Shanghai Biennale 2012 _POWER STATION OF ART

Meine Zeit in Shanghai geht zu Ende. Heute wollte ich endlich doch noch etwas von der Biennale mitbekommen.  Trotz des Risikos, dass man mich im neu eröffneten Museum of Contemporary Art, der POWER STATION OF ART  am Ufer des Huangpu, nicht hereinlassen würde, da ich keine Reservierung gemacht hatte, bin ich gefahren. Inzwischen haben wir festgestellt, dass man mit einem Shuttlebus vom  RSF (Rancho Santa Fe) zum Terminal 2 des Hongqiao International Airports fahren und dort in die Linie 2 der Metro umsteigen kann. Das ist sehr praktisch und ganz einfach. Überhaupt ist Metro fahre nirgends einfacher als hier in Shanghai.  Man klickt am Automaten, den man auf Englisch umstellen kann, die Linie an, mit der man fahren will, klickt an bis wohin man mit dieser Linie fahren will, der Automat gibt an was es kostet, man zahlt und bekommt ein Ticket.. Einfacher geht es nicht. Das einzige Problem ist:: In welche Richtung muss ich fahren?  Nun ja, ich habe gefragt und auf den Stadtplan gezeigt und irgendwann hat es geklappt. 

Gut, dass die POWER STATION OF ART einen hohen Schornstein hat. So konnte man ihn schon von Weitem sehen. Es gab keine Schlangen, ich musste nur meinen Ausweis vorzeigen und schon war ich drinnen.  Überraschend waren die vielen Besucher, die allen Anscheins nach aus ländlichen Gegenden kamen. Die meisten hatten sich ihr Picknick mitgebracht und saßen überall auf den Bänken und aßen. In den Museumsrestaurants saßen nur die wenigen Westler. Nach 4 Stunden war ich zu müde, um noch länger zu gucken, obwohl ich nur einen Bruchteil gesehen hatte. Es war sehr interessant. Fast zu allen Werken gab es erklärende Texte.

Ich habe eine kleine Auswahl getroffen.

Huang Yongping (China/France)

Thousand Hands Kuanyin 1997 – 2012

Huang Yongping is a Chinese artist in Paris.  He is one of the most important  representative artists in the Chinese contemporary scene. Huang’s early work was deeply influenced by Zen, the I-ching and Marcel Duchamp. Since he moved out of China, his perceptions of culture clash have only increased, and he increasingly returns to the traditional Chinese classics to find artistic resources:  Buddhism, the Art of War, traditional Chinese medicine, and folk beliefs.  They all provide new voices that can inject into the chaos of the world conflicts of cultures.

In 1997 Huang participated in "Skulptur.Projekte" in Muenster, Germany with his sculpture "100 Arms of Guan-yin". The “1000 Arms of Kuanyin”* that he is exhibiting this year, is the final evolution of this piece. The arms are attached to a steel structure, which is a bigger version of Duchamp’s Bottle Rack. Duchamp found the artistic value in everyday objects by presenting them as “readymades”. That value is realized in this work in the 1000 objects held in each of Kuanyin’s hands. They represent a cross selection of the ubiquitous stuff around us, turned into blessings on all living things. In this hall, still visible the chamber of a power station, they represent the new life of this space: from the generation of physical power to the generation of creative energy.

* Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion, is a manifestation of the Divine Mother and serves mankind in much the same way as Mother Mary.

Arbeit von Petrc Sesti, in der sich "Thousand Hands Kuanyin" spiegelt

Simon Fujiwara

Rebekkah 2012

Rebekkah’s fate may not be hopeless as many others of her generation because Rebekkah has been chosen to take a unique experiment. Rather than being punished, Rebekkah was given a  two-week ‘journey of a lifetime’ to China where she had first hand experience of a completely alien culture and visited some of China’s most important landmarks. While Rebekkah was in China she visited factories where much of the objects she aspires to own (fashion, clothing, mobile phone, flat-screen TV’s) are produced and witnessed first hand what can be achieved when a massive-scale, national population pulls together towards one common goal: individual improvement through mass production and organization.. Importantly Rebekkah had no access to social media sites for the two-week period and was not be able to communicate with her peers, giving her ample time to reflect on her experiences.

As the highlight of the trip, Rebekkah was taken to visit the Terracotta Warriors where she experienced a historic vision of what can be achieved through mass social obedience. Following this and to complete Rebekkah’s transformation, she was taken to a factory where reproductions of terracotta wariors are fabricated and casts were made of her face, body and limbs to be assembled into modern day versions of terracotta warriors.

The figure will then be replicated into hundred pieces over the course of the 100 days of the biennale in a ‘cookie mould’ production line.

Chen Wei ( China)

Salt City 2012/10/11

In the early 1980s, I was born in Zigong, a town in the south west of Sechuan province. My hometown is famous for the salt mines and its coloured lanterns. Almost every family in Zigong has someone who once worked in the salt industry in oneway or another. My grandmother once hauled salt at the mines.

In the 1990s, in my adult memories of Zigong, it is a broken down, dirty ruin, a poor, backward little hamlet. That’s how easy the marks of one’s background can be wiped away. They are twisted, knotty threats hidden deep inside  the body of every person....

I’m fascinated with folk crafts and odd stuff, a quite unhealthy level of obsession. I cannot deny that it is a part of my nature, just as I cannot deny my nimble-fingered mother’s influence on me. Antiques may be distressed by the passage of time, but they do not lose their value. I will remake these old items, piece by piece, with the skill that has passed down.

Leang Seckon (Cambodia)

Parachute 2012

The detail of war is people killing each other while parachutes fall and fly. Found parachutes were recycled to be blankets or covers from rain and sun at weddings and other gatherings.

Bombs, Planes, Chaos, Death.

The Heavy skirt leaves her shadow, but we choose to blossom; we choose peace; we choose to heal what is left with us from strong experiences we have survived.

Olga Chernysheva (Russia)

Russian Museum - 2003-2005

A strange connection starts to form between the fates of ordinary viewers and the state of Russian genre painting. The viewers begin to belong to the paintings. They start to fall under their power and stand still under their  impression, trying on its mood.

We can hear the voice of a guard who describes the paintings, connecting them to contemporary consciousness, thus broadening the subjects for future philosophical generalizations. It even starts to seem that the voice describes not the pictures but their reflections, simultaneously producing new ones.

In such a way museum paintings live their lives with new visitor and new heroes. Leaving the museum, we find new places for our moods, thus acquiring new footings for our existence.

The World Changes in the Eyes of its Beholders

“Books read on the road, bookmarked with ticket stubs...

Like tinted glass, that changes reality, books can cast their spell and take control of any journey. Traveling with a book is like taking a trip  in the stratosphere. Yes, the text changes you entire surroundings: you raise your eyes from the page and see everything in the mood of the text you just been reading. This means that the real is a malleable and can be transformed to illustrate the text. This is probably why you should read more good books.

“An imaginary travel conversation”

Jiang Zhi (China)

In Our Time 2011-2012

“In September 30.  2012, this birthday concert will last for the entire night with no audience, screaming the newborn in welcome.  While in October 1. those welcomed audience will see the usual silence just as expected.

This might be just one of thousands of other fireworks that we have missed: such as one of thousands of newborn’s lives; and also one of thousands of signals. Every day, with every missed fireworks show, every missed birthday song, and every transient light, we may become aware that what disappears in our time are never the objects themselves but our ability to perceive the sense of these event. Simultaneously, we suffered not because of their disappearance, but our incapability of perceiving the “loss” that will last.

And meanwhile the audience are becoming the bystanders of suffering. The audience are becoming the experimenters of suffering.

Shen Yuan

“The Well”  (2012)

“The Well”  (2012) is a leaning model of a Hakka roundhouse from the southwest of Fujam province.  It creates the impression of looking down from above, and allows us to see the secret back portions of this structures.  Hakka roundhouses are closed structures. Their architectural form is a classic representation of how the lineage is the core and organising unit of traditional patriarchal Chinese society. This kind of home once provided protection, childcare, social order and education. Today they have attained world culture heritage status: they are curiosities to be viewed and consumed: they have been abandoned.  The branches and water barrels installed behind the roundhouse are  calm, but have their own emotional resonance, repositioning the model as a bucolic, rural scene.

Zum Schluss bin ich auf die Aussichtsterrasse im 7. Stock gestiegen und habe die tolle Aussicht genossen. Leider war es wieder mal ziemlich diesig. Naja, was solls.

Blick  über den Huangpu auf das gerade eröffnete  China Art Museum, dem ehemaligen China National Pavillon der Expo 2010

Blick auf die  Nanpu Bridge

Anschließend bin ich zu Fuß am Fluss entlang bis zum Bund gelaufen (ca. 2 Stunden). Ich hatte Pudong ja schon bei Nacht gesehen, aber bei Tag war es auch ein tolles Erlebnis.

Am Denkmal von Chen-Yi, vorher nie gehört, musste ich dann nur noch die Nanjing Donglu, eine der Haupteinkaufsstraßen Shanghais, entlang gehen, um von der Station "Nanjing East Road" aus wieder mit der Linie 2 zum Flughafen fahren zu können. Schwierig wurde es nur im Flughafen selbst. Wo war der  richtige Ausgang, an dem der Shuttlebus  zum Compound abfahren sollte? Niemand verstand mich trotz Plan. Aber der war leider in Englisch. Ich hatte auf dem Hinweg nicht aufgepasst und mich nur gefreut, dass alles so leicht zu finden war. Aber ich bin  wieder  gut im Compound angekommen. 

Aber immer wieder bestätigt sich: Man kommt sich hier wie ein taubstummer Analphabet vor und das ist furchtbar.