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. "

Young woman who looks like an old lady, c1847,by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

Octopus games, 1840-42,by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

The Solitary In City

ONE NIGHT IN GUANGZHOU

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.

Wish Trees for Pasadena 2008

Fly 1970

the venue

the video of Imagine Peace 1971

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".

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

AESTHETICS OF MONOCHROME

I happen to read an article about the dialog between Tadao Ando(Architect) and Rei Kawakubo(Fashion Designer), which theme is about Aesthetics of Monochrome. Ando began his talk with the description of The Wittgenstein House which designed by philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein himself. He said the house expressed the ultimate pursuit of logic in architecture and created a kind of beaut with simplicity and serenity as the precise attitude Wittfenstein made to himself. However, Ando also pointed out that this kind of pursuit of logic in architecture as a space to live in could create a danger of losing sight of humanity. The much more attenion paid on the function made architecture remain a cold and tired shell. The buidings of Ando in a certain extend, still have a determination to bring people back to natural environment and no intentional avoidence of the influence of modernity on architecture. Undoubtly to say, the moderninty conception generated in the end of 19 century was the rebellion to the conventional aesthetics, it was the progress in the history of society but also conducted the fate of human being to a radical privatism age. If it can be said that the original intention of Ando is to break this conflict and to create a new law of balance, 20 years past, we can strongly feel this introspective potence in the works of Tadao Ando. Or to myself, it is dead certain.

Then Rei Kawakubo assured Ando’s worry about function of design from the view of her own conception of clothing design. These two Japanese architect and fashion designer born in 1941 and 1942. The same age of them results in a similar environment of growing, living and the receiving of western aesthetics, which makes their philosophy have quite similarity. Kawakubo’s former collections which astonished the Europe broke the pursuit of wearable philosophy in the mainstream fashion design group. Differing from Vivienne Westwood’s rebellion to social ideology, Kawakubo adopted the law of monochrome and decontructed the traditional cutting of clothing, which can be said she challenged the clothing industry beginning in the interior of clothing, the spiritual core of clothing. It isn’t so much that her works are the representation of her personality as that through her works she questiones if traditional esthetics value restricts the more possibilities of design. What Rei Kawakubo did is to return the soul to clothing, the soul once constrained under the functional shackles. In the way of Deconstrucionism, the contribution of Kawakubo is not only this, also can be seen on the influence on the later designers, including Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela, Hussien Chalayan. They insist on the design of monochrome and make a lot of porgresses in the way of demonstrating the delicateness of the clothing itself.

Church On the Water

Tadao Ando

1988/Tomamu

Sweater and skirt,

Autumn/Winter 1995,

by Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons Noir.

THE DEATH OF IDEAL

When you still keep something in expectation, but you find that something is fleeing from your life.

Last night, i went to Hong Kong Arts Centre for the reason of Lai Shengchuan's lastest drama WRITING IN WATER. In spite of his reputation and huge success, I find myself a big disappointment with the drama and Lai.

Once been said to be the most famous Chinese theatre director, Lai Shengchuan, the founder of Taiwan shows mania. I should admit that I have been shocked when I first saw his distinguished drama Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land in 2006 even I was on the last row of the theatre. Some people laughed, some people cried, everyone could find his own sympathetic response of soul in the drama. Since that time, I remember his name and respect him as the most creative play writer in China, the dramas he writes could deeply touch people in their inner soul.

Comparing with his former works, his new drama Writing in Water I saw last night still follows his own personal style mixed sorrow and happy. It describes the unhappy status quo of the current Hong Kong people in economic crisis and tries to induce people how to find their real self. To outward seeming, the drama which included a lot of comedy elements to make audiences laugh and was over with a significance ending was so successful. However from another side, the whole drama was divided into 25 acts and each act only last 2-3 mins, which made the drama fragmentary and disrupted. Though it was just a creative play no need to care for every detail, there were many plots lacking evidence and seemed unnecessary. Even Lai Shengchuan himself admited that some details were just for fun and have no meaning for the theme of drama. Contrast to conpaction of Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land his first drama 20 years ago, the new drama looks like a fast food without deliberate thought.

Maybe it could be said the death of ideal. As people are young, they are always full of confidence of what they want to do . They devote themselves to their affectionate dream, without hesitation and fear. That's why Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land could be so touching. We could find our lost faith and love in it. But after 20 years, life always changes people into a mainstream value conception way, no exception to Lai. There is no enthusiasm, no vitality, no dream, no desperation , even sorrow and happy pretending obviously. Only remained, the trace of being squeezed by capitalism, the economic benefits behind of big success.

My friend cried at the end of the last act when the actress was reminded of her past mother, but I did not. I know she did not see Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land before, and in that time I did cry three years ago in the theatre when applause never ended. I wanna talk to her, if you see that drama, you will find your tear now is cheated by the after 20 years' Lai.

Lai Shengchuan with his lastest drama Writing In Water

END OF NOTHING

Do you still remember the ending of Antonioni's Blow Up? A bunch of dumb show actors were playing an nonexistent tennis match. Their eyes were so intently focused on the ball pretending it was real.

In 1948, John Cage, the American composer composed his famous piece 4'33" in the name of silence. 4'33" is consisted with three movements. Each movement has some small units of silent rhythmic durations. When the music is played, audience could be immersed in the huge silence and could feel what John Cage insisted that "There is no such thing as silence. Something is always happening that makes a sound".

And still fifty years ago, Yves Klein, the young French artist only 30 years old, put himself in a void space and tried to graspe the every subtle change happening around. He called this experience a La spécialisation de la sensibilité à l’état matière première en sensibilité picturale stabilisée, Le Vide (The Specialization of Sensibility in the Raw Material State into Stabilized Pictorial Sensibility, The Void). The exhibiton was hold in 1958, at Iris Clert Gallery in Paris. He removed everything in gallery except a large cabinet, painted every surface white, and then staged an elaborate entrance procedure for the first night.

Klein's void exhibiton astonished the mass and more than 3000 people were forced to queue up waiting to invite his empty room. And now, another void exhibiton is hold in Pompidou Centre for reviewing the 50 years history of Voids.

As what news described the exhibiton: A re-creation of different exhibitions spanning 50 years, the retrospective stretches through nine rooms, all of which are unashamedly devoid of content. The freshly painted walls are uniformly white, the floors all pale wood parquet. The only features that stand out – a thermostat here, an exit sign there, a piece of tissue lying discarded in the doorway – take on a strange and surely unprecedented significance.

The exhibiton reminded me of something about ZEN. There is one sentence in the Buddhist Scriptures, Form is emptiness. Though it is different meaning in the philosophy and in exhibiton Voids, in my view, silence or emptiness may be the most power thing in the world coz it is the beginning of the world and also it will be the end of the world even every person self.

So, a void exhibiton gives people a lot of private space and time to rethink the meaning of life. It appears in a art form and end in a philosophic way.


Various
Voids, a retrospective
Pompidou Centre,
Paris