Perhaps Only Three Events This Year…

Hi Art, July-August 2008

By the time this text is printed, I will most likely have already completed an artist in residency program at a museum near New York. In other words I’ll have been an outsourced laborer. The program is well known; Alexander Calder produced sculptures there.

The residency lasts three months! The two and a half months I spent in Cambodia was already quite nerve racking as I’ve never been away for such an extended period of time. The day before I left, we had a going-away dinner with Cheng Xindong. Over dinner, we chatted about a number of events, which occurred this year. I recall there were three major events: 1. the earthquake in Sichuan; 2. The Beijing Olympic games; and 3. Gerhard Richter’s Solo Exhibition at the National Art Museum of China.

I don’t need to elaborate on the first event. The central government mobilized and the overall national rescue response was outstanding.  There were emotional stories and countless tears. Both the Chinese and international responses were positive. Foreign nations jumped into the earthquake relief effort after witnessing how the Chinese government respected and valued the lives of her people, earning international admiration, which led to a mutual understanding. The entire nation realized how important it is to love humanity and practice compassion.  One particularly moving incident was premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to the disaster site.  He spoke to the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) officers stating, “the people nurtured you, now you should know what to do!”  Our eyes filled with tears when we watched this scene on television. It has been years since the people heard such sincere and truthful words, which were rational, honest and empowering. This direct approach was more effective and comforting than going on about how the human spirit can overcome fate, who belongs to which team, or who will prevail etc... Wen’s words implied that responsibility has to be implemented immediately with precision. The bodies buried beneath the rubble were our parents, the leaders of the country.  As time passed the impact of reality set in.  They were racing against time and their actions had to be quick. Secondly, the premier informed the people outside of the disaster area about the government’s actions and the logical relationship between duty and responsibility.  Thirdly, he let the world know that we would do everything possible to save the victims rather than stand on the sidelines.  The earthquake was cruel, but it taught us the value of family, the power of the collective, and that the strength of our nation is boundless. We are a true nation that mobilizes during times of need rather than a nation that simply goes around checking Identification Cards in the middle of the night.

Secondly, the Beijing Olympic Games, which did not captivate me as much as the Sichuan Earthquake, captured the focus of the Chinese people. This wasn’t the first Olympics. Many other countries have hosted the games before.  Some countries have hosted more than once, and generally speaking every Olympics has been quite successful, especially the Atlanta Olympics held in the United States. Some locals didn’t know anything about the Beijing games and the United States government was not very passionate about them. Two commercial sponsors monopolized the Beijing Olympics. Instead of burdening the public, they earned a few billion dollars in profit.  Benefiting the nation and its people was considered exemplary. A second point is that since applying to host the Olympics nearly a decade ago, there was no room for any mistakes.  The outcome had to be flawless or it would have embarrassed the nation.  Perhaps mistakes would have led the ‘contractors’ to compromise and accept a mini Olympics. It’s easy to catch a handful of corrupt officials and jail them together-perhaps this is another type of Olympics.

A nation of such grandeur with thousands of years of history should do things rationally.  We’ve experienced poverty, but the people should be able to live with prosperity.  The country should demonstrate stability that allows its people to live less stressful lives.  The government spent the citizens’ money and should have done the job quietly so that the people could realize the level of expertise upon entering the Olympic Stadium.

Honestly, the Bird’s Nest is an embarrassment and cannot be considered an outstanding architectural design. Apparently the designers were inspired by the patterns and cracks on traditional Chinese ceramics, but I still don’t see the relationship because the structure looks more like a crushed basket of poop to me. The structure resembles the Workers Stadium with a lid- where is the degree of difficulty in that? A study stated the shadows from the metal railings on the Bird’s Nest would make the athlete dizzy and unable to complete the competition, so they had to add reflexive glass on top of the metal structure. As a result, the exterior looks neither like fish or flesh. Some parts have glass and others don’t.  It seems the budget ran out of certain places and they were overwhelmed with problems. A few pieces of glass cost a few billion dollars. Since the money is already gone, the experience should become a lesson. Future architecture students should be sent to the Bird’s Nest for their first class—one in cost calculation, of course the lesson should include and analysis of the financial cost, as well as the cultural cost.

The third major event this year was only mentioned in art related periodicals because talking about Richter in another context would be entirely irrelevant. Every artist knows the name Gerhard Richter-even their wives and children know about him. Graduates from art academies talk about Richter with their boyfriend or girlfriend on dates. The Richter show reminded us what is real.  Westerners invented oil painting and they tend to be more at ease with it.  It’s similar to a foreigner who will wear a T-shirt while riding a bicycle on the street in the middle of the winter.  We would never do that. We eat differently and have a different DNA. For a thousand years, we lived humbly- we knelt or squatted.

In a nutshell, I suggest everyone visit the Gerhard Richter Exhibition at the National Art Museum of China, which is ending soon. Furthermore, I encourage everyone to look at one of Richter’s most iconic series executed on October 18, 1977.  The work expresses beauty and audacity, as well as technical brilliance. If you have time, I strongly suggest picking up the catalog Ambiguous Form, a documentary on Richter’s notes, and The Daily Practice of Painting, an interview edited by Zhu Qi and Zhang Wei, published by Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House.

2008 Support Sichuan!

Zhu Wei

Thursday，June 26, 2008

今年没准就这三件事

《HI艺术》2008年7－8月号

这期稿子印出来的时候，估计哥们已经出门了，应纽约近郊一文化馆的邀请去那里的工作室工作三个月。往高了说即劳务输出。工作室在当地牛B，亚历山大·考尔德的雕塑就是在那儿做的。

一去就是三个月。从没出过这么长时间的门，上次去柬埔寨两个半月就已经没着没落的了。前天和程昕东吃饭话别，聊起今年这一件件的事儿，还真是挺多。我觉得有三件事算是大事：一，四川大地震；二，北京奥运会；三，中国美术馆里希特他老人家的个展。

一我就不多说了。中央带动地方，整个国家的应急反应那是没说的，值得哭着说的唱着说的动人故事有的是。全国人民一致说好，外国人民也一致说好。特别是外国人民，看到中国政府对人民生命如此的尊重和爱惜，马上羡慕，立马达成共识，一面倒的支持中国抗震救灾。在对人性的关爱和人性的追求上，这回全世界人民终于尿到一个壶里去了。有一件事真的让人感动，第一时间赶到赈灾现场的温家宝总理对即将赶赴震中救援的解放军各级指挥官们严肃的说：“是人民养活你们，该怎么做你们看着办！”我在电视机前当时就热泪盈眶。多少年了，人民从来没听到过这样亲近、理智、真诚、干练的大实话了。这话说的，比人定胜天啦，谁跟谁站在一起啦，谁战胜谁啦等等拜年的话要成熟得多，舒服得多，实在得多。这句话给人的感觉，第一，责任落实刻不容缓，而且句句落到实处，钉是钉，卯是卯。被压的是衣食父母、国家的主人，时间就是生命，分秒必争，动作要快。第二，告诉灾区之外的全国人民，政府和国家机器的使命、责任和动力来自于哪里，以及它的逻辑关系。第三，告诉全世界，即使没有旁观者，为了自己我们也一定会奋力抢救。地震无情，但是它告诉我们在灾难面前家庭的力量，集体的力量，国家的力量也是巨大的。国家是真实存在的，不只是半夜敲门查各种证件的，是真诚的，是可以依靠的。

二，北京奥运会，中国人民瞩目。但我觉得与四川抗震救灾来讲，并不那么让我上心。一是奥运会不是第一届了，全世界很多国家都办过，有的还办过不只一次，都很成功。特别是美国亚特兰大那次，当地老百姓有的都不知道有这事，政府也不那么热衷，两个商人包了，没给人民添乱，还挣了几个亿，利国利民，堪称楷模。二是从申办到承办，时间跨度近十年，办好了那是应该的，这么大的国家，又几千年几千年的数历史，办啥事都应该从容，穷了穷过，富了人民也都受得了，要拿出个稳当劲儿来别让人民老跟着揪心。

另外，别老让鸟巢出来现眼。说实在的，这真不算什么好的设计，听说当初设计者们是从中国古代瓷器皲裂的纹路上受到了启发，反正现在我一点儿没看出来，我怎么瞅着都像是一被人坐扁了的粪筐。从结构上来讲，就是现在的工人体育场在上面罩一罩子，不知道难在哪儿了？前一阵子搞测试比赛，太阳透过一道道钢栅栏投射到场地上的阴影让运动员们跑着头晕，无法踢球，最后不得不在顶部钢架结构的空隙处再装上反光玻璃。现在从外面看过去就更觉得不伦不类了，有的安装了玻璃，有的没安，像是钱花到那儿突然没了，一副捉襟见肘的景象。其实为装这几块玻璃又多花了好几个亿。钱花出去了，留个纪念吧。以后学建筑的学生开学头一堂课先拉到鸟巢，挨个给他们讲什么是成本核算，当然包括什么是经济成本和文化成本。

第三个就是只能在咱们这本行业期刊上说说的了，别的地儿说里希特，人家根本不知道。在美术圈里提起里希特，没艺术家不知道的，连艺术家的老婆孩子都耳熟能详。刚出校门的小孩儿泡姑娘也都拿里希特开头。里希特的到来让大家见识了一回什么是真的，油画毕竟是西方人发明的，人家使起来得心应手，就像是大冬天老外只穿一件T恤就骑着车在街上兜风，咱就不敢。吃得不一样，基因更不同。咱几千年的历史，动不动就是跪着，或者蹲着，走的是下三路。

废话少说，我建议大家一定要看看中国美术馆里希特的个展，好像快要结束了。另外，一定要看看里希特的代表作之一《一九七七年十月十八号》系列，看看人家的魄力和胆识，以及由此产生的相应的技法。最后还有机会的话，买本朱其、张卫、湖南美术出版社出版的《形象的模糊》里希特的笔记和访谈文献一书，原名《The Daily Practice of Painting》。

2008大家支持四川！

朱伟

2008年6月26日星期四