The final works of our new media research project.
STORY
Yanna, Soso and Minos produced in 2009
17 April 2009
9 April 2009
A Real Era
The contemporary asian art auction was hold on 6th April. I went there and witnessed the most time of the auction.
The result of auction appeared the serious polarized phenomenon, the works belonging to the famous artists attained an unprecedented high price and other works just got a minor price or some even didnot be sold.
Based on the final data, No.654 UNTILED by Zhang Xiaogang acquired the highest price of the auction with HK$ 4,820,000, and followed with No.662 HATS SERIES-ARMED FORCES by Yue Minjun for the price of HK$ 4,580,000. The third one was No. 677 MASK SERIES by Zeng Fanzhi, and the price was HK$ 3,620,000.
In another hand, the five contemporary Chinese conceptional art works the auction emphasised also didnot make the organizer disappointed. No.709 SIXTY-YEAR CYCLE CHARIOT by Huang Yongping made the deal with HK$ 3,380,000, the twice time of expected price and been the new record of artist self. And the other four conceptional art works were all surpassed the estimate price.
Reviewing these high price art works, we can notice that they are all created by the artists who have already got the significant status in the global art field. It is not suprised that to be known the result of their success though the contemporary Chinese art now is experiencing the ever harder time since 1980s. But for those younger artists, the result of the auction is not so optimistical. Most of them have not attained the estimate price, and part of them face the fate of failure. That indicates the situation of the contemporary Chinese art in the crisis of economy nowadays, the art collectors or art dealers prefer to pay a high price for the masters' works rather than runing a risk to invest the less well known artists even their works are actually good.
Under the prosperous appearance of the auction scene, that is the truth of the markets controlled by the captital. Neither the works of Yue Minjun nor Zen Fanzhi and Zhang Xiaogang, they can escape the title of political pop. And that is the main reason still stimulate the western society to pay attention to them in the result of the high prices in the auction. There is no one or two days since contemporary Chinese art have failed into the peep approach to the non-transparent Chinese social politics of the West. And the phenomenon is still continued... till now.
However I am so lucky to see some other art works with real art spirit appeared in the acution and got a nice price, like No.725 PUMPKIN by Yayoi Kuwama with the HK$ 2,720,000. Yayoi Kuwama is the most significant female artists in the past 30 years. Her unique and independent art style has an impact significance in the art field. Not like the works by the Chinese artists, her works are not related to any of the society or politics. What she cares about is the human themselves, the inner spirit. Her works are always filled with imagination and children temperament, what represents her strong personal desire to describle the world she feels. The works by her are not to complain the society, but to ask people to review their original intention of what they want to live in this world. As an artist, she is pure and great, absolutely.
The result of auction appeared the serious polarized phenomenon, the works belonging to the famous artists attained an unprecedented high price and other works just got a minor price or some even didnot be sold.
Based on the final data, No.654 UNTILED by Zhang Xiaogang acquired the highest price of the auction with HK$ 4,820,000, and followed with No.662 HATS SERIES-ARMED FORCES by Yue Minjun for the price of HK$ 4,580,000. The third one was No. 677 MASK SERIES by Zeng Fanzhi, and the price was HK$ 3,620,000.
In another hand, the five contemporary Chinese conceptional art works the auction emphasised also didnot make the organizer disappointed. No.709 SIXTY-YEAR CYCLE CHARIOT by Huang Yongping made the deal with HK$ 3,380,000, the twice time of expected price and been the new record of artist self. And the other four conceptional art works were all surpassed the estimate price.
Reviewing these high price art works, we can notice that they are all created by the artists who have already got the significant status in the global art field. It is not suprised that to be known the result of their success though the contemporary Chinese art now is experiencing the ever harder time since 1980s. But for those younger artists, the result of the auction is not so optimistical. Most of them have not attained the estimate price, and part of them face the fate of failure. That indicates the situation of the contemporary Chinese art in the crisis of economy nowadays, the art collectors or art dealers prefer to pay a high price for the masters' works rather than runing a risk to invest the less well known artists even their works are actually good.
Under the prosperous appearance of the auction scene, that is the truth of the markets controlled by the captital. Neither the works of Yue Minjun nor Zen Fanzhi and Zhang Xiaogang, they can escape the title of political pop. And that is the main reason still stimulate the western society to pay attention to them in the result of the high prices in the auction. There is no one or two days since contemporary Chinese art have failed into the peep approach to the non-transparent Chinese social politics of the West. And the phenomenon is still continued... till now.
However I am so lucky to see some other art works with real art spirit appeared in the acution and got a nice price, like No.725 PUMPKIN by Yayoi Kuwama with the HK$ 2,720,000. Yayoi Kuwama is the most significant female artists in the past 30 years. Her unique and independent art style has an impact significance in the art field. Not like the works by the Chinese artists, her works are not related to any of the society or politics. What she cares about is the human themselves, the inner spirit. Her works are always filled with imagination and children temperament, what represents her strong personal desire to describle the world she feels. The works by her are not to complain the society, but to ask people to review their original intention of what they want to live in this world. As an artist, she is pure and great, absolutely.
Pumpkin by YAYOI KUSAMA
24 March 2009
DREAM
Our world is a dream. Infinitely fake. A nightmare.
—— Nightmare Box Chuck Palahniuk
This afternoon, when I read the latest novel HAUNTED by Chuck Palahniuk who was the author of Fight Club, I was fascinated by his dark but significant personal style, especially this piece named Nightmare Box. The story told about the strength of a magic box through a mother who wanted to find the truth of her daughter's missing. She found each person who had once seen through this box would lose the previous self and became demented or suicided. When she got closer and closer to the truth, she became afraid of this truth. She realized the truth of her daughter's missing was also the truth of life, this virtual world. Nightmare box was the approach for people to realize that their "preening and struggle and worry—it’s all pointless.", and writer also said "All your problems and love affairs. They’re an illusion." That's the key point of this short novel, the world is a nightmare, all our endeavor for the better life (especially in Material Dimension) is useless. Everything will change, will flow, will back to earth eventually. Everything is the illusion.
The moment I saw the end of story, I reminded myself of traditional Japanese painting Ukiyo-e. Now the new show of Utagawa Kuniyoshi is at the Royal Academy of Arts, which retrospects the main masterpieces of this significant ukiyo-e master. Ukiyo-e is always said to be the origin which influenced the post-impressionist and abstractist. Coz it is no longer to be the representation for the real life, in stead of that, the intention of Ukiyo-e is more closer to describe the world in people's mind, an imaginary world. Trace back to the meaning of word ukiyo-e, it comes from Buddhism which means the illusory status of human realm. In another word, everything is nothing, heaven is also hell. In this kind of meaning, we can explain why the colors in ukiyo-e are so dreamlike and why the figures are all bizzare though they really exist. The answer I can get is the painting itself is the dream of the world. Taking a look at Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Young woman who looks like an old lady, c1847, the woman's face is painted some human bodies as like wrinkle. And another painting Octopus games, 1840-42 uses the octopus to instead the real people, and the octopus are all dressed like normal Japanese villagers.
Ukiyo-e is not just the equivalent of mythology paintings, what embodies in it is the abstruse philosophy of Buddhism. Just like what Chuck Palahniuk wrote in his book, "Our world is a dream. Infinitely fake. A nightmare. "
—— Nightmare Box Chuck Palahniuk
This afternoon, when I read the latest novel HAUNTED by Chuck Palahniuk who was the author of Fight Club, I was fascinated by his dark but significant personal style, especially this piece named Nightmare Box. The story told about the strength of a magic box through a mother who wanted to find the truth of her daughter's missing. She found each person who had once seen through this box would lose the previous self and became demented or suicided. When she got closer and closer to the truth, she became afraid of this truth. She realized the truth of her daughter's missing was also the truth of life, this virtual world. Nightmare box was the approach for people to realize that their "preening and struggle and worry—it’s all pointless.", and writer also said "All your problems and love affairs. They’re an illusion." That's the key point of this short novel, the world is a nightmare, all our endeavor for the better life (especially in Material Dimension) is useless. Everything will change, will flow, will back to earth eventually. Everything is the illusion.
The moment I saw the end of story, I reminded myself of traditional Japanese painting Ukiyo-e. Now the new show of Utagawa Kuniyoshi is at the Royal Academy of Arts, which retrospects the main masterpieces of this significant ukiyo-e master. Ukiyo-e is always said to be the origin which influenced the post-impressionist and abstractist. Coz it is no longer to be the representation for the real life, in stead of that, the intention of Ukiyo-e is more closer to describe the world in people's mind, an imaginary world. Trace back to the meaning of word ukiyo-e, it comes from Buddhism which means the illusory status of human realm. In another word, everything is nothing, heaven is also hell. In this kind of meaning, we can explain why the colors in ukiyo-e are so dreamlike and why the figures are all bizzare though they really exist. The answer I can get is the painting itself is the dream of the world. Taking a look at Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Young woman who looks like an old lady, c1847, the woman's face is painted some human bodies as like wrinkle. And another painting Octopus games, 1840-42 uses the octopus to instead the real people, and the octopus are all dressed like normal Japanese villagers.
Ukiyo-e is not just the equivalent of mythology paintings, what embodies in it is the abstruse philosophy of Buddhism. Just like what Chuck Palahniuk wrote in his book, "Our world is a dream. Infinitely fake. A nightmare. "
Young woman who looks like an old lady, c1847,by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
Octopus games, 1840-42,by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
20 March 2009
A Woman more than An Artist
I came to Guangzhou this afternoon for Ono Yoko's personal exhibiton FLY that I missed last time in Shanghai. There wasn't too much exhibits but occupied the whole second floor of Guangdong Art Museum with three video clips,three installtion art and a conception art. One of Yoko's works is the most popular one recent years named Wish Trees for Pasadena which is filled with the wish cards written by visitors. The Tree has been set into many coutries all over the world and becomes the new symbol of Yoko's appealling for peace. As we know, Ono Yoko is so significant in the art sphere mostly because of her an activist for peace and human rights since 1960s. With her well-known husband John Lennon, she has put her art career to the summit. And then with the short breakdown with Lennon(1973-1974), their son's birth(1975), Lennon's assassinate(1980), Yoko experienced the hardest period in her life. Life teaches her a lot and makes her the stronger will to devote herself into the art role of Pacifist. So in October 2007, the big white tower named IMAGINE PEACE TOWER designed by Yoko was completed in Iceland Reykjavik. The video recording the event was showing on the venue of museum all the time. Yoko said she wish the people all over the world could say I love you at the same time and also she said John was still with us at this moment. The name of tower IMAGINE PEACE is also the name of John Lennon's song in 1971.
That was the main theme of this exhibiton and also the main theme of Yoko's art works. But I was not so concerned with that, which captured my eyes was the end of that video, John Lennon finished his singing and turned his face to Yoko who was sitting beside him with a set of white dress. Yoko seemed so shy when she stared at Lennon. What was read by her expression was so complicated with dpressive happiness and nameless sorrow. Then Lennon kissed her unexpectedly and at that time she smiled eventually.
Her responce to Lennon impacted me a lot. I know it is the feeling of a woman who falls in love. Since she meet with Lennon, her life was mostly occupied by him. Though I once heard a lot of criticism to her before especially for her dominance of Lennon due to Lennon's death. Undoubtedly She always plays the powerful role in the relationship. As an Aquarius woman, she represents the typical characters of that constellation, creative, intelligent, sensible and powerful. And if we review the moment which John Lennon decided to love Yoko, we will find that was the period Lennon lost himself in a comfused status. The strength of Yoko was so powerful and pulled Lennon out of his chaos then found the new start point of his life. In that time, John Lennon needed a mentor or a mother to teach him how to do, Yoko did as he wished though maybe go too far afterward.
But she is not an ordinary woman, as a femal artist she has always been trying to break the conventional value on woman. She said being a woman means you must face more difficults than man, but in another word more taboos more creations. What she did is more than enough, it can be seen in the two rest videos FLY (1970 25mins) and CUT PIECE (performance art both in 1964 and 2003). From my view, the first one FLY shotting on the movement of a fly on a naked woman body gives the spectators especially males the new way to consider their attitude to woman. If the video is meaningful or erotic depends on the posture you throw on female. And the second video which Yoko sitted on the stage and her clothes was being cut by a man piece by piece till the bra. Yoko used this two video though seemly not aggressive to ask for people's attention on the women's humanilty. And it also standed for her not willing to be a conventinal housewilf position.
And then let us back to see what she did for John Lennon, she took care of him, guided him in his hardest period, suffered the pressure from the fans of Lennon, and this pressure forever lasts. She wants to be a better woman to Lennon but more than a woman to art, this is the paradox. The only reason she insists on this paradox even making her painful is love, the love to John Lennon. However powerful she expressed on her art works, the expression on the video she faced to Lennon told all.
That was the main theme of this exhibiton and also the main theme of Yoko's art works. But I was not so concerned with that, which captured my eyes was the end of that video, John Lennon finished his singing and turned his face to Yoko who was sitting beside him with a set of white dress. Yoko seemed so shy when she stared at Lennon. What was read by her expression was so complicated with dpressive happiness and nameless sorrow. Then Lennon kissed her unexpectedly and at that time she smiled eventually.
Her responce to Lennon impacted me a lot. I know it is the feeling of a woman who falls in love. Since she meet with Lennon, her life was mostly occupied by him. Though I once heard a lot of criticism to her before especially for her dominance of Lennon due to Lennon's death. Undoubtedly She always plays the powerful role in the relationship. As an Aquarius woman, she represents the typical characters of that constellation, creative, intelligent, sensible and powerful. And if we review the moment which John Lennon decided to love Yoko, we will find that was the period Lennon lost himself in a comfused status. The strength of Yoko was so powerful and pulled Lennon out of his chaos then found the new start point of his life. In that time, John Lennon needed a mentor or a mother to teach him how to do, Yoko did as he wished though maybe go too far afterward.
But she is not an ordinary woman, as a femal artist she has always been trying to break the conventional value on woman. She said being a woman means you must face more difficults than man, but in another word more taboos more creations. What she did is more than enough, it can be seen in the two rest videos FLY (1970 25mins) and CUT PIECE (performance art both in 1964 and 2003). From my view, the first one FLY shotting on the movement of a fly on a naked woman body gives the spectators especially males the new way to consider their attitude to woman. If the video is meaningful or erotic depends on the posture you throw on female. And the second video which Yoko sitted on the stage and her clothes was being cut by a man piece by piece till the bra. Yoko used this two video though seemly not aggressive to ask for people's attention on the women's humanilty. And it also standed for her not willing to be a conventinal housewilf position.
And then let us back to see what she did for John Lennon, she took care of him, guided him in his hardest period, suffered the pressure from the fans of Lennon, and this pressure forever lasts. She wants to be a better woman to Lennon but more than a woman to art, this is the paradox. The only reason she insists on this paradox even making her painful is love, the love to John Lennon. However powerful she expressed on her art works, the expression on the video she faced to Lennon told all.
Wish Trees for Pasadena 2008
Fly 1970
the venue
the video of Imagine Peace 1971
15 March 2009
Young Man Falling
In a certain way it looks like the popular UK youth TV show SKINS, and the picture, the music, the atmosphere makes it similar with Iceland's film Nói albinói. Martin de Thurah came back with his new film Young Man Falling,absoutly a dark film on youth, the endless desperation for life. If it really just like the words MGMT sings " live fast and die young".
14 March 2009
THIRTY-THREE
The video clip is directed by Billy Corgan and his girlfriend Yelena Yemchuk for The Smashing Pumpkins, which are mixed with surreal imagination and some certain of melancholy.
Yelena Yemchuk is a woman of many talents. The Kiev-born photographer, painter and film director is best known for her work with The Smashing Pumpkins- paticularly for the artwork on 1988's Adore.
Every scene of the vedio is corresponded with each sentence of lyrics, decribing the story of the sentence in a way full of imagination. I feel so sentimental when I watched this vedio, so I watched it again and again, dont wanna lose any subtle emotion of it.
The Smashing Pumpkins - Thirty-Three
Speak to me in a language I can hear humour me before I have to go
Deep in thought I forgive everyone
As the cluttered streets greet me once again
I know I cant be late, suppers waiting on the table
Tomorrows just an excuse away
So I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own
The earth laughs beneath my heavy feet
At the blasphemy in my old jangly walk
Steeple guide me to my heart and home
The sun is out and up and down againI know
Ill make it, love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
And you can make it last, forever you
You can make it last, forever you
And for a moment I lose myself
Wrapped up in the pleasures of the world
Ive journeyed here and there and back again
But in the same old haunts I still find my friends
Mysteries not ready to reveal
Sympathies Im ready to return
Ill make the effort, love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
Tomorrows just an excuse
And you can make it last, forever you
You can make it last, forever you
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