Art Gives Freshness to City

——A Dialogue between He Yong and Zhu Wei

Zhu Wei (hereinafter Z): Your song Bell and Drum Tower is really fantastic. It is a symbol.

Oriental Art · Masters (hereinafter M): How did you create it then?

He Yong (hereinafter H): The Second-Ring Road is mentioned in the beginning of the song. My home is near the road, so I have special feelings towards it. The song was created during late 1980s to early 1990s. After the Student Movement (June 4th Event at the Tiananmen Square) broke out in 1989, I went to Southern China at first and then travelled around the nation. At last I settled down and missed Beijing very much, so I composed the song.
  
When I was very young, I often held performances in other cities, and upon approaching the Second-Ring Road in Beijing I would have a special feeling in my heart that my home was just nearby. Having returned Beijing from Guangzhou, I went home taking No.44 bus, and my tears were close to rush out when I heard the conductor’s voice. She was speaking with an old Beijing accent, which sounded fairly warm to me. I grew up here. When in elementary and middle school, I often rode my bike and played with my friends in the alleys. However, I cannot find most of those friends, who were living there then, any more.

As a child, I was keen on riding bike through all these alleys and streets, and my life was occupied by bike before moving away. Moreover, many of my works were created on my bike: I pondered and hummed during riding. There have occurred numerous tales and interesting events here, and a lot of my works were shot here. We chose the spot behind the Bell and Drum Tower as the filming location of Dump, which is a vegetable-market now. Then the place was a reconstructed factory where industrial cranes and temples could be found, which had created strong impact. I chose the spot myself.

M: About the Old Beijing, what can you recollect now?

H: I received my primary school education in the Double-Temple district which was rebuilt from a temple. Then I attended No.40 Middle School, a beautiful church in the past. As a child, I did not feel that they were special, while after I grow up I know they are both religious places.

In my childhood I had also seen the last eunuch of China in the breakfast canteen. The experience was interesting. I often saw the old man there but I did not know he was a eunuch then. Later I learnt from Beijing Evening News that there was a Guanghua Temple in Houhai area, and the last eunuch in China just lived there. Thus we can see that Chinese history is fairly intelligible, and Cixi, the famous empress dowager, just lived in an age that is not far from us.

I learnt swimming in the Houhai lake. In the past, the area was rather quiet for there were no bars. Filled with tranquil and blue atmosphere, the Back Sea was not so noisy and busy as now, and who went there were mostly Beijing people. Over these ten years, Beijing, from Luogu Lane to Shishahai Lake, has changed so dramatically that I cannot find its old appearance at all. At that time, when Wang Shuo was still young, Shishahai Ice Rink was a famous place of amusement.

When I was a child, a meal at Barbecue Season, a restaurant in Beijing, would bring me a festival-like joy, and a family would not go to a restaurant without a special reason. I still remember that there was an old waiter, who had suffered a lot in the old society, servicing warmly. The dishes there were also extremely delicious, and my favorite one was fillet cooked with tomato, which was sweet and sour, mixed with water chestnut and rather cheap then.

M: Your songs have much to do with the city of Beijing.

H: Generally speaking, “city” stands for a kind of culture which comes from different people. There is always fresh blood, or people from other regions, infusing into Beijing, a cultural center.  Beijing is so charming that all young people long for coming here. Your life in Beijing, during which your spare time is occupied by internet, without art exhibitions, rock and roll, bars and parties, is incomplete.

M: Compared with painting, is rock and roll more popular?

H: Music is more socialized and has a close relationship with mass media, while compare with rock-musicians, painters appear lonely. In terms of paintings, there is an excellent theoretical system on, for example, painters, galleries, exhibitions and lectures. While for music, all forms of music, including rock and roll, have suffered from piracy from the 1980s, which is further promoted by the occurrence of mp3. Therefore intellectual property is essential to cultural industry. Art circles are healthier and increasingly systematic, while the environment for the development of rock and other pop music is poor: music is shared in an illegal way and has stepped into Communist Society too early.

M: What is the most impressive change of Beijing for you?

H: In my memory, Beijing in the 1970s was grey: walls, people’s clothes and the pain brought by the Cultural Revolution were all grey. Then we were very young, so we could not understand that deeply. In autumn, the turning near Silver Ingot Bridge on my way to school would be decorated with golden leaves, which was so charming. However, now the place is rather noisy, and I can only experience the previous feeling when the bars are closed in the early morning or at night. Now the city is rather rackety.

Z: I still remember that we could hardly find a car on the street in 1977. There was a long interval between the emergences of two cars before Tiananmen Square.

H: Rock and roll, which has brought numerous young factors, features largely in Beijing. Music has the greatest impact on people, so I consider that Beijing should support the development of rock. Artists are the soul of this city.

Fortunately, we have music festival and clubs now, which has offered better conditions for developing music than the past when we were dreaming of such a good environment. For me, my ideal in music has been realized through my effort.

M: Do you think the condition now is as good as what you have imagined?

H: Some are better than what I have expected. In the past, the most imaginative child would not dream about one day he will own a car of his own. Then people were easy to feel excited. It was so wonderful if your family bought a refrigerator, a washing machine or a 9-inch colorless TV of the brand “Kunlun”. Life then was fairly interesting. Now we have numerous technological devices such as iphone, but we seldom feel exciting.

As to demolition in Beijing, I feel poignant. Then we practiced rock in Yu Weimin’s home: he was our drummer.  The house was in an exquisite court where Beiyang Navy had lived and which has been demolished for the establishment of the Financial Street. Old buildings in Beijing were all with an extraordinary history, each having a story. However, all stories, even the names of the lanes, have disappeared with their destruction.

Now the Olympic Games have finished, and the government should do something detailed: more subways should be built. Last year I went to New York and I felt that the city was planned well. Although subways are complex, you may feel they are clear after you have understood them. All subways there have no air-conditioners, with a history of one century and big rats. Indeed, subway is symbolizing a city’s culture in itself.

Z: There is another standard for measuring a city. You can find a lot of foreign ballad-singers in subways of advanced countries such as Japan, France and Russia. If a city has no room for such singers and street culture, then it may appear so inferior. No Matter how beautiful a city is, it is not attractive if it cannot hold people from other regions.

Sometimes I find that Chinese always feel insecure when getting along with others. For instance, in foreign countries, what follows an eye-contact is surely greeting; however, a Chinese may feel he is threatened if a stranger is looking him in the eye: a city full of such people may lose its attraction. The point is to change people’s state. If all people you encounter are friendly and equable, then the city will become lovely soon.

—— Published in the “My City and I: City Life and Spiritual Experience” column of Oriental Art◎Masters, the First Semimonthly Issue of April, 2010

艺术，让城市变得年轻

——何勇对话朱伟

朱伟：你那首《钟鼓楼》非常好，它是一个标志。

《东方艺术·大家》：《钟鼓楼》这首歌当时是怎么创作的？

何勇：那首歌第一句歌词就提到了二环路，因为我家就住在里面，离得很近，我对二环路特别有感受。这个歌写在80年代末到90年代初，1989年学运之后我去了南方，全国跑。安定下来之后又比较想念北京，就写出来了这首歌。
小时候也经常出去演出，一回到北京，一到二环路感觉就特别不一样，觉得就到家了。我从广州回北京，做44路公交车回家，我一听那个售票员说话我都快哭了，就是老北京售票员的那种说话，特亲热。因为我从小生活在这个地方，包括上小学中学，骑着自行车和朋友们在胡同里面玩，现在再回去看原先那些住在胡同里的朋友基本上都走了，找不到了。
小时候骑自行车满街跑，搬走之前那是我的自行车时代，而且我好多作品都是骑自行车的时候想出来的，边骑边想，嘴里边哼哼。这一片故事太多了，好玩的事情也太多了。我很多作品都是在这儿拍的。《垃圾场》我们选的是在钟鼓楼后面的地方（现在是一个卖菜的地儿），当时改造成了一个工厂，有工业吊车和寺庙，那种冲击力挺大的，都是我亲自选的场地。

《东方艺术·大家》：你们对老北京有什么记忆?

何勇：我小学是在双寺读的，双寺是寺庙改的。中学是四十中，是原来挺漂亮的一个教堂。小时候对这些寺庙、教堂没感觉，长大了以后知道了那都是宗教的场所。
我小时候在早点铺还见过中国最后一个太监，说起来挺有意思。总见一个老头儿，但我当时不知道他是太监，后来看《北京晚报》才知道，后海那边不是有个广化寺吗？那个太监最后就生活在里面。这么一说，你就觉得中国历史的脉就很清晰，实际慈禧离咱们也并不远。
我小时候学游泳就是在后海学会的，过去后海没有这些酒吧的时候特别安静。那时候的后海有一些安静和忧郁的气质，没有这些喧闹，游人也很少，基本上都是北京人在周围活动。从锣鼓巷到什刹海，一直到荷花市场，这十年的变化太大了，繁荣得一塌糊涂。什刹海冰场当时是一个非常有名的玩儿的地方，就是王朔那一代年轻人。
小的时候，我记得去烤肉季吃顿饭可高兴了，像过节似的，去吃一顿饭需要一个理由。有一个老头服务特别热情，他是那种从旧社会过来的人。烤肉季那时候做的菜特好吃，我记得我最爱吃的一道菜是番茄里脊，酸甜儿的，里头还有点马蹄，那时候也便宜。

《东方艺术·大家》：你的歌有许多都与北京这个城市有关。

何勇：城市概括来说就是文化，文化来自于人，来自于不同的人。北京总有新鲜血液，五湖四海来的人，它是一个文化中心，所有年轻人都向往来北京，这是北京的魅力。如果你在北京生活，但是不看画展，不听摇滚，不去酒吧，不参加party，业余时间只是上网，我觉得北京就去掉一半了。

《东方艺术·大家》：和绘画比起来，摇滚是不是和大众更有亲和力？

何勇：音乐比较社会化，跟传媒的关系特别近，画家相比摇滚比较孤独一些，画有很好的体制，从理论上有一套体系。比如画家、画廊、展览、讲座。不管是摇滚乐还是其他音乐，从80年代盗版开始遭受攻击，现在又有mp3，所以你谈文化产业必须重视知识产权。画界更健康，并且越来越有体制。但是摇滚包括流行音乐发展是很不好的，音乐提早进入共产主义了，已经被共享了。

《东方艺术·大家》：你们感受中北京最大的变化是什么？

何勇：70年代的北京在我印象中基本上是灰色的，墙啊，人的服装啊。还有文化大革命那种伤的味道。我们那时候小，可能体会不深。北京秋天的时候，就是我上学的那条路经过银锭桥的弯道，秋天的时候一片黄树叶，特别美。现在已经很喧闹了，只有在早晨或者夜里，酒吧都歇了的时候还能感受点气氛。现在的城市特别杂。

朱伟：我记得77年的时候基本没车。天安门广场过来一辆汽车，等会儿才再来一辆。

何勇：摇滚乐对北京是一大特色，它给北京增加了很多年轻的元素。音乐对人的冲击力是最大的，我觉得北京应该支持摇滚乐的发展。艺术家是这个城市的灵魂。
好在现在还有音乐节、俱乐部，比我们当初做的时候环境要好。当初我们做音乐的时候不就是盼着有这么一天吗。对我来说，我的音乐理想通过我自己的努力基本上实现了。

《东方艺术·大家》：也差不多是想象的样子？

何勇：有些地方比想象的还要好。我们小时候再有想象力，你能想象有一天自己有辆车吗？那时候都什么事都特兴奋，买个冰箱，洗衣机，9寸的昆仑牌黑白电视，都是了不得的事儿！那时候的生活特别有意思。现在我们有iphone，还有很多其他的东西，但是再也激不起当时那个兴奋劲儿了。
但是北京拆的话我挺疼的。那时候我们搞摇滚乐就在我们的鼓手于伟民家里，他们家在一个特好的套院儿里面。后来建金融街给拆了。那里原来是北洋水师住在里面。北京的老房子都是有典故的，一套宅子就是一个故事。后来一拆就断了，连胡同名都没了。
现在奥运会也开完了，政府就应该从一些细节的地方做些事情，多修点地铁吧。去年我去了纽约，觉得人家的城市规划的有意思，地铁虽然复杂但是懂了就很容易。那都是上百年的老地铁，没空调，里面还有大老鼠。地铁本身就是一个城市文化的象征。

朱伟：还有一个衡量城市的标准，日本、巴黎包括在俄罗斯的地铁里，有很多外国人在卖唱。如果这些人在一个城市呆不住，如果没有街头文化，那么这个城市就特别不高级。城市不容其他人来，来了呆不住，城市弄得多漂亮也没有吸引力。
有时候我们觉得中国人看人都很紧张，就是那种人人自危的感觉。像对面来一个人，两个人眼睛先对视，像在国外眼神交流了接下来必定要打招呼，但是我们想的是，你是不是对我造成威胁。如果大街上走的人都是这样的，这个城市马上就没有美感了。关键是人的状态要变，如果街上的人，对面跟你聊天的人都很友善，心平气和，那么这个城市马上就不一样了。

——刊载于《东方艺术◎大家》2010年4月上半月刊“我和我的城市：城市生活与精神体验”栏目