Yan Xing / Zar rad profesionalnog umetnika ne treba da se proteže do granica drugih realnosti?
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Yan Xing (Jan Ksing) je izdanak treće generacija umetnika koji dolaze iz Kine. Osim što je 2012. godine proglašen za najboljeg mladog umetnika Kine, veoma brzo je svojim radovima skrenuo pažnju američkih kritičara i kolekcionara. Nakon nagrade, nekoliko samostalnih izložbi u Galeriji Urs Meile (koja je ujedno i zastupnik umetnika Ai Wei Wei-a za Evropu), Ksing je našao svoje mesto sa druge strane Pacifika u Los Anđelesu. Nakon užeg izbora za veliku nagradu The Victor Pinchuk Foundation (u žiriju su bili Andreas Gursky, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons i Takashi Murakami) sa radom Modernist, SuperModernist (2012) i velike izložbe The Future Generation Art Prize@Venice 2013, u Palazzo Contarini Polignac (gde je bio prikazan rad The Sweet Movie, 2013) koja je bila deo pratećeg program Bijenala u Veneciji 2013, počinje veoma dobar period umetničkog rada. Pojavljuju se radovi kao što su Lenin in 1918, Dirty Art, Epilogue i Two video, three photographs, several related masterpieces, and American art.
Kada govorimo o Ksingovim radovima, dopada mi se što povezuje istoriju sa istorijom umetnosti, praveći dijalog među različitim generacijama umetnika (Richard Hamilton, Richard Wagner, Orson Welles, Andre Breton, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Eric Rohmer, Edward Hopper, Jean Cocteau, Diego Velasquez, Gilbert & George, Ernest Hemingway, Catherine Breillat, Constantin Brancuși, Aristide Maillol, Paul Cezanne, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Robert Mapplethorpe). To čini da svi njegovi radovi bivaju veoma složeni i u sebi sadrže razna pitanja koja traže odgovor u današnjem svetu. Umetnikovo lično zanimanje za određena pitanja ukazuje na dosta interesantno polje delovanja, koje ukida granice koje su nam do sada bile poznate. Naravno, pojavljuje se i pitanje lokalnog ambijenta (što je kod nas problem), kao i na koji način se umetnost može učiniti “čitljivom” sa druge strane. Umetnik veoma dobro razume trenutak i na intrigantan način uspeva da poveže, na prvi pogled, različita gledišta i da od njih napravi jedan arhipelag koji dobija jasan smisao.
Dva njegova rada su na mene ostavila naročito jak utisak su Lenin in 1918 i Daddy Project. Rad koji je bio izložen na Venecijinskoj izložbi mi je privukao pažnju, zajedno sa radom japanskog umetnika Meiro Koizumi-a (Portrait of a young samurai, 2009). Nakon jednog neformalnog razgovora sa umetnikom Radenkom Milakom, rodila nam se ideja da pokušamo da Ksinga dovedemo u naše krajeve. U prepisci koja je usledila, fokus je bio na razmatranju mogućnosti nastanka novih radova inspirisanih tim razgovorima. Nakon godinu dana intezivne prepiske i pregovora, Ksing je izrazio želju da dođe na Balkan i da izvede novu seriju radova u Srbiji, Bosni i Hercegovini i Crnoj Gori. Na žalost, to je za sada neizvodljivo.
Nakon svega, naša prepiska se nastavila, što je, u ovom momentu, rezultiralo prvim od dva dogovorena razgovora sa Yan Xingom.
Kada se govori o umetnosti koja dolazi iz Kine uvek postoji ukorenjen stereotip kako sve to treba da izgleda. Međutim, generacija koja dolazi (Liu Di, Qiu Xiaofei, Soung Kun, Xu Zhen, Li Ran), ima drugačiji pogled na umetnost. Kako ti sve to posmatraš?
Ja ne predstavljam nijednu generaciju. Čak ni Kinu ne predstavljam! Ja samo mogu da predstavljam delove onoga što stvaram. Rad umetnika bi trebalo da bude vrlo ličan. Progresivni odnosi socijalno-darvinističkog stila nikada mi nisu bili važni. Takođe sebe nikada nisam svrstavao u redove savremenih kineskih umetnika da bih svoj rad upoređivao sa drugima.
Možeš li reći nešto o “self-organized unit pristupu”, kao i o COMPANY?
Samoorganizovani kolektivni pristup koji si pomenuo je proizvod jednog perioda. Na primer, motivacija da se osnuje COMPANY sa četiri mlada umetnika je bila veoma čista. Jednostavno, nakon diplomiranja hteli smo da nastavimo dalje sa profesionalnim umetničkim radom. Svi smo diplomirali negde oko 2009. i osnivanje COMPANY odražava situacioni aspekt mladih kineskih umetnika u doba finansijske krize.
Budući da si studirao na tradicionalnoj kineskoj akademiji sa svega tri smera (Tradicionalni, Moderni i Istraživanje materijala), možeš li da mi kažeš kakav je danas tvoj odnos prema takvom načinu rada?
Kao prvo, želeo bih da istaknem da moj univerzitet, Institut lepih umetnosti u Sečuanu, ima mnogo smerova i glavnih predmeta. Ima mnogo više od tri navedena smera. Ipak, kao umetnik sam se razvio veoma rano i znao sam šta ću raditi u svojoj budućnosti i pre nego što sam upisao studije. Imao sam, barem, maglovite tragove i smernice pre nego što sam se upisao na akademiju.
Lično, zanimljiv mi je rad Lenin 1918, gde imamo upliv nekoliko mogućih uticaja (A. Rodin, H. Matisse, C. Brancusi, P. Cezanne, film Lenin 1918, ruska avangarda) koji samo pojačavaju krajnji utisak. Čini se da sagledavamo drugačije čitanje istorije umetnosti, koja nije vidljiva.
Više mojih radova su vezani za aktuelno čitanje i analizu istorije umetnosti. Oni mi istovremeno omogućavaju i da izgradim sopstveno mišljenje. Moja istraživanja i kreativnost idu ruku pod ruku. Koliko nečega treba staviti na scenu na kraju i koliko ostaviti zakulisno su samo tehnička pitanja, a jezgro tehničkih pitanja je povezano sa time kako baratate samim motivom ponovnog razmatranja i ispitivanja umetničkog jezika.
Zanimljivo je da ne ispituješ pokretne slike (kroz čitanje i upotrebu Delezovog rada), već svoje radove postavljaš u ravni sa iskustvenim. Može se reći da je DADDY projekat jedan od njih, gde se vidi ne samo drugačiji kontakt sa publikom već i veza sa jednim od roditelja.
Ja sam sumnjičav i prema mediju i prema tehnici. Nisam zadovoljan ni sa čim što trenutno stvaram samo u jednom mediju. Možeš primetiti da velika većina mojih radova predstavlja čitav projekat, a između projekata postoje mnoga specifična poglavlja koja dele isti naslov.
Obraćaš pažnju na vizuelnu predstavu sa jasnom tekstualnom osobenošću. Koliko su upliv književnosti i lična potreba za pisanjem dominantni u samom radu? Pogotovu kada se govori o radovima Epilog, The History of Reception, Modernist, Super-Modernist, kao i Realism?
U uspomenama iz mog detinjstva, moj duhovni život je isprepletan sa književnošću. Moj san je bio da budem pisac. Tako da postoji veliki upliv književnosti u mom radu, uključujući i tehniku pisanja, prisvajanje književnih klasika, reference na književnu formu itd. Srž mog stvaralaštva jeste književnost, i čvrsto verujem u književni način stvaranja.
U tvojim radovima se može primetiti da stvaraš drugačiju realnost i to kroz jednu vrstu dijaloga (R. Hamilton, P. P. Pasolini, E. Hopper, R. Mapplethorpe) ili kroz saradnju (Company, Xie Nanxing, Wang Xingwei, Duan Jianyu)?
Zar rad profesionalnog umetnika ne treba da se proteže do granica drugih realnosti? Umetnički jezik je jezgro moje kreativnosti. Sve ostalo jeste samo tehnički proces u službi mog umetničkog jezika. Uvek sam imao dovoljno hrabrosti da istražujem bogatstvo mog umetničkog izraza.
Meni je veoma zanimljivo na koji način stvaraš, kako fluidno prolaziš kroz istoriju umetnosti uz pomoć različitih medija, kako uspevaš posetioca da zainteresuješ da sagledava stvari u svojoj okolini na drugačiji način. Kada govorimo o realnosti, uvek se ima na umu poredak stvari, potreba da se nešto promeni ili poboljša. Unutar tvojih radova se vidi da tražiš drugačiji pristup, stvarajući sopstvenu realnost gde je upitno i tvoje postojanje.
Naravno, moji radovi uključuju konstantne procese “rešavanja” i “ponovnog stvaranja”, i ponekad oni moraju da se dese mnogo puta. Rekao bih da sam stvorio svet sopstvene logike. Moje stvaralaštvo je u mnogome književni i narativni kontekstualni rad.
Sa radom Tendon (Tetiva), praviš jedan osvrt na pitanje lepote, na odnos sa umetničkom tehnikom i njeno korišćenje, pitanje sopstvene prošlosti, kao i jedan mogući sled nakon napuštanja majke, okretanje ka nečemu novom, drugačijem.
Da, ono što sam u ovom radu hteo da istražim su veština, tehnika i kako bih mogao da baratam drugačijim jezikom, koji mi nije bio blizak. Postoji mnogo radova unutar ovog rada, kao što su “emocionalni izrazi”, “uticaj među umetnicima”, “disciplina umetničke prakse”, kao i umetnost sama, život umetnika, kao i složeni odnosi umetničkog života.
U ranijem radu Dirty Art si ispitivao kulturne obrasce čitanja reči “prljavština”, i šta ona znači za obe strane. Novi radovi pod nazivom The Story of Shame, odnosno Thief ispituju reči/izraze obeščašćenost, kukavičluk, stidljivost, sramota, snovi, seksualne teksture, uobičajeno ponašanje, izuzetno ponašanje itd. Da li se kroz jednu dekonstrukciju i naknadnu rekonstrukciju istražuješ pitanje autoriteta, snažne kontrole, koji nisu bili prisutni tokom tvog odrastanja? Drugim rečima, uzimaš li u obzir važnost da se kroz osetljiva područja pojavljuješ, da postavljaš pitanja o nadmoći i prisili, a time i ostavljaš prostor za drugačiju realnost koja je ipak moguća?
Ovo pitanje je malo dugačko. Ovako: nisam imao oca još od najranijeg detinjstva. Sve do mojih tinejdžerskih dana nisam uviđao da ga svako drugi ima. Tako da od malih nogu nisam imao strah od autoriteta, niti osećaj adolescentske pobune protiv očinskog autoriteta. Ne zanimaju me autoriteti, niti borba protiv istih. To je nešto u vezi sa mnom, što i mene samog začuđuje. Ja se podrugljivo smejem avangardi i andergraundu. Takođe, ne marim za tradiciju, standard ili principe. Te stvari me ne uzbuđuju, ali ih ne prezirem. Što se tiče političkih pitanja koja si pomenuo: ne razlikujem se mnogo od većine ljudi. Ja sam kineski umetnik koji živi na Zapadu. I nemam maternji jezik. Žalosno je što ga nemam. Iskreno, više volim da nemam maternji jezik. Govoriš o suštinskim problemima i ja se tu, u osnovi, slažem. Međutim, ja definitivno ne želim da dominirajući aspekt mojih radova bude moj apel, ponekad umetnički jezik zbog toga biva nepodnošljiv. Sebe sam uvek pre svega smatrao umetnikom. Umetnost je moja specijalnost.
Naslovna fotografija:
Lenin in 1918, 2013, Installation view, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing, China; photo Yan Xing Studio
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Jan Ksing je rođen u Čongkingu 1986, Kina. Živi i radi na relaciji Peking – Los Anđeles. Njegov rad je kombinacija više medija, performansa, videa, fotografije i instalacija, i u sebi sadrži više mogućih tema od negativnosti, otpora, reda i njihovih složenih korelacija.
Proglašen je za najboljeg mladog kineskog umetnika za 2012 godinu. Ušao je uži izbor the Future Generation Art Prize fondacije Victor Pinchuk. Jan Ksing izlaže na značajnim međunarodnim izložbama.
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Should the work of a professional artist not extend to the borders of other realities?
Interview with Yan Xing by Predrag Terzić
When we talk about art which comes from China, there is a common stereotype how all this should look like. However, the generation that is coming (Liu Ding, Qiu Xiaofei, Soung Kun, Xu Zhen, Li Ran) has a different view of art. What is your perception of that phenomenon?
I definitely do not represent any kind of generation. I don’t even represent China. I can only represent the areas of my creations. The work of an artist should be very personalized. Social Darwinism-style progressive relationships have never been important in my mind. I have also never placed myself among the ranks of Contemporary Chinese artists in order to compare my work with others.
Can you say something about the self-organized unit approach, as well as about the COMPANY?
The self-organized collective approach you mention is the product of a particular period. For example, the motivation for founding COMPANY with four other young artists was very pure. It was simply that we wanted to continue beyond graduation to try to pursue being artists as a profession. We all graduated from art school around 2009, and the formation of COMPANY reflects a situational aspect of young Chinese artists at the time of the financial crisis.
Since you studied at the traditional Chinese Academy, and you had just three different departments there (Traditional, Modern and Materials and Related Research), can you tell me what is your relation to such approach to work today?
First of all, I would like to point out that my alma mater (Sichuan Fine Arts Institute) has a great many departments and majors. There are more than just three. I developed as an artist quite early though, and I knew what I wanted to do in the future before I entered the academy to study. Vague clues and directions, at least, were completely formed before I even enrolled.
I personally like your work Lenin 1918 (2013), and I notice several possible influences (A. Rodin, H. Matisse, Brancusi C., P. Cezanne, the film Lenin 1918, Russian avant-garde), which only enhance the final impression. The impression is that we are perceiving a different reading of art history, that is not visible.
Most of my works up to this point are actually reading and analyzing art history while at the same time building my own clues. My research and creation are the same step. How much to put ‘on stage’ in the end and how much to leave ‘behind the scenes’ are actually technical questions, and the core of technical questions is related to how you handle the very real motif of artistic language’s repeated consideration and scrutiny.
It is interesting that you are not exploring the moving images (through reading and use of Deleuze’s works), but you are presenting your works as equivalent to what is experienced. We can say that the DADDY Project (2011) is one of them, where we can see not only different contact with the audience but also the relationship with one parent.
I am suspicious of both the medium itself and technique itself. I am not satisfied with anything that I am making right now in a single medium. So you now see that the vast majority of my works are an entire project, and between every project there are many specific chapters that share a title.
You pay attention to a visual representation with clear textual individuality. How dominant is the influence of literature and personal need to write, in your work? Especially if we are talking about the works Epilogue, The History of Reception, Modernist, Super-Modernist and Realism?
In the memories of my childhood, my spiritual world is intertwined with literature. A dream I used to have was to be a writer. There is a lot of influence from literature in my works including writing technique, appropriation of literary classics, referencing the form of literature, et cetera. The core clue of my creation is literature, and I staunchly believe in a literary style of creation.
In your works, it can be noted that you create a different reality, through a kind of a dialogue (R. Hamilton, PP Pasolini, E. Hopper, R. Mapplethorpe) or through collaboration (Company, Xie Nanxing, Wang Xingwei, Duan Jianyu) ?
Should the work of a professional artist not extend to the borders of other realities? Artistic language is the core of my creation. All of these technical processes serve a portion of my artistic language. I have also always had the courage to explore the richness of my language.
What is really interesting is the way you create, how fluidly you are going through the art history by using different media, you manage to make visitors interested to see things in their environment in a different way. When we talk about reality, always having in mind the order of things, the need for something to change or improve. Within your work it is obvious that you’re looking for a different approach, creating your own reality in which even your existence is questionable.
Indeed, my works involve constant “resolving” and “re-creating” processes, and sometimes they have to happen many times. I would say that I have created world of self-contained logic. My creation is largely literary and narrative contextual work.
In your work Tendon (2015), you make a reference to the question of beauty, to relationship with the artistic technique and its use, to the question of your own past, as well as a possible succession after leaving the mother, turning to something new, different.
Yes, in this work, what I wanted to explore was skill, technique, and how I could operate a kind of language- a kind of language with which I was unfamiliar. There is a number of works inside of this work, like “emotional expressions”, “influence between artists”, “artistic practice—discipline”, as well as art, the life of an artist, and the intricate relationships of artistic life.
In an earlier work Dirty Art (2013) you’re questioning the cultural patterns of reading the word “dirt”, and what it means for both, western and eastern culture. New works entitled The Story of Shame, or Thief are exploring the words/expressions ignominy, cowardice, shyness, disgrace, dreams, sexual textures, habitual behavior, exceptional behavior etc. Do you explore the question of authority and strong control, which was not present during your growing up, through deconstruction and subsequent reconstruction? In other words, do you take into account the importance of showing up through sensitive areas along, and asking questions about supremacy and coercion, and thus leaving space for a different reality that is still possible?
This question is a bit long. It’s like this: ever since I was young, I had no father. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I realized everyone has a father. So, ever since I was young, I had no fear of authority and no sense of adolescent rebellion against one’s father. I don’t care about authority and don’t care about resisting it. This is the kind of thing about myself that I feel a sense of wonder about. Towards the ‘avant-garde’, ‘vanguard’, and ‘underground’, I sneer. I also don’t care about ‘traditional’, ‘standard’, or ‘principle’. I feel no excitement about these things, but neither do I despise them. Regarding the political issues you mentioned: as a normal individual member of society, my attitude towards public issues are likely no different than the majority of people. I am a Chinese artist that lives in the West. I have no mother tongue. It is lamentable that I have no mother tongue. I prefer not to have a mother language. You are talking about the core issue, and I basically agree. However, I definitely don’t want the dominant aspect of my works to be my appeal, as artistic language is sometimes intolerable. I have always considered myself an artist first and foremost. Art is my specialty.
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Yan Xing (1986, Chongqing) lives and works in Beijing and Los Angeles. Yan Xing’s work combines diverse media such as performance, video, photography, and installation. His works circulate around large themes such as negativity, resistance, and order, as well as exploring their complex interrelations.
In 2012 Yan Xing won the Best Young Artist Award from CCAA (Chinese Contemporary Art Award) and also received a nomination for the Future Generation Art Prize from the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. Yan Xing has exhibited and performed extensively; recent major exhibitions include 3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg, Russia (2015); 28 Chinese, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA (2013); and ON | OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, China (2013).
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