologisation, does not simply rest at the level of parody. The careful selection and curation of the materials, for one, suggest an earnest commitment towards a narrativization of the self. For Fujiwara, the arbitrary nature of an artist’s identity only serves to reinforce the need for him to take control of his biography, to posit a self that is as much a performance as a mode of practice and agency.

Also memorable are Welcome to the Hotel Munber (2008–10) and The Mirror Stage (2009–12) both presented here as installations that involve reimagining the artist’s personal history. The former is a recreation of a bar that Fujiwara’s parents ran in Franco’s Spain during the 1970s. Here, the artist irreverently restages the familial space as a site of his father’s (imagined) repressed homosexuality, as evident from the abundance of homoerotic innuendo within the space, serving to reclaim the narratives of homosexuality suppressed during Franco’s regime. The Mirror Stage, on the other hand, originated from a play of the same name by Fujiwara that reenacts the artist’s formative encounter with Heron’s painting, framed through Lacan’s psychoanalytic theories. The work is re-presented here as a theatrical set consisting of Heron-inspired furnishings that dominated the artist’s bedroom as a teenager, along with the painting itself and a video of a rehearsal between Fujiwara and the child actor who plays him. This was the most fascinating piece in the show, compellingly conveying the complexities involved in the performance of identity through the artist’s negotiations with the bewildered child.

However, the show falls short whenever it deviates from its theatrical aesthetic. Rehearsal for a Reunion (with the Father of Pottery), after Bernard Leach (2011), for instance, an installation that recreates a glass-paneled display of Bernard Leach’s pottery that was once exhibited at the museum, appears strangely mute. Included in the display is a video of a conversation between Fujiwara and an actor playing his father, talking about the pots that Fujiwara and his father collaboratively made as replicas of Leach’s original wares during pottery classes taken in Japan. However, the tensions of the father-son relationship are missing from the rather clinical display. Mothers, of Invention (2012), in which Fujiwara cobbles together objects from Barbara Hepworth’s studio to create what appears like a mini-shrine to the artist, also seemed weak. The assembled statue of Hepworth posing as the Virgin Mary comes across as nothing more than a deadpan spectacle, while the incorporation of works by contemporary artists Sarah Lucas and Andrea Fraser appears misplaced.

Nevertheless, on the whole, “Since 1982” lived up to its ambition to reinvigorate the discourse of identity. At a time when “performativity” has already been exhausted as a contemporary buzzword, Fujiwara’s peculiar blend of self-mythologisation that at once critiques and celebrates itself offers provocative propositions on the demystified subject.

Triad Engrossed

Debbie Poon — Thu, 03 May 2012 04:06:09 -0400

Blog/TriadEngrossed

Triad is an anthropology of subliminal design. Created by our designer, Debbie Poon.

Helen Koh Appointed Executive Director Of The Museum Of Chinese In America

Elaine Ng — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:11:47 -0400

News/HelenKohAppointedExecutiveDirectorOfTheMuseumOfChineseInAmerica

On April 18, Helen Koh took up her new position as executive director of the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA). Most recently, Koh led corporate relations for the Rhode Island School of Design, before which she was associate director of cultural events at the Asia Society in New York, where she also co-managed the Asian American International Film Festival.

Architect and co-chair of MOCA’s Board of Trustees, Maya Lin, said of Koh in a press release: “After an extensive national search, it was very clear that her expertise and passion for Asian studies and her vision for inventive programs and creative audience-building strategies would inspire the Board and staff as we enter the next phase of MOCA’s growth.”

Indeed, since moving to its current Maya Lin-designed location in 2009, five times the size of its previous building on 70 Mulberry Street—which now functions as MOCA’s archive and research center—the museum has consistently expanded its programming. And with a diverse professional constituency, including designers, photographers, playwrights, filmmakers, actors and musicians alongside educators and scholars, we may expect to see more contemporary art exhibitions at the institution in the future.

“It is an exciting time to be at MOCA,” declared Koh on April 25, speaking at the combined opening of MOCA’s two current exhibitions: “America through a Chinese Lens” and “June 4, 1989: Media and Mobilization Beyond Tiananmen Square.” In addition to showing historical snapshots taken by Chinese professional and amateur photographers since the 1950s, the Herb Tam-curated “America through a Chinese Lens,” has enlisted new media artist An Xiao to post photos on MOCA’s Tumblr page that the artist will take as she travels through west and southwest America. Responding to the waves of popular protest in various countries recently, the “June 4” exhibition presents a narrative of the Tiananmen protests that culminated in the bloody crackdown by authorities in June 1989, reconstructed from Chinese-American and Chinese-language periodicals in the museum’s collection.

Sky Ladder Cai Guo Qiang

Kathy Zhang — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:30:53 -0400

Magazine/WebExclusives/SkyLadderCaiGuoQiang

More than 4,500 visitors eagerly awaited the arrival of an outer-space alien to kick-off the opening of “Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder,” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) on April 7—the artist’s first exhibition in Los Angeles. The theme of the evening revolved around aliens, related to Cai’s ongoing “Project for Extraterrestrials” (1994– ), a series of 32 explosion events, playfully named to imply blasts so large they might be seen from outer space, yet also a metaphor for something uninhibited by Earthly meanings and rules. Explosions from 40,000 rockets and an additional 100 floating fireworks left smoke clouds in shapes intended to suggest crop circles and flying saucers.

Held at MOCA’s extensive warehouse space in bustling downtown Los Angeles, the giant blasts shocked bewildered bystanders, who were largely unaware of the event’s particulars due to the inaudibility of the speakers amplifying the detailed descriptions of what was about to unfold. Yet, perhaps no words could have been proper preparation for the colossal pyrotechnic display. Many at the event momentarily thought their lives were at risk, which seemed foolish later considering the battalion of fire squads and the fact that Cai has worked with explosives for three decades.

As the blasts burned out, they charred a mural along the warehouse wall, of a martian and UFOs. After the explosion event, guests were invited into the sprawling exhibition space to view three large-scale gunpowder drawings specifically commissioned for the exhibition and executed with the help of local volunteers. In addition to the drawings, a sculptural installation titled Crop Circles (2012) spanned the entire ceiling overhead, further evoking the ambience of something alien, though not ominously. The overall effect of the works was monumental yet charmingly playful.

A back room also offered four screens of video footage documenting some of Cai’s past work, which has been exhibited on every continent. Perhaps what endears Cai to each new location is the fact that he personalizes the presentation by creating a site-specific work for almost every exhibition. For example, the gunpowder drawing Childhood Spaceship (2012) includes details of Griffith Park Observatory, an iconic Los Angeles site for stargazing.

Yet the exhibition, for all of its “hits,” can also be measured by its misses. The title “Sky Ladder” harks back to a project that Cai has been attempting since 1994, in which a hot-air balloon transports a fiery ladder into the sky. This latest exhibition prompted Cai to try once again, yet due to prohibitive fire regulations in the dry desert brush terrain of Los Angeles County, his proposal was, for a fourth time, refused. In naming the entire exhibition after a repeatedly rejected, unrealized idea, Cai’s subtle but poignant message is that his determination is as steadfast as those childhood notions and fantasies that persist in society today, expressed in the ambitions of experimental scientific enquiry, for example, as much as in the speculations of science fiction enthusiasts.

The Rematch

Kathy Zhang — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:09:11 -0400

Blog/TheRematch

smARTpower, an initiative of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Bronx Museum of the Arts, is working with 15 American artists to create in situ community projects overseas, including New York-based artist Duke Riley. In Shanghai, Riley, known for his nautical performances, organized a boat race held on April 15 along the Huangpu River. Each of the dozen gondolas represented an animal from the Chinese zodiac. Local rowers, Chinese opera singers and elementary school students contributed their efforts in the racing event. Even live animals from the Zhujiajiao region were brought onto the boats.

Click the arrows on the bottom of the image to see the full slide show.

Back Issues

Debbie Poon — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:32:11 -0400

Shop/BackIssues

Some back issues (from 1993-2003) are no longer available for purchase, but PDF files from these issues are USD 5.00 per article.

Back-issue shipping information: Cost for shipping within the United States is USD 7.00 per issue. Cost for shipping to international locations is USD 15.00 per issue. Shipping for orders of more than three issues may vary—contact subscribe@aapmag.com for more information.

Payment can be made using a major credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) check or bank draft. We do not accept wire transfer payments for back issue orders. We cannot accept any international debit cards at this time.

For information on how to purchase back issues and .PDF files of past articles other than through this website, please click here.

Zh

Debbie Poon — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:39:25 -0400

Magazine/78/TheSweetAndBitterRoadMichaelRakowitz/Zh

服务生端来了一份鲜嫩的澳洲鹿肉，下面枕着一层Debes wa rashi——一种伊拉克甜点，结合了芝麻酱和枣浆，并配有石榴籽、松子和葱。这道特殊的菜肴被纽约公园大道饭店作为2011年秋季菜单中的主菜。伴随着享受美味佳肴的过程，人们会发觉盛肉的盘子竟然来自伊拉克前独裁者萨达姆侯赛因的官邸。

这个让人兴奋的（据报道为美味的）主菜由伊拉克裔美籍艺术家Michael Rakowitz和公园大道秋季行政总厨Kevin Lasko合作而成。作为2011年的项目，饭店邀请了纽约非盈利组织 “Creative Time” 为Lasko与四位当代艺术家的联合计划提供帮助，这四位艺术家会为每一季创作一道菜肴（饭店每四个月会重换并设计新菜单）。项目的最后一部分，即秋季菜单，由Rakowitz打造，名为“战利品”（Spoils），需要Lasko受伊拉克菜式的启发来创作一道菜肴。

由Rakowitz所提供做装饰用的餐具（有一些上面还印着伊拉克国家徽章）与另一套原本属于费萨尔二世（伊拉克的最后一位国王，于1958年的军事政变中被杀）的餐具一样，都是萨达姆·侯赛因一部分的个人收藏。Rakowitz在eBay上购买了这些用品：曾用于巴格达al-Salam总统府的侯赛因私人收藏的盘子，来自一位现居密歇根的伊拉克难民，也是伊拉克军品收藏者Usama Alkhazraji。费萨尔二世的Wedgewood瓷器来自一位美国士兵Lorenzo Luna，他曾效力于第四步兵团一旅，这是在2003年12月抓住伊拉克前任领导人的部队；Luna也是一位收藏家，他自称曾经在由陆军空军交易服务部组织的市集中的古董商店和伊拉克小贩那里得到其中许多的盘子。

在公园大道秋季的用晚餐的人们表现出了对于伊拉克式主菜的各种不同的反应。在“战利品”（Spoils）首展的头两周，饭店便收到了人们大量的电邮谴责这项计划。但同时，对于这道菜要需求大大增加，以至于饭店要考虑在Rakowitz最初提供的20个的基础上购买更多盘子才能够同时上菜。不无原因，饭店的许多客人尽管点了这道主菜并很喜欢，但仍然对于去消化它的历史与文化含意的理念感到不舒服。

对于艺术家来说，这种用餐经验亦属不易，艺术家告诉ArtAsiaPacific，他很难直接使用盘子吃东西。将消费者，或者他们的家人或客人的一员置于独裁者的位置才是Rakowitz所说的，“整个计划的重点：使晚餐处于一种情景中，用餐的人在道德上与伦理上都被迫选择一种身分。”他继续开玩笑地说，“我喜欢这种想法，人们非常渴望去享用他们得不到的食物，就像摩西不能够踏入应许之地一样。”

对“战利品”（Spoils）有兴趣的人并非限于从事与艺术相关的人士和饭店一流的上东区顾客们。十一月下旬，在Rakowitz 的作品面世两个月后，饭店老板收到了来自联合国的一封由美国国务院与伊拉克送交的勒令停止信，命令他们“放过”这批被视作伊拉克国宝的盘子（Rakowitz坚持声称他向两位卖家购买盘子的行为是合法交易）。虽然这封信在Rakowitz的展览原定结束日期的两天前到达，但饭店还是迅速地将其撤出了菜单。

当Rakowitz看到律师在去年十一月的感恩节转交给他的信时，他决定应该将盘子送还回国。所以早于原本打算在圣诞节后再送回，这些盘子提前在十二月中旬被遣返，与伊拉克总理Nouri al-Maliki访问华盛顿的时间一致，由于Rakowitz当时人在纽约，所以他目睹了它们被送交于伊方使节。他拍下了整个过程，因为他将这些文物归还伊拉克的过程看成是他的烹饪艺术计划精彩的结尾。对于艺术家来说，这次遣返是可能性的象征，即伊拉克渐渐结束对其存在的社会问题的系统性遗忘。艺术家希望用这些盘子来留下对过去生命的回忆，并作为一个工具使伊拉克从其悲剧般的现代历史中汲取教训。

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Debbie Poon — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:17:08 -0400

Magazine/78/Starting/Zh

今日美术馆的大型雕展“启”，向未来迈出了新的一步。两位组织者——北京画院美术馆馆长吴洪亮和策展人唐尧——在展览序言中阐释了二十一世纪初在中国当代艺术圈的高度市场化中雕塑是如何被商品化，导致其成为一种已经被潜在的边缘化的艺术形式。展览是由中国雕塑学会主办并立足于798艺术区的一系列项目，它旨在为年轻艺术家提供一个开放、创造性地平台来展现雕塑的艺术价值，从而重振三维艺术媒介。自2010年底，作为一个提供给青年雕塑家的三年艺术推广计划，雕塑学会赞助了在中国九个不同城市的展览。每一个展览都将不同种类的作品归在一些包容性的主题下，比如“身”、“戏”，和“启”，而这次的主题“启”,则在今日美术馆的两翼展出了由五十五位年轻雕塑家创作的近一百件作品。

在白色的作品中，王雷的“手工编织卫生纸第四号”（2011）尤其引人注意。作品是一个衣架，上面挂着由卫生纸织成的连衣裙、围巾、小外套、和毛衫等，每一件衣服都留有一条线连着地上的卷纸。虽然这套装置关注是编织和晾衣架这种典型的女性主题，但“手工编织”这种处理手法也可上溯到单调又被赋予所谓的“男性化”的极简主义雕塑。由于作品只有银色与白色，王雷的作品看起来十分简单朴素。衣服上垂落下来的线形成了一排清晰的线条。这种有秩序的形式似乎也传达了一种更加机械化而非手工织造的重复行为。

展览所展出的具象雕塑中，田建明的“我的老师”（2009）是一个兼具力量感与一致性的系列作品。这套由树脂做成的十三个人物，略染铜锈的青绿色，以一种传统且现实主义的手法刻画了清华大学的真实的一组教授，其中有一位是女性。他们都被赋予了一种自身所特有的具体形象和态度，比如漫不经心的抽烟，或者将双臂交叉于胸前等等。有趣的是这些人物的体积比真实尺寸要小，大概有膝盖那么高，在精致的雕塑中浓缩了他们的个人风采，是一组既优雅又可爱的人物作品。艺术家对衣服皱褶与面部表情等细节敏锐的刻画，赋予了每一位人物一种逼真的写实感，让人们不由自主地去推测这个作品背后的真实人物的性格与背景。

“启”广泛的展示了众多中国年轻雕塑家的作品。正如策展人吴洪亮所言：“凭借单一雕塑家的力量并不能吸引公众的目光，五十五个年轻艺术家共同参展，对于艺术爱好者来说更具吸引力。”鉴于中国市场化对于三维艺术形式所带来的挑战，还有艺术投资的多方向增长，这个展览无异于中国雕塑学会的宣传活动。在这种情况下，无论是从创意性还是商业理由的角度，“启”都有着十分明确的目的与方向，即在当今的媒介之战成为中国的艺术焦点。

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Debbie Poon — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:15:00 -0400

Magazine/78/ProgressPietyAndMess/Zh

“历史就是一片混乱，根本不像在书中般井井有条。”已故艺术史家Robert Rosenblum 曾这样说过。他催人入睡的音调掩盖了浩如烟海的学识，不知这位博古通今的学者会怎样看待当今更加混乱的世界，与以往相比，最主要的变化是“西方的”已经被“全球的”所取代，而历史正在被“其他的人”丰富地重写。

也许正是这种被认为是“现代主义的无疾而终”的混乱启发了 Roger Buergel，在2007年上一届文献展中，在弗里德利希阿鲁门博物馆（Museum Fridericianum）的中央楼梯上安置了保罗克利（Paul Klee）的“新天使”（Angelus Novus）（2007）。无论原作被置于怎样的光晕中出现，它都不是原作而只是一幅照片。对于那些了解的人也同样如此，虽然他们会联想到瓦尔特本雅明（Ｗalter Benjamin）在“历史哲学论纲”（Theses on the Philosophy of History）（1940）中阐释其为“历史的天使”。所以，在这个被公认为世界知识分子界最重要的当代艺术展的一开始，像原作的替身一样挂着一个复制品，仅仅再现了一幅代表着历史演进的历史性图像，就像一个哲学家在那里滔滔不绝的分析原作与复制品的意义一样。这个作品也尖锐地讽喻了这种大型展览中的艺术家个人与作品将来的命运。对我来说，我不禁想象克利的小天使喜悦的振翅在自我认同中，而艾未未的“模板” (Template) (2007) ，这个由1001个明清时期的木门堆成的美丽而荒谬的作品，在文献展开幕的第一周就被一场暴风雨破坏了，它得到了甚至远比现实世界的废墟更大的反响。确实，随着历史的演进，一个备受争议的中国艺术家当之无愧成为展览实际的焦点。

对于那些在1990年或之后创作作品的艺术家，艺术圈似乎变成一个更广阔和崭新的多元化空间。尤其是2002年由 Okwui Enwezor 策展的第十一届文献展，其展览内容从过往沉重、单调的狭隘的西方主导——正如文献展史话的电影预告片版本（包括所有的当代艺术）一样——进入了色彩鲜明的全球化背景。第十一届文献展建立在由 Catherine David 策展的1997年文献展的影响与学术严谨的基础之上，它无疑是一个分水岭，转移了权力平衡和标准视角使之远离所谓的中心。虽然如此，从过往的展览片断中，人们也可以发现零碎又多彩的细节去回顾。

以由Jan Hoet策展的1992年第九届文献展为例，Guy Brett在他发表于 Third Text 20（1992年秋季号）的展评——赶在全球双年展数量剧增前的一篇有眼光且相对时效性的文章——写道“今年的文献展或许是首次涵盖了由第一世界以外的众多艺术家作品的展览，这一改变受到人们的欢迎，其中 David Hammons说，这一点足以让这届展览称为一个‘巨大的成功’。”也许 Hammons并未想到，这次有大约十二个日裔和韩裔艺术家参展，也没想到有生于印度并享誉英国的 Anish Kapoor和 Bhupen Khakhar。他可能也不是指生于南非的Marlene Dumas（在荷兰工作十多年），还有 Ilya Kabakov（当时已搬至美国）。我猜想他一定只考虑到他的同胞，包括Jimmie Durham（当时已于墨西哥生活），塞内加尔雕塑家 Ousmane Sow，尼日利亚雕塑家Mo Edoga 和一批来自拉丁美洲现已享誉世界的艺术家：Guillermo Kuitca（阿根廷）、Eugenio Dittborn（智利）、Ricardo Brey（古巴）、Waltercio Caldas 和 CildoMeireles（巴西）。当然也有人将 Hoet 的指导性成果看作是一个更加详尽的以西方为中心的典范，但我倾向于认同 Hammons 所言：“这里已然不再是堪萨斯了。”

若深入研究以往的文献展就会发现参展者来自于世界各地。除了那些在国际展览中众所周知的东亚裔艺术家，比如菅井汲（Kumi Sugai）和野口勇（Isamu Noguchi）（第二、第三届）、大卫（David Medalla）（第五届）、小野洋子（Yoko Ono）（第五、第八届）、李禹焕（Lee Ufan）（第六届）、河原温（On Kawara）（第六、第七和第十一届）和白南准（Nam June Paik）（第六、第八届），在第二至第八届文献展的四十多位东亚裔艺术家中，我对那些并不知名的艺术家更感兴趣。当然，他们中有些人在参展时已移民到欧美等国家，但有些人仍然在自己的国家生活。我也很想了解画家 Avinash Chandra，他于印度出生在英国工作与生活，并参加了1964年的第三届文献展。另外，出现在1977年在第六届文献展的伊朗电影（Dariush Mehrjui 和 Sohrab Shahid Saless）和三次（第五、第七和第八届）参加文献展的伊朗裔美籍雕塑家 Siah Armajani 都让我抱有浓厚的兴趣。同时，在这三十年中有超过三十位拉丁美洲裔艺术家参展，这是文献展开始成为全球文化产业多元化的象征前的事，或许它早已是，只是未曾炫耀过罢了。

仅管如此，最引起我注意的的是由 Rudi Fuchs策展的第七届文献展，内容极为保守，以至于前几届的展览看起来非常国际化；这次展览还被 Benjamin Buchloh发表于 October 22（1982年秋季刊）的文章痛批为“庸见词典”。无论1982年之前的文献展是怎样的展示其“包罗万象”，Fuchs 在展览中却没有任何的借鉴。

除了Fuchs 的所作的贡献，人们会发现一位不很知名的策展人兼历史学家Manfred Schneckenburger 在1977年与1987年所做出的指导性成就。1987年的展览是Edy de Wilde 和 Harald Szeemann 离任策展人几年后较仓促举办的一次展览。难怪，在1972年由 Szeemann 策展的可谓里程碑的一届展览之后，主办方（在此指其策展策略而非所展作品）在1980年代渐渐变得阴郁甚至成为保守主义的反动堡垒，直到1982年达到最差水平。在1980年代社会政治衰退的大环境下，任何早前的多元化都会在当下的争论与突发状况中似乎都被遗忘。又难怪，智利裔艺术家 Alfredo Jarr 在1987年受第八届文献展委托所作的摄影装置1+1+1——由三个低悬的灯箱戏剧化的展示着被剪切并倒置的关于穷困孩童的照片——仿佛是旷野中的呼喊，是一个在十五年后的第十一届文献展结出充实体制果实的新兴后殖民改革的先驱。历史是一团糟，但是若从中抽丝剥茧去伪存真,你会找到确定的观点。

至今为止我们有一套公认的观念，其中褒义的部分，比如 Jens Hoffmann 在他2008年的文章“今日人类学：关于策展”中有：“直至在博物馆策展室开始讲究后殖民主义理论与身份政治的论述为止，展览中并不容易见到西欧和北美以外地区的艺术家的作品，虽然也有一小部分重要的博物馆不这么做，但一直到主要的双年展和其它大型国际组织的展览，例如在1997年和2002年的文献展，才真正开始有效地提供一个对全世界的艺术的广泛的概览。”这段文字干净利索又到位，简直可以用作课堂展示了。

然而我并不相信如通常所言多元化之不寻常，尽管对于有些作品的评价与今日不同，尤其是有些作品在今日被认为是对文化差异的自我认同。在文献展中快要被历史淹没的名字比如 Sugai、Kawara、Lee、Noguchi、Paik 等等是如何理解自己的，而其他人认为他们如何呢? 他们是什么时候参加文献展呢？我们难道应该把这些来自世界各地的艺术家的成就看作少数例外以服从于旧制度中的多数人原则?

在我所见过的对大型全球性展览最有力和中肯的评论中，Pascal Gielen在他写的书“众多艺术家的呢喃：全球艺术、回忆与后福特主义（2009）”中确切地提出：“大量双年展的出现建立在政治家、经理人和其他赞助者的热情上，也正是由于这些不同领域的利益让双年展变得越来越可疑。” 他继续解释为何“国际性的执行策展人——与实际的每个全球性的执行艺术演员——如此享受由今日全球化的新自由主义经济所带来的欢愉。”Gielen 道出了一个普遍存在的忧虑，并指出：“双年展，或者说双年展过分迅速的发展，几乎不再具有任何历史性；让人进行深入研究的时间更少，甚至经常忽略了本地性。”在我看来，历史的深植于特定的地理、人物和事件中，这些要点的变化与回归正是一个最温柔而又有力的壁垒，来对抗在某些所谓“全球化”论述中肤浅的历史性问题。

由于文献展的国际权威性，并且在充满多元与复杂性的当代艺术世界中运作，它再也不是以往那个具有决定性意义（或是如其预计那样）的展览了。对那些参与文献展或者目睹其近三十年甚至更多年的转型的人来说，认为“全球化的当代艺术” 可被具体化在一个特定展览形式中几乎是在说谎（虽然不是没有其诱人的专业优势）。我支持无限的包容与延伸，但是艺术并非具象的民主，文献展——更不用说那些小成本与展期短的展览——再也不能声称掌握着全部的历史碎片。历史演进的风暴已经将我们吹离了过去平静的时刻。我对文献展的期望变的更少，或者说更多，期望更多的唯一性、更专注、更深刻、更多意义，可以在历史上留下更浓重的痕迹。

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Debbie Poon — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:27 -0400

Magazine/78/EmiratiEstrangementsLamyaGargash/Zh

摄影师Lamya Gargash到英国的圣马丁艺术学院读硕士的时候，才开始意识到她的家乡迪拜——阿联酋酋长国之一——正在高速的发展。她在2007年即将完成硕士学位时，迪拜也达到了集中发展的顶峰，世界各国都来参加在这一年的几个月中的举办的各种国际交易展示会。她的摄影作品“在场”（2006－07），记录了一些即将被人遗弃并且被拆掉的室内布置，因为房屋的主人都要搬到新的住处。这些照片所具有的落寞气氛，有一种不寻常的预见性，尤其呼应了2008－09年的经济危机过去后，城市的街道上停着那些脱逃的移民所遗弃的豪华的骄车的景象。

虽然经济危机让迪拜一些更加耀眼的项目无疾而终，但其仍然以快速发展，大力挪用文化与力求不断更新而闻名。1982年出生的Gargash连续经历了阿联酋经济最繁荣的时期、第一次大萧条与现在的经济复苏时期。同时,她关于室内布置的摄影系列作品“在场”、“家族”（2009）与“议会”（2008-09）都显示出了最近在阿联酋发生的剧烈变化。

在“在场”中, Gargash关注于1980至1990年代迪拜的家庭内部的墙壁与家具，他们的特色是豪华的吊灯，配套的墙纸与室内装潢，还有装饰性的瓷砖所组成的一种过时的装饰方式；这正是30年代因石油繁荣而出现的生活文化的写照。在一张照片中，一把被人遗弃的椅子在一个破旧的房间里与海洋遥遥对望；另一张的照片里，刺眼的蓝色墙纸上星星点点的狗与爪印图案，暗示了这是个少年的房间，只是他不会在这里继续成长。照片中的衣柜门与床抽屉通常是打开的，也说明了人们离开居所时的匆忙与不情愿。

在阿联酋，像Gargash这般怀有理想去披露这种由快速发展而被抑制的伤疤的人几乎没有几个。阿联酋人搬家时通常不愿费心带走他们过时的家具。随着Gargash所谓的“一致性的消费主义” （conformative consumerism）的出现，这些房间也迅速的消失了, 根本没有时间让他们的主人注意到这些转变，更别说去怀念了。正如她介绍自己的作品所言，“我渐渐发现这一代人对家园的放弃与疏远已经变成一种几乎无法避免的文化灭绝，即一种由副产品带来的现代化，而且这个时代逝去后也不会有任何记录录下，最终将会被遗失。” 这种频繁的搬迁象征着一种腐朽的富有，但是否也暗示一种身份危机或者一种根深蒂固的游牧文化？因为许多年轻的阿联酋人已经把汽车当作他们的居所。

凭借“在场”， Gargash被选中出席2009年威尼斯双年展并代表首次参展的阿联酋。她当时亦展出了“家族”, 这个作品是关于一星级酒店的室内布置的摄影。虽然迪拜以其七星酒店闻名于世，Gargash却在城市的廉价住房中找到了更丰富的内容，这些廉价住房通常有着与之相反的宏伟名称，比如“皇家王子”、“蓝色钻石”和“黄金宫殿”等。 Gargash很享受在这些建筑中拍摄这些有表现力的元素, 这些建筑通常由占据这个城市百分之八十的移民而经营, 并且是大多数与Gargash相同阶层与背景的女性所从未体验过的。

在“家族”中, Gargash 创造了一种有趣的分类，它既满足了人们希望窥视紧闭的门后的欲望，也捕捉到了酒店中仿如后现代一般的不和谐的风格。你会不自觉的去解构其每个设计：床顶篷的流苏从何起源？为何选择那些时常被用于英式的住宿与早餐的酒店中有边饰并且颜色相配套的窗帘与床罩，绘有高山景色的装饰性绘画和廉价的床头灯？在一个酒店的大厅里，一些时钟和大量的塑料花病态的提醒了人们时间的流逝；在它们旁边, 无处不在的酋长画像与阿联酋国旗仿佛护身符一样，表达了房主对待这个国家的忠诚，虽然这个国家永远不会接受他成为居民。 Gargash也在这些匿名的房间的床头柜上摆放了一些全家福，以此提醒人们这些建筑中所隐藏的人情世故。

在她的“议会”系列作品中， Gargash继续探讨阿联酋的空间和品味，她将其人类学般的视角瞄准了酋长房间里传统的接待处里的气锁，它将社会的公共空间与私人空间严格区分开来。她记录了每个家庭中“传统的”壁挂与落地座椅和“现代的”沙发、空调和电视。在这些照片中，像艳丽的黄蓝搭配，或者蕾丝纸巾盒这般稀奇古怪的特色，诸如此类的过时的俗气品味会再一次吸引观者的注意力。

私底下的Gargash非常谦逊，让人几乎忘记她是一个“开拓者”。因为她在这个以性别为主导的社会中，成功的兼顾了艺术事业和婚姻与一个母亲的角色。最近，她一直在沙迦美国大学教书，在这里她亦师从于 Tarek al-Ghoussein。她将自己作品中由被废弃感所展现的叙事性，归功于在练习中受到Tarek al-Ghoussein作品中形式的精确性的影响。

Gargash接下来的主题会探讨个人为了适应社会所带来的压力所造成的心理影响。在她探索室内布置的诗意那一系列的作品之前，她的学生的作业中已经讨论了面纱的心理学特征。她早年以短片“湿地砖”（2003）得到了好评，这部短片不失为一个精彩的研究，内容是在未知原因下，包括一个悲痛欲绝的女人、一个徘徊在画面边缘的男人与另一个女人这三人所组成的一种强制关系。

在Gagash于四月在迪拜第三线画廊所展出的最新的作品中，展示了一个有国际背景的男人和女人的双折画。在主题人像的旁边，她创造了一个心理化的人像，夸大它们最难看的特征，再加上一个假体来反映他们看待自己的方式。在这样一个夸张的化妆与电视娱乐同样流行的时代，Gargash探讨了从家中墙壁以至于人的脸部如何适应这个社会带来的压力。

Zh

Debbie Poon — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:49:58 -0400

Magazine/78/MicrobloggingInChina/Zh

在过去几年里，微博和社交媒体网站已普遍成为无所不在的信息和思想交流平台。如此独特的言论表达机会，在中国是前所未有的。通过对当权者的质疑和信息的共享，像微博这样的交流平台已成为人们意愿表达和政治诉求的主要力量。科技形式的日新月异不但是无从掌控，它更为中国当局带来了日以继夜、接应不暇的挑战。

专制的政府既不尊重、又不愿倾听这种不受束缚的沟通渠道。在中国，政府有极其严格的互联网相关政策。他们构筑防火长城，并试图限制任何质疑政府当局或异于官方文宣的信息。官方版本所提供的真相，也因其总是扭曲不实的特质而成为一个敏感的话题。我认为，中国政府意识到微博和社交媒体的潜在危险，因为他们无力应付信息和讨论的自由流动。

最近微博用户必须以实名登记注册的要求，是中国政府试图管控互联网的另一项措施。它的目的在于吓阻人们寻求准确的信息。根据中国法律规定，人们可因其所说的一句话或所写的一首诗而遭多年的牢狱之灾。这不但显示出极权制度对审查的倚赖，并表明了共产党对舆论和公众参与所抱持的态度。它对社交媒体的管制不仅完全失当，事实上，也和中国自身的宪法互相抵触。

微博的登记要求或许会吓跑一些投机性的思想家，但对像我这样真正力求自我表达的人士是起不了吓阻作用的。很讽刺的是，虽然我在网上总是使用我的真实姓名，但由于政府当局的不断阻扰，我不得不使用各种不同的网名来注册登记。现在，我将再次通过注册自己真实姓名的方式，测试微博是否遵守其自身的政策来接受我的注册。在过去两个月中，我用不同的网名注册了至少100个账户，但他们都在几天内遭到全数删除。在微博网上，aihouzi（“艾猴子”）一直是我长期使用的“假”名。当人们开始因我妻子的公司遭税务检调而借钱协助我们交保时，我得以在网上使用此网名将近一个星期的时间。在此短暂期间内，3万多人通过微博与我们联系，并借给我们总计900万人民币（142万美元）的款项。这是一个奇迹故事。它同时也引起政府当局的恐慌，警觉到如果让我在微博上自由发言所可能造成的后果。

Twitter 在最近也宣布其将有能力按各国所需审查其信息内容。依我看来， Twitter 是不太可能接受中国政府所要求的那种限制，因此，我实际上不认为它会在中国有任何成功的希望。虽然各国对其公共信息采取不同的政策走向和审查范畴，但我认为中国的审查政策是无法令人接受的。此外，中国不需要 Twitter。和微博在中国的3亿网民相比，Twitter 仅有不到20万的中国用户。

在恶劣的审查环境下，人们对真相的渴望，就像一个无法控制的压力锅，潜存着高度不稳定性。由于人们对于受审查的传统通讯方式早已失去信心，他们因此纷纷转向社交媒体。微博终究会被人们所接受，因为它们真的是促进人类沟通的一种便利工具。它们非常简单易懂，除了网民之间的信任和了解之外，用户不需要什么老练的高科技术。微博客之间通过其在言论自由、个人主义、批判观点或甚至幻想上共享的个性和特征来进行交流联系。他们在政治观点、美学或道德判断上认同网上的象征性人物，并与之产生共鸣。我不认为这是政府当局有能力制止的，但对于未来会有什么样的斗争类型和代价，我则是不太清楚。

总而言之，互联网对我来说之所以如此地难忘和重要，是因为它能够让我在网络世界中诉说我的艺术与现实，并在虚拟空间中和成千上万的人分享我的想法、激情以及人生中一些非常重要的时刻。从中出现的，是一种非常令人振奋、像似奇迹般的形式或表达。包括我在内的许多绝望的人，都曾经历过若非互联网便无从可得的一种解放。这是在此值得一提的。

Emirati Estrangements Lamya Gargash

Debbie Poon — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:32:00 -0400

Magazine/78/EmiratiEstrangementsLamyaGargash

It was only when photographer Lamya Gargash moved to London for her master’s degree at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design that she recognized the velocity of change occurring in her home city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Towards the end of her degree in 2007 was the peak of Dubai’s frenzied development, when whole neighborhoods seemed to come and go within months. Her photographic series from the time, “Presence” (2006–07), documented semi-abandoned and soon-to-be demolished interiors vacated by people moving to newer homes. The desolate mood of these pictures would come to seem strangely prescient, particularly after the economic crisis of 2008–09, when fleeing expatriates abandoned their luxury cars in the city’s streets.

Although the financial crash killed off some of Dubai’s more fanciful projects, the city is still characterized by its accelerated development, ambitious culture of appropriation and a desire for constant renewal. Born in 1982, Gargash has lived through many of the UAE’s boom years, its first major bust and now its recovery. Along the way, her photographs of interiors in the series “Presence,” “Familial” (2009) and “Majlis” (2008–09) have addressed the recent seismic changes taking place in the country.

In “Presence,” Gargash focuses on the walls and furniture of domestic interiors from the 1980s and 1990s—characterized by an outmoded décor of ostentatious chandeliers, matching wallpaper and upholstery, and decorative tiles—that represent a culture that came to life during an oil-boom 30 years ago. In one picture, a chair in a decaying room stares out to sea, deserted by its owner. In another, intrusive blue wallpaper patterned with spotted dogs and paw prints is the only trace of the juvenile occupant of the room, who will grow up elsewhere. Cupboard doors and bedroom drawers are often left open, suggestive of a rushed or forced departure.

Gargash is almost alone among UAE residents with her interest in unearthing the suppressed anxiety of such rapid change. Emiratis tend to move house without bothering to take their out-of-date fittings and appliances with them. With the advent of what Gargash terms “conformative consumerism,” these spaces have swiftly disappeared, leaving little time for their owners to remark on the transition, let alone mourn it. As she has written about her photographs, “I came to see how this generation’s abandonment of, and estrangement from, these spaces seemed to be an almost inevitable cultural extinction: a by-product of modernity, but the passing of an era that would be lost without documentation.” Such frequent relocation indicates a decadent affluence, but does it also suggest a crisis of identity or a deep-rooted culture of nomadism? Many young Emiratis refer to their cars as their homes.

On the strength of “Presence,” Gargash was selected to represent the UAE in its inaugural pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2009. There she presented “Familial,” photographs of the interiors of one-star hotels. Although Dubai is more famous for its seven-star resorts, Gargash finds a richer hunting ground in the city’s cheap lodgings, which have ironically grandiose names such as Royal Prince, Blue Diamond and Golden Palace. Gargash enjoyed the performative element of shooting in these establishments, run by immigrants (who form 80 percent of the country’s population), and where few women of her privileged class and background have ever ventured.

In “Familial,” Gargash has created a fascinating taxonomy, feeding a curiosity to see behind closed doors and capturing the hotels’ postmodern cacophony of styles. One finds oneself deconstructing every design decision: Where did the fashion for tasseled canopies over the bed originate? What is behind the preference for the frilled, color-coordinated curtains and coverlets, paintings of Alpine scenes and chintzy bedside lamps that wouldn’t look out of place in an English bed-and-breakfast? In one hotel lobby, several clocks and an abundance of plastic flowers morbidly evoke the passing of time; beside them—the ubiquitous portraits of sheikhs and UAE flags serve as talismans, expressing the owner’s loyalty to an adopted country from which he is excluded from ever becoming a citizen. Gargash has inserted family portraits onto the bedside tables in some of the anonymous rooms, to remind us of the myriad human narratives that unfold in such buildings.

Continuing her examination of space and taste, in the UAE in her “Majlis” series, Gargash focuses her anthropological eye on the traditional reception rooms in Emirati houses, the air lock between the strictly defined public and private spheres of society. She records how each family negotiates its own ground between “tradition,” with wall hangings and floor seating, and “modernity,” with sofas, air-conditioning and televisions. In these photographs, the viewer is again drawn to remark on the inbuilt obsolescence of popular taste when presented with vivid color schemes of blue and yellow or outlandish features, such as a lace tissue box.

In person, Gargash’s modesty belies the fact that she is a trailblazer, as she manages to combine a successful artistic career with marriage and motherhood in a society dominated by family life and rigidly defined gender roles. Recently, Gargash has been teaching at the American University of Sharjah, where she herself studied under Tarek al-Ghoussein. She credits his formally precise photographs, which suggest narratives of abandonment, as an important influence on her practice.

One continuing theme of Gargash’s work is the psychological effect of society’s pressure on the individual to conform. Before her series of interiors exploring the poetics of space, Gargash’s student work explored the psychology of the veil. She also enjoyed early success with her short film Wet Tiles (2003), an engrossing study of an unexplained scenario of coercion involving two women, one obviously distressed by a man hovering at the edge of the frame.

In her latest project, presented at her solo show at the Third Line gallery in Dubai, in April, Gargash displayed diptychs of men and women from various cultural backgrounds. Beside a straight portrait of her subjects she has created a psychological one, in which their most disliked physical feature is exaggerated by the addition of a prosthesis, reflecting how they view themselves. In an age when extreme makeovers have even become popular as television entertainment, Gargash traces how the societal pressure to conform and renew extends from the walls of the home to the frontier of the body.

See No Evil Hear No Evil Speak No Evil

Debbie Poon — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:02:35 -0400

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Anticipating the season’s many festivals that will draw artists, curators and collectors from all over the world to far-flung locations, ArtAsiaPacific 78 considers the work of artists participating in the Biennale of Sydney in Australia, the inaugural Kyiv International Biennale in Ukraine and this year’s quinquennial Documenta 13—the exhibition established in Kassel, Germany 57 years ago, originally to showcase the sort of avant-garde art that was considered “degenerate” by the vanquished Nazi regime. Inspired by these founding principles, the May/June issue of AAP underscores art’s ability to confront and challenge historical, social and political assumptions.

For our cover feature, managing editor Olivier Krischer traces the development of Australian painter Gordon Bennett on the eve of his solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and his participation at Documenta in June. Drawing on his English and Aboriginal heritage, Bennett has, since the late 1980s, produced a formidable oeuvre that revisits historical images that have been assimilated as part of Australia’s national identity, while exposing the colonial origins that veneer the continent’s Indigenous heritage.

Also participating in Documenta this summer is Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz. Reviews editor Hanae Ko takes a detailed look at the Chicago-based artist’s ambitious projects, which tackle social and cultural beliefs about his home country with wit and pathos. Whether in the artist’s recent collaborative work with a fashionable New York restaurant, where they served roast venison with a sauce of Iraqi date syrup and tahini on plates once used in Saddam Hussein’s palaces, to his explorations of the striking similarities between the former Iraqi dictatorship’s self-image and the Hollywood sci-fi classic Star Wars, Rakowitz manages to bring a human perspective to the recent tragedies that have befallen Iraq during the 20th and 21st centuries.

Editor-at-large HG Masters also takes a meditative look at the visual politics of West Asia through the films, videos and photographs of Iraqi-born, UK-based Jananne al-Ani, who participates in the Biennale of Sydney in June. Masters sat down with al-Ani after her January lecture at the nonprofit art center Salt in Istanbul to discuss how her practice challenges ideas of representation—from the Orientalist fixation about the veil, to the manipulated images of war transmitted in the media that result in an ethical detachment from the real human suffering such conflict brings. Rounding out the Features, from Seoul, Han Keum Hyun discusses the conceptual practice of Kim Beom, whose playful works challenge the socially ingrained expectations of what one sees. Kim’s quixotic projects include trying to convince rocks that they are birds and should therefore be able to fly, as well as providing hard lessons to household objects that indeed they are nothing but tools.

In Essays, guest contributor Joe Martin Lin-Hill begins by looking into the annals of Documenta to see just how international this event has been since its inception in 1955. As countries in Asia invest more in soft power through art, assistant editor Kathy Zhang considers what long-term effects top-down cultural strategies, such as those practiced in Japan, Australia and, more recently, China, might have on artistic creativity in Asia. For Case Study, Chin-Chin Yap considers questions of moral rights in the complicated case in which the creation of one artist’s work involves the alteration, or destruction, of another’s—a contemporary riddle that will surprise artists and collectors alike.

In Profiles, contributing editor Michael Young offers a candid introduction to Melbourne-based Stuart Ringholt’s brand of “art therapy,” which has included anger management workshops and naked art tours at venues including the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, and more recently in Sydney during the Museum of Contemporary Art’s grand reopening in April. Just days before his solo exhibition at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, in Seoul, Jayoon Choi spoke with artist Do-Ho Suh about his re-creations of architectural spaces as sites of history and memory.

Following the news that online social networking companies such as Twitter have made concessions to governments to censor messages on request, for the Point we invited artist and microblogger Ai Weiwei to explain what this means in China, particularly for those, like himself, who really have something to say. For One on One, Turkish artist Ahmet Öğüt honors his conceptual colleague and peer, Tunç Ali Çam, whose ephemeral actions have entered into the realm of local legend. For Dispatch, M+ curator Tobias Berger looks at the tight-knit art scene in Hong Kong, as the city prepares for the region’s most international art fair, Art HK, which opens in mid-May. And in between working, Mumbai’s Nalini Malani takes time to fill out our Questionnaire, in which she admits that the one thing she can’t live without is, “My daily dose of quirky Bataillean daydreams.”

In addition to reviews from Melbourne, Taipei, New Delhi, Beirut, Istanbul, Berlin, Milan, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, this issue also takes us to Sri Lanka, for our long-form review of the second Colombo Art Biennale, where the theme “Becoming” offers artists an opportunity to move beyond the weight of more than 25 years of civil war and violence. In Beijing, Iona Whittaker assesses Today Art Museum’s large-scale sculpture exhibition “Starting,” while John Jervis heads to London’s Whitechapel Gallery to inspect a survey of Zarina Bhimji’s 27-year-long career. For our Book Review, senior editor Don J. Cohn compares Tate Modern’s retrospective monograph of Japanese national treasure, Yayoi Kusama, with the dotty grande dame’s own colorful version of events detailed in her autobiography, Infinity Net, reminding readers that to get the full picture sometimes you have to imagine what’s been left out.

Bookmark Ming Wong

Kathy Zhang — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:24 -0400

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For Bookmark, ArtAsiaPacific invites an artist to spotlight some of their online sources of inspiration. This week we asked Ming Wong.

Ming Wong is a Singapore- and Berlin-based video artist, known for his campy reenactments of cinematic masterpieces and cult favorites. In 2009, Wong produced his series of films “Life of Imitation” (2009) for the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, in which he casted actors to play roles out of classic films obviously outside of their personal backgrounds. His recent film work Making Chinatown (2011), which is based on the 1974 film of the same name, parodies the stereotypes of Chinese American communities made in Hollywood films. More information on the artist can be found at http://www.mingwong.org/

Interview With Shingo Francis

Olivier Krischer — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:05:58 -0400

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On a cloudy April day, just as the first cherry blossoms were beginning to open, I met Shingo Francis at the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, in Japan, where his work featured in the exhibition “The Unseen Relationship: Form and Abstraction.” According to chief curator Takashi Suzuki the show’s premise was to “display historical paintings alongside younger artists’ work in the hope of finding new synchronicities between them.” In the first room for example, a painting by Shingo was displayed near one by his father, Sam Francis, suggesting a dialogue between the works, and the artists’ practices, spanning six decades.

Born in Santa Monica, California, in 1969, Francis moved to Japan at three years of age, then back to the US from the age of thirteen. With an acute, subtle sense of color, Francis’ works are saturated with layers of thin oil washes that draw the eye closer to what the artist calls “the Abyss.” Despite having an oceanic aura, Shingo’s perspective is not one of looking across the sea as in traditional landscape paintings. Instead, his perspective is one of being submerged or immersed in the ocean, unable to recognize sky from saltwater.

What experiences did you have in Los Angeles, during your early career, that led you down the path you are currently on?

I learned to look at books in my father’s library. I read a lot of William Blake, looked at Tennyson and I was interested in Shelley. I found a lot of solitude living close to the beach, not really being used to the United States, there was something about the beach, the ocean, in Santa Monica. I was able to connect with the rhythms of the sea, the waves, the light, the sun, the clouds and the moon. I was able to put those into poetry of my own.

What about your impetus to paint?

I went to school at an art department out in Claremont and James Turrell did a big installation in the desert. That had a big impact on me. And I hung out in the ceramics department a lot, run by Paul Soldner, who was friends with Peter Voulkos. A number of Japanese students also came to study. Soldner talked a lot about nature, letting the environment into your work. Hanging out with those folks as opposed to my painting department influenced me to look at the environment and its colors, to think about how they put it into the work.

Then I started to realize more about the light and space artists: Robert Irwin, Maria Nordman, Hap Tivey, early Bruce Nauman, and of course Turrell, John McCracken, Peter Alexander, Craig Kauffman and Larry Bell. How they used light. I got really into that—light, space—looking at how light reflects off surfaces and how surfaces are affected by light.

In Los Angeles I started making paintings that were pared down, trying to isolate certain parts of the canvases, into light and dark, creating a contrast. I saw a lot of contrasts in the city as far as how much space there is, how much light, it is washed out but as it starts to get darker the sky gets dark, dark blue. The landscape too—the land starts to get dark and there is a light horizon where a real contrast starts to happen.

Where are your colors born?

I am drawn to primary colors: red, yellow and blue, not so much green; all the combinations between those colors, as well as orange, magenta, violets and purples. Those colors come from a relationship to the light in California. Colors get so vibrant. I remember walking up a canyon in Santa Monica in mid-February—spring comes early in southern California—I looked up at the valley wall and noticed this intense light . . . yellow and violet flowers already starting to bloom. The California poppies are bright orange. I found those vibrant colors to express life and much more volume.

In your Yokohama studio, I remember the last rays of light hitting your easel just before sunset. How do you contemplate natural, artificial and possibly spiritual light in your paintings?

I want the painting to have a sense of “holding” the light. I want the painting to have a light of its own. That is why it is so important for me to layer the works very slowly. In time my physical actions blend into the metaphysical; it is very deliberate. I mix down my pigments with medium so there is a translucency . . . and there is a lot of space between the molecules, allowing the light in. If you get down to the molecular level, I don’t know exactly what the light is doing in there, but I feel it.

I want the painting to glow. Light reveals the unknown. We all have light within us, the potential to reveal who we are. One of the strengths of painting, or art in general, is the ability to transform, to affect people’s consciousness, to take them outside of the ordinary consciousness, at the same time affect them so much that they are given that spark. I think its just spark.